Hi all, Trying to help out my neighbor find a replacement motor for his 56 fairlane. It's a old school car that has a 1958 352 in it. We pulled the motor and found it full of rust scale and the block was repaired around one of the freeze plugs, not very well done. Short story, he bought the car from his dad, who bought it brand new in 56. He put a 427 4 speed and a 9 inch rearend in it and had it repainted stock colors, but added pearl to the paint. The 427 got ruined, so he replaced it with a 352. He would like to find a 352 or 390 crate motor to replace the old 352, does anyone know of a good place to get one? He is not looking for anything racey, he just wants to be able to take it to a few local events. We are in the San Francisco bay area. Thanks for any help, Jerry
Craigslist is your friend. Complete pickups and motorhomes are often cheaper than a rebuild and you can test drive them. Just enter 390 in the search window.
Lot's of Options for Turn Key FE's. The question becomes how deep is your pocket book??? Barry Robotnick (Survival Motorsports) is probably one of the best at building budget 390's that make serious power. Roush will gladly ship you a crate 427 FE if you have some $30,000 to spend. If you are looking for just a short block, Gopher or Jasper or similar should be able to get you one of "fair" quality. There is also Phoenix Engine, Lykin's Motorsports, FE Specialties, and a few others. Do your research, some are much better then others. I would be looking at the junk yards for a good 390 core out of a mid 70's pickup and building the motor myself. More fun that way.
I looked on the local Craigs list and found several junkers with running 390s in them for under a grand.should be some where you are too?
Thanks guys, I'll check all these out. He's an older guy and I would like to see him get something reliable. Thanks again.
Look for a guy with a few mid 60's Thunderbirds behind is house. They are kinda plentiful and usually have good motors.
check out the 58 engine. It should have solid lifters and adjustable Rocker Arms. Save those rocker arm componets and pushrods they are pretty rare. It also might be a 332 they are short stroke FE,s. Ive got piles of FE,s but calif is too far away.
Yeah, and save the heads. They have machined combustion chambers. They make a pretty good poor mans medium riser head.
352/390 donor cars are getting scarcer and scarcer. And you have to be pretty lucky to get a runner. Post a wanted ad here and also over at the Ford Barn, I see lots of engines there.
FE's are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere. Look for a '58-'68 Ford Galaxie. When you find one, ditch the 90 lb cast iron intake for one made of aluminum. ...we now return you to regular programming.
I'll be sure to have him check out the 352. He has built some pretty cool cars in the past. 51 Merc, F100 truck and a couple of Buick's. He did some custom painting, too. Mostly bikes, but some cars. His dad built some customs back in the day. Chop, channeled and sectioned cars and trucks. All done with a gas welder. His dad worked at a place that crushed cars, so he would rescue parts . Pretty cool history.
Just wanted to give a bit of a update. Hate to put up a question and not let everyone know what's happening. Poor guy has been through 2 broken promises, by acquaintances on motors, and 1 no show. Waiting a week on one, 2 weeks on another. Had an engine builder setup, paid a $2000 deposit. The guy said he would come by and pick his block up, never showed. Good new is it looks like his cousin found a 390 and has someone to rebuild it. Keeping my fingers crossed this one comes through for him.
As Kay Kayser said, "That's right-you're wrong." 332 and 352 both were introduced in '58 and used in '59. For instance, in '58-'60 the 352 was standard in T-birds. Odd fact: some '58 T-birds were built with the 332/Ford-O-Matic for export - I documented one first-hand in Holland in 1988, for instance. Meanwhile, I've been trying to sell a complete 390 out of a late November '63-build '64 Galaxie, with all date-codes suggesting everything is original to the engine. for over a few years outside of Omaha and couldn't find anyone wanting to buy it for more than scrap value. If I could have found a project car to stuff it in I would, but it looks like there's someone willing to give me about what I'm asking for it if I can wait until after the beginning of next year.
The 352 is not the original motor for this car. I believe it came from a 58 Thunderbird. He's told me so much about the car it's hard for me to keep things straight. LOL
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