STRODDER said:
I need some advice on what I should do. My 59 Bird has the original 352 engine and trans. Should I rebuild it or put a 84 5.0 injected regular motor in it with the trans? The engine is complete with A/C and power steering. I also have a 350 Chevy that I could put in it. Should I keep it all ford? It's going to be a custom, so I don't care about originality. I've been a Chevy guy. I don't know much about Ford stuff.
Living in California, you will have a legal problem if you bring the T-bird up to a modern engine. All emissions for the new engine will be required on the chassis and engine. That means fuel vapor recovery, legal exhaust with cats and exact pipe, the instrument panel will require a "Check Engine" light, etc. Then you'll have to ding/dong with the BAR and CARB. If you don't follow their rules and ever get caught, count on them making a poster child of you similar to Jessie James and his quarter of a million dollar fine and having to retrofit or park everything he built.
The best solution is to put in another FE or, and this was an option back then, an MEL 430 to its stretched version the 462. The 352 in the bird was always a dog, you can brighten up the performance and stay with an FE as it will look original with a 390/tamed 406/410 or 428. If you want bigger and retain a numbers matching block, the 59 352 has a lot of meat in it and can be bored easily to .125 or .130. With a 3.78 inch crank that puts 390 with a .05 overbore and 390 pistons and rods, or 406 with a .130 overbore using the 3.78 crank and rods. 410 can be had with a 3.98 inch 428 crank and a .05 overbore and 428 with a .130 overbore.
Frankly except for a suicide full out race motor I like to stay conservative on overbores and would go to a 4.05 bore which gives you the choice of 390 or 410 depending on crank selection. A .05 overbore on the 352 with stock crank will go to the Edsel 361 and a .130 overbore will take it to 374 inches. However, without a stroke increase these 352 growths don't add to bottom end grunt which the bird needs. Remember that Ford moves pin location in the piston and often the rod when stroking a motor so do research and ask questions.
The 59 automatic is the Borg-Warner 3 speed, it's not a very strong transmission, a late 60s C6 would be a better choice.
If you can score a Lincoln with a 430 or 462 and its tranny, this makes a powerful and economical cruiser out of the bird, finally mating enough engine to let that tank roll with ease.
A 350 Chevy would detract from the cars value and certainly has nothing to offer power or economy wise to over the 352 and friends. To really get into the torque the bird needs to cruise nice, you really need to take the SBC to 383, 400, 406 or more. That's as much cost and hassle as doing the 352 into something the car really needs.
Frankly, if it were mine I be shopping for a Lincoln to put in it. My father had one back in 1960, that thing would melt the Firestones right down to the rims. Plus you could run it from Berdoo to Vegas at a 100 + all day long without the slightest strain.
Bogie