[SAATR]

Quick question: What's the difference between a 360 and a 390? Bore, stroke, combination of the two? Do they make good power, and how much work does it require to get them there? Just wondering. Thanks guys.

[KULTULZ]

Both have a 4.05" bore.The 360 has a 3.5" stroke and the 390 a 3.78" stroke. You would want to focus on the 390 as it will deliver more torque.
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Am Looking For Factory/Aftermarket Speed Parts For The MEL (Merc-Edsel-Linc-TBird) Engine Family (383-410-430-462) Produced From 1958 To 1968

Also Early FORD Special Service Tools

-MEL ENGINE FORUM-

[SAATR]

Wow, nice. I was reading in the 351HO thread and it sparked my interest in them. Years ago my dad bought a 65 F100 SWB that supposedly has a 390 in it for a work truck. He picked up a little Nissan pickup and lost interest in the Ford, so there it sits collecting pinestraw in the back yard. Would it be worth building the 390? I've been saving for a chevy 383 build for a while, but considering that I already have the motor and like the looks of the Ford better, I'm not so sure about it anymore. Seems to me an FE would be a lot more interesting engine to build than a run of the mill 383, no matter how much cheaper it is. What would be a good buildup for the engine, with a budget of about $2000?

[KULTULZ]

Two grand can warm over an old FORD quite nicely...

The best thing to do is pull and disassemble and see how much work she needs to bring her back. Then you will know how much you will have left over for goodies. How long since the engine ran?

[SAATR]

Wow, it's been a while, about 3 or 4 years, a good while. It's been in the truck the whole time, oil in the bottom end, no water in it I think, believe it blew a freezeplug, one of the reasons why he quit on it, he would have had to pull the motor to fix it, so he gave up. It hasn't run in a while, ran pretty crappy while it was running, mostly because the carb on it was junk and a couple of lifter wouldn't prime up very well. It's not in the best of shape, but I think it's usable.

[KULTULZ]

65 F100 SWB that supposedly has a 390

The 360 wasn't available until 1968, so it may be 352. Still make a nice truck if the body is nice.

[Troadster]

Someone tell me if I am wrong. But caint you use any block from 352 to 428? You just change the crank and pistions for the differeng cubic inch you want? In other words you use a 360 block with a 428 crank and pistion you woul have a 428 with the 360 markings on it???

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by Troadster

Someone tell me if I am wrong. But caint you use any block from 352 to 428? You just change the crank and pistions for the differeng cubic inch you want? In other words you use a 360 block with a 428 crank and pistion you woul have a 428 with the 360 markings on it???

Correct. This is one of the beautiful things about the FE, it's interchangeability, much like the SBC.

Production began in 1958 and was not fully retired until 1976 and some of the high performance parts released by FORD are unbelievable. There is also still a very strong aftermarket for it and all types of updates.

The 360 and 390 has the same bore size and if a 428 crank (3.98" stroke) was inserted in either, it would come out to a 410 CI.
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Am Looking For Factory/Aftermarket Speed Parts For The MEL (Merc-Edsel-Linc-TBird) Engine Family (383-410-430-462) Produced From 1958 To 1968

Also Early FORD Special Service Tools

-MEL ENGINE FORUM-

[TurboS10]

I have a friend who built a hot 390 for his 72 ford truck. It went a best of 12.5 sec. in the 1/4, which is pretty good for a 4000lb truck. I want to say he used CJ heads, but I could be mistaken. I know they were from one of the 428 engines.

Chris

[CrashFarmer2]

If the engine in your 65 F100 is the original engine than it is a 352 FE. 1965 is the first year Ford put the FE in a pickup even though they had been using it in cars since 1958. Of course it could have been changed to a 360 or a 390, but personally I don't know why anybody in there right mind would bother to put a 360 in (that is just my personal opinion on the 360).

The difference between the 360 and the 390 is the crank and rods. The 360 uses the 390 4-barrel pistons. If you put 390 crank and rods in your 360 you have a 390. A great way to improve a 360 in my opinon (again).

The 360, 390 and the 410 have a 4.05" bore.
332 and 352 have a 4.00" bore.
406 and 428 have a 4.13 bore.
427 has a 4.23" bore.

332 have a 3.30" stroke.
352 and 360 have a 3.50" stroke.
390, 406 and 427 have a 3.78" stroke.
410 and 428 have a 3.98" stroke.

[Troadster]

I have the 360 in my 4x4. It is not as good as the 390. I wish I knew what I know now I would have used the 390 crank . On the up side it pulls my trailer good and gits 14mpg. Witch is good for full time 4x4. Mabey I will git the truck going again this year I miss the old truck.

[1ownerT]

A few years ago I had a 76 F150 4X4 4 speed, it had the 360 replaced with a 390. It had a police intercepter intake with a 650 holley vac sec, headers w/duels and 3.55 gears. The truck ran great, it only got 12mpg uphill, downhill, with or without a load but it had good power. It is one of those that you would like to still own.

[Max Keith]

One thing to note on using a 410/428 crank. They are externally balanced vs the rest of the FE blocks which are internally balanced, so this will require a 410/428 flywheel, Unless you plan to have the entire assembly rebalanced.
The 406 has the same stroke as the 390 and 427, Im assuming that was a typing error there.

[CrashFarmer2]

Originally Posted by Max Keith

One thing to note on using a 410/428 crank. They are externally balanced vs the rest of the FE blocks which are internally balanced, so this will require a 410/428 flywheel, Unless you plan to have the entire assembly rebalanced.
The 406 has the same stroke as the 390 and 427, Im assuming that was a typing error there.

Thanks Max, I missed that when I profread it. You are right I was putting that the 410 and 428 share the same stroke and I got in a hurry and typed 406. I had that right in the line above that. I suppose I should go back and edit that so as to not give anybody the wrong information.
The 410 was only put in some 1966-67 Mercury vehicles. I had a landlord, years ago, that had a 410 in his 66 Park Lane convertible.

[SAATR]

Considering the condition of the truck, and who we bought it from, it's doubtful that that is the original engine. All I know is that it is an FE block, and could very well be anything from a 332 to a 428. All I DO know is that I was told it was a recently rebuilt 390 when it was purchased, which I doubt, but we'll see when I get it apart. Well, assuming it's a 390, we'll go back to my original question:

What would be a good buildup for the engine, with a budget of about $2000?

Thanks guys.

Oh yeah, another thing. When we bought the truck, it had a 2 bbl intake and carb on it, but he included a 4 bbl intake for the motor. Which of those engines originally came equipped with a 4 bbl?