I've owned my 59 T-bird since the first of the year, it's my only car. Yesterday I realized I really don't know shit about the engine in it besides the fact that it's rated at 300 horsepower and is the precursor to the 390. I was hoping you guys could remedy that. I want all the general knowledge and their strengths & weaknesses. Throw down with the knowledge!
Ford introduced the "FE" series engines in '58; these included 332, 352,360,361(truck),390,406,427, and 428's. Very many, but not all, of the parts interchange, nearly all of the blocks have "352" cast on the front drivers side just below the head. Used in most full sized Ford and Mercurys and trucks, this motor was produced until 1976. They are very reliable, make LOTS of torque, and they look cool, too. The oiling is probably one of the weaker features; but there are some easy fixes. These are just the very basics If you really want to be educated on the fine motors, go to the FE forum and talk to the real guru's http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182
ALMOST anything you find or read about a 390 applies to a 352. Best I remember through a bud light blue fog is that a 390 is a 352 bored .050, and all else interchanges save the exhaust manifolds 'cause 390's had several variations, and motor mounts, 'cause a 352 had a 2 bolt block mount and a 390 had a 3 bolt block mount. BUT the bolt PATTERN was the same for either engine, just that 390's had an extra block lug, so they could be swapped around. I could also just be high.
Oh, and "oiling" True dat! 'cept if you keep the R's under 55oo, you will never really care. All but side oiler 427's oiled from the heads to the cam to the crank. Not a good thing to do to the crank for a performance engine. Mod's are not so hard or expensive, but just not needed for a cruzer. Did I mention high?
Well being an "ole drag racer" and having worked on 427 and 428 Fords doesn't make me an expert................I did learn a lot of tricks to make them perform and live above 5000RPM...because back in the day Ford FE parts were more expensive than Hemi parts... here are a couple of good sites you need to join or visit often. This is from some of my favorites list. The 352 was brought out in 1958 as a 300hp motor and phased out of cars in in 1967. It was available in Ford trucks from 1964 unitl 1967,.In 59 the 352 came in two flavors, 225HP with 2V and 300HP with 4V. The 352/390/428 blocks are mostly the same, the only difference being variations in bore and stroke. http://www.FordFE.com http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0608em_ford_big_block_engine/index.html http://www.mercurystuff.com/ http://www.carlsfordparts.com/ http://www.bluethunderauto.com/ http://www.erareplicas.com/engines.htm http://phystutor.tripod.com/stang/engines/fe.html http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/51561-352-engine-2.html http://www.boxwrench.net/specs/ford_352-428.htm http://www.fordclassics.com/enginespecs.html http://www.transmissionadapters.com/ford_fe.htm
Something missed by these guys: The block and MOST of the internals interchange between a 352 and the more "desireable" FE's (390/406/427) The 352 uses a 4.00 bore and a 3.50 stroke with a 6.540 connecting rod, while the 390 uses a 4.05 bore and a 3.78 stroke with a longer 6.488 connecting rod. If you choose to rebuild and punchout your 352, it's easier and cheaper to just buy a 390 rotating assembly. And have your block sonic checked, they didn't reccommend any more than a .030 overbore on most FE blocks. And ditto for what they said about oiling.....
I'll add that one of the weak points in getting power out of the FE is the very restrictive exhaust manifolds. Here's a good link for you: http://www.fordpowertrain.com/FPAindex/headers1.htm For intake manifolds, the old Edelbrock Streetmaster is actually a good manifold, backed up by dyno results in a comparison with almost all of the aftermarket intakes. http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182/message/1143436444/Final+Results+-+Intake+Manifold+Comparo
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