Ford told a 'tall tale', Tall Tom. 180 was not to be seen by Ford for a few Nascar years... In 1962, Ford allotted Holman & Moody some 427 Side-oiler Boxtop Galaxies, close ratio 4 speeds, and the optional 9" limited slip rears...these cars were Ford's entries for the 1963 NASCAR lineup. Try as they did, the H/M crew couldn't wring ant more than 151 MPH out of the Fords (Dual Four BBL 427 Side-Oilers!) at top speed. That is, not until they torch-cut the 'bubble top' off a 1961 Starliner and grafted it onto one of the brand new 'allotted' units from Ford. The prototype immediately picked up 16 MPH, (doesn't seem like a lot, but try it sometime. Like dropping 2 seconds off Drag time E.T.) Ford engineers flew down to the Carolinas to see the 'improvement'...Ralph Moody told a version that was priceless...The engineers looked at the acetelyne torch modification to their Galaxy, pored over the figures, and left. The H/M team was elated when the new 'Fastbacks' arrived on the train...a whole new top design, wind tunnel tested and fresh from Dearborn. The Mid-Year '63 and a Half' Fastback! And they cleaned house.
Check out your pistons before you buy. You much keep the quench up to atleast stock comp. Many new lo $ end 390 FE pistons are low in the quench and will turn it into a dog. A quality rebuilt 390 with changing to a few aluminum parts (intake forsure) will be a great preformer. Like any engine more HP more $$$. good luck
I have a 390 FE in my 1955 F100. I used the Edelbrock RPM cylinder heads, intake, and carb with a Comp Cam. In my truck with a 3.25 gear, I have plenty of hp and torque! Nothing sounds like a FE engine!!!
I just ordered this book this morning. I am not recommending the book since I haven't read it yet but hopefully there is some good info in it. http://fepower.net/GFEIC.html
I'm looking at an old motor Dyno slip here on one of my 390's with a 428 Crank solid lifters and tri power. We did a little clean up in the heads. I don't remember the cam numbers. At 6100 rpm it made 416.7 ft lbs TQ and 483.9 HP I red lined it at 6800 rpm. I know it's not apples to apples on what your doing, just thought I'd put some true numbers out so you'd know you can get real H.P. with just a little improvement. Good Luck, The Wizzard
390s can run good if the right guy is building them. We've got a local guy at the track with a 390 in a mustang that runs low 7s high 6s in the 1/8th with a home built 390, iron ported heads, street car.
There will be a lot of conjecture as to HP potential of your engine. Just remember when you are bragging at the hot dog stand you can say anything you want within reason. the true test of any engine is by the seat of your pants. Get it running the best you can, strap in and let fly. if it makes you get goose bumps you done good. If it doesn't you just start thinking about ways to make it better.
SpdJnky & FalconGeorge: I've got Jay Brown's Intake Comparo Book & really like the detail he put in. He sliced & diced the Dyno info in many different ways & put comparisons side by side so you can see on bar graphs how each intake performs. He also used 4 different engines from a 428 to a 445 (stroked 390) & two 427 based engines. So you can see which manifold would be best for your build. The book also has a section comparing different exhaust manifolds & headers. It's a great buy if you like FE's. (Added) that there are 49 different intake combinations covered but a couple of single quads got 2 different size 4bbl's and some were stock & port matched to show improvements in minor work Movin/on
I always wondered why Ford never offered the 3x2 intake option for the ''67-'68 390GT Mustang and Torino cars... Even though they had those intakes in the pipeline.... Guess we'll never find out..
Too hard to tune, is the only thing I can think of. Make it go fast and easy to maintain and don't loose your reputation for putting out a fast car. Think of it this way, Chevy used an FI on the corvettes for several years. More often than not the FI got pulled in favor of a carburator. That FI really worked if you could tune it well but it needed lots of attention. They dropped it in favor of a carb, easier to maintain and the rep for going fast didn't get ruined that way. yea I know apples to oranges but the same principle. And conjecture at best.
But the carbs were Holleys... Only the center carb needed to be tuned... Real easy to do with a vacuum gauge..
Its been on my "lust list" since before it came out. I'd heard about it when Jay was putting it together. Just one of those "I'll get to it" deals. I think I need to buy myself a christmas present. What I REALLY want is a Dove Tunnel Wedge intake, but I gotta hunch Santa doesnt think I've been a good enough boy.
At that point, they already had the Tunnel Wedge, if they were going to do a multiple carb option, they should have gone that route. I read in an interview with Bob Tasca that the ford brass had tighter rules for idle quality and noise levels than the other guys in the late sixties, thats part of why the Boss 429's were so weak.
If you're in Hungary the fuel will be low octane. I wouldn't go over 8.5 to one...might get 280-300 HP tops but if you keep with that 262 degree cam the torque should begin to come in at 2500 RPM...probably run outta pwoer at 4500--4800 RPM.
I just picked up this 390 GT engine complete,stock..68 or 69... I know zero about these engines,It's going into the Widow Maker.
For those that were-are wondering how much HP for an FE? I got in contact with Jay Brown on the Intake Comparo & asked his permission to post a couple of pages (he actually sent some). So Here is a sample of the book. Again these are a representation of what the book contains but is just a mere sample. Jay in great detail describes all of the nuances of assembling a well ruunning FE as well as looking out for pitfalls (like oil leaks on the intake) and Cam, timing etc... The sample pages of the book he sent me are of the 427 sideoiler & the top manifold was about 605 HP. The bar graph shows the various manifold effects. Just from my understanding the FE 445 stroker would be about 100HP less but varies also from cam-heads,etc... Jay chose to block out the exact manifold names because you need to find out all of the differences to make a sensible conclusion (not a spontaneous decision on the value of a manifold). I totally agree with his thought. Hope this helps. Not an endorsement of the book but I bought one with no regrets. Movin/on
My copy of the book came in mail this week. I started reading it and I highly recommend it. Ton of good info in it!
here is my 34 chev with a 61 390 hp and close ratio 4 speed toploader I have no idea how many horsepower but will put rubber on the pavement every shift 390's are not a cheap engine to build (but what is?) 30 over diamond 10.5-1 pistons h beam rods solid 674 lift roller cam dove roller rockers c1ae heads 2,17 intake 1.66 exhaust, intake valves shrouded ported and equalized intake runners on tri power port matched to heads hooker headers centerforce 2 cluth and mccloed hydraulic bearing
HTML: SpdJnky & FalconGeorge: I've got Jay Brown's Intake Comparo Book & really like the detail he put in. He sliced & diced the Dyno info in many different ways & put comparisons side by side so you can see on bar graphs how each intake performs. He also used 4 different engines from a 428 to a 445 (stroked 390) & two 427 based engines. So you can see which manifold would be best for your build. The book also has a section comparing different exhaust manifolds & headers. It's a great buy if you like FE's. (Added) that there are 49 different intake combinations covered but a couple of single quads got 2 different size 4bbl's and some were stock & port matched to show improvements in minor work Movin/on I agree, you can tell he´s an engineer because he´s taken a very scientific approach. Every step of the way has been thoroughly explained, establishing a baseline and going from there on. I´m pretty sure how I´ll build my Galaxie engine now.
I have a 406 that has been with me since new. The 390's I associated with were 1) strong engines. 2) Had the potential for being an extremely fast engine and 3) always (when built right) made a very account at the Drag Strips I went too. There was one in a '63 two door post that constantly took home a Trophy. It was Blue Printed by a shop at 41st and Market St. in San Diego. Normbc9
34 Wood Remover?? Dry sump setup? Looks like some remote filters under the steering box area. How about some info on the oil system. Movin/on
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