Technical 390 FE Factory Intake

I have been stockpiling parts for my 390 upgrade. The engine is out of a 63 Galaxie
and is currently in stock form. I was really wanting to keep the original factory intake manifold on the motor but a friend says I won't be served too well by that. If I can keep the original factory intake and still get the hp up like I was wanting to I think I will just stay with what I got. Here is a picture of the motor with my new (to me) parts. Anybody got any thoughts on the intake ? I do plan on getting a new cam and having the heads worked on as well.
Thanks

 

Usually the most you get out of an aftermarket intake is 10-20 HP if same carb. A lot of times not even that

 

You might make a little more horsepower, but you will definitely shave off lots of weight by going with an aftermarket intake. My factory intake about gave me hernia trying to put it on while the motor was in my truck. Took 2 of us to handle it carefully.

 

How much hp you looking for?

 

Yea it is a big thing

 

350-400 max

 

First up I would renew my gym membership for moving that cast iron intake, but you know that already. I'm currently in talks with my engine builder as to which direction I go with my FE 390. He seems to think that that sort of horsepower is achievable with some headwork, cam etc. I'm using a vintage Weiand intake on mine. I tend to believe him as he is /has built quite a few down here. One good thing I see with your pics is that you have headers for it. They have got to be better than stock exhaust manifolds. Others may chime in and say I'm talking through my ***. There are some very knowledgeable folks on here when it comes to FE's, I will let you all know when I'm ready to get it done. Cheers and keep us posted

 

The headers are probably the most effective modification for stock-ish FEs. The stock logs that came on garden variety 352-390s are horrible. The optional performance manifolds are a little better.
I put a bone stock 390 from a 67 T-bird in my ‘53 F100. With my oversized street tires you could punch it from a dead stop and it would just accelerate with no wheel spin. I built a custom 1 7/8 four tube header with a 3”x12” collector for one side and hooked it to my 2 1/2” exhaust system. I needed to have the truck running for work on Monday so I did one whole side each weekend. Leaving work I again punched it and it spun the tires easily. The following weekend I built the other side and again tested on the street at work. It could now light the tires like a big block powered pickup should.
That was a real eye opener for me, that old 390 just flat came alive.

 

I'm pretty sure the FE intakes weigh at least 500 pounds! Should be a federal law that they are all replaced with aluminum!

Dave

 

can always use the engine puller to ***ist with intake.. can run a better cam, etc like with GT motors for horsepower. also depends on rest of drive train, and weight of ride, to determine final power.

 

I didn't see your cam choice, but the headers are definitely the biggest improvement as far as a bolt on that you can make to an FE (or pretty much any old school Ford. The log style manifolds they seem to like to use were terrible.)...so since you've gone to headers, we need to make it breathe....any standard stock 4 barrel Ford intake manifold is mediocre at best (as I said, stock 4 barrel. 2x4 or 3x2 don't count). Any low rise from the usual suspects (like an Edelbrock Performer) adds nearly zero as far as performance goes, but as already stated, the factory cast iron manifolds are HEAVY. The pushrods go through them and they make up part of the valve cover rail like a normal cylinder head, so the low rise aluminums do have that going for them if nothing else...The Edelbrock Performer RPM is the general "go to" manifold, and works well for pretty much anything until we get into tunnel ram or forced induction applications (nitrous, supercharger, turbo). The Performer RPM is only a few dollars more than a Performer. The performance difference is night and day. Depending on your cam and exhaust choice, it'll make 15 hp at worst, and 40-50 hp difference using a good cam and headers, with more torque and horsepower literally everywhere. It's a no brainer for a street engine.

 

Aluminum Offy with a pair of 625 CFM genuine Carter AFB's on mine.

GT-390 cylinder heads, GT-390 exhaust manifolds (somewhat better than others), and GT-390 cam in my slightly off-topic F100.

And my wife and I can have a normal conversation OR listen to the radio WHILE the engine is running. I had 4-tube headers, and neither of the above was possible, plus a headache was the norm if one drove more than a few miles. 4-tube should come with ear muffs as an accessory!

1st gear is useless except for two things:

(1) tire smoke
(2) pulling a wagon at idle in the hayfield with no driver (open door to steer)

2nd gear will roast the tires in the summer, how much power does one need?

Jon

 

Depends on one's definition of power and how you intend to use it. HAHA

 

I'm no FE expert, but I have read a lot in anticipation of a project that fell through. Most opinions I have read say the factory intakes are pretty close in performance to the standard Edelbrock Performer. For any appreciable improvement, the Performer RPM is the way to go.

There are variations in intakes from the factory so you do need to identify which version you have. Some are better than others.

 

You also need to remember that if you machined anything off the heads or intake you need to machine the intake as well.

 

It all depends on what you want the motor to do. If you plan to use it as a cruiser, don't expect to make major power above 5000 rpm, and want to maintain some semblance of decent mileage, the factory intake will be just fine. If you want to make a ripper, that spins to 6,000+ rpm and pulls hard through all the gears, the factory intake will get pretty wheezy in the upper rpm range.

I re-built a 390 a number of years ago for use in a '76 F250 Camper Special. Used the factory 4 bbl intake. Howard's Dual Pattern Cam, Headers, 9.5:1 flat tops, D2 Heads - cleaned up with 3 angle valve job, DuraSpark II ignition, and 600 CFM Holley on top. That motor pulled like a freight train between 2200 and 4000 rpm. It handled my 10,000 lb 24' enclosed car hauler with ease. However, it was all done at 4500 rpms, mostly due to the small carb and intake combo.

 

I always thought you would lower the center of gravity on the vehicle about a foot by replacing the stock intake with an aluminum one.

 

Are those factory Ford 352 aluminum intakes pretty rare? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 360 hp 352 before.

 

I love it !

 

I will do that

 

The best intake I had on my 66GT was an aluminum one from a 428 Police Interceptor.

 

My 2cents worth: 428 cj intake or an alum unit painted block color if that's important. My 1st dragster was fe powered. I ran the 3 deuce setup back to back with a 428 cj iron take that had an 850 holley. I think the single 4 was the better deal. That was 1976 so the memory is pretty much gone. The 3 deuce setup is about the same amount of rise as a stock 4 bl. intake so other than gaining some cfm, there's not much else there. The engine was a rebuilt 428 with what appeared to be the same head as a 390 with some stiffer valve springs and a solid lifter Chet Herbert cam. I think it was around 230 degrees duration. It had an Accell dual point dist. About as low dollar setup as you could have.

 

There’s a few intakes listed in marketplace around Al, Tn and Ga
Like these


And this complete engine

plus a tri power or 2
My neighbor has a couple new ones
He’s between Jasper and Birmingham

 

I like those. I don't have marketplace. I would love to pretty much have any of those