Hello all- I have a '65 390fe in my car that was "supposedly" rebuild about 7 years ago. The car then sat in a garage for 6 years and I bought it. Maybe 1,000 miles on the rebuild. It's got a lopey cam and sounds really strong but there is a ticking noise that is pretty noticable when you open the hood. Actually sounded like a exhaust manifold leak at first so I replaced the gaskets but it is def a ticking noise. Car drives fine on the road, seemingly with plenty of power although I want to tweak all that and really get some power but the ticking bothers the hell out of me. Second, if I were to put on a new set of alum cylinder heads in place of the old, would I need to replace the pushrods and lifters as well? I understand I should do that if I change the cam out but I just want to swap out the heads, intake and carb for now and see if I can get this baby moving a lot quicker and of course add headers and new dual exhaust. (And no, I have no plans to use the engine as a boat anchor) Thanks all
Find the tick before you go too far and you will know which parts to check further as you work on it. FEs are famous for exhaust leaks that tick. Take a 3' piece of fuel hose or rubber air hose, hold one end up to your ear and run the other end around any gasketed joint. You will definitely hear the tick when the end of the hose gets near it. If it was leaking for a while, the escaping g***es can actually erode the cast iron so that a new gasket might not fix it. Once you find the leak then you can investigate to see what is wrong. Some manifols need to be machined for a new flat surface for them to seal again. A good machine shop will have a table top belt sander just for this purpose. Don't forget to check the gasket at the Y pipe.
I'd go with Tommy, most likely an exhaust leak. The Hi-Po iron cast headers don't have gaskets from the manufacturer, not sure about the stock log headers though. I put iron cast on my Marauder and couldn't be happier, fits like a glove and are more silent than tube headers, AND looks gooood. Google popsperformance and check them out.
Thanks for the replies, I am hoping it is this simple as it does sound like it is coming from the exhaust but I will be sure to check everything before making the investment to quiclky. Just to clarify something though, I just recently starting hearing about cast headers. I have always know about after marker headers but since I starting looking into this 390 this phrase has been popping up. Are cast headers something Ford and Merc put out specific to certain cars as opposed to typical cast exhaust manis? Just checking as I never heard the term used before. The car is a '65 Marauder which I am just starting to mess with. Thanks again
agree it's likely an exhaust leak. I have a pair of the cast iron factory shorties and love 'em. with the stock manifolds, I had exhaust leak problem on-and-off... haven't had any issues with the headers. They can be pricey, although I haven't looked lately. Heard rumors that someone was going to re-pop them. I got mine real cheap (traded labor for them) but someone had ground the heat risers off, which makes my FE a bit cold blooded.
Here ya go. I don't think 500 is too much considering the quality of the product. http://www.popsperformancecenter.com/OrderForm1.html
Might be talking about Sandersons, but there were better flowing ex mans than normal ex manifolds made for 427/428s. You have to raise the compression 1 point on alloy heads to offset the more eficient cooling of the alloy, unless your C/R is above 9.5 & have detonation problems.
A buddy had a 428 Mach I that had a tick like that, drove him nuts. We finally pulled it out and rebuilt it. Put it back, and it still did it. Just the nature of the beast, I guess. I never get exited about little noises in FE's any more.
I rebuilt an FE motor when I went through tech school 15 years ago. I spent a lot of money on it- put in a new Edelbrock cam, flat top pistons, four barrel, headers, etc. When I got done with it there was a definite tick to it. It ran fine and had gobs of power but the tick was always there. I don't know if the tick was there before I rebuilt it because it was only driven a few miles before I pulled the motor. One day (months later) the tick started to get louder. I pulled the valve cover and ended up finding a bent push rod. My thinking was that the pushrod that bent was no longer the length it needed to be and the excessive clearance was causing the noise- made sense. I replaced the pushrod and it sounded exactly the same like it had ticked since day one. I started to obsess about the tick after a while. I even ended up thinking there was probably too much clearance with ALL of the pushrods and found that NAPA sold a set of pushrods that was just a hair longer for this application. I put them in- same. Noise never went away but it always ran great. Since then I have learned that FE motors are notorious for bending pushrods- I'm not sure why that is but it might be something to think about. I have a different FE now. It runs great and definitely has an exhaust leak on the driver's side manifold where the threads for one bolt are stripped out of the head. I've never had any issues with this motor or had any ticking (that I could hear over the exhaust leak, anyway.) Good luck with it.
I don't like noises in any engine. So keep checking everything until you find out what the noise is. Now I can say that in all of my years in the engine building bussiness I have had 2 FEs come across my door with the mystery tick. Now does you engine have a single tick or does it sound more like a bunch of the lifters are out of adjustment ?? >>>>.
i would check the mainfold mounting surfaces. had a 352 that i swore up and down had a bad lifter cause of the 'tick' sound. but found it was the old no name headers it had on it. of course i realized this after taking the top end apart and checking everthing. hope thats all it is for ya. oh i used the copper thick gaskets, much better i think then the thin stock style.
Hi all- Thanks for the wealth of info...as far as the tick goes, it is just from one locaton and not a bunch of smaller ticks throughout. I will go with my gut on this one first and explore the exhaust leak issues raised by a lot of guys as that is what I thought in the first place but thanks for the confirming stories on this, I also agree that I hate any odd noise from the engine but seeing that this is my first FE I guess I will have to get use to that as long as this engine runs strong and long. I will be picking up a pair of the cast headers and the price does help to explain what FE stands for "F---ing Expensive" This will not be a cheap build but as much of a shoestring budget as I can make it. Thanks again guys.
Had a problem with a 64 390...pulled out the dip stick...had mine in upside down (as it had a slight curvature) and was slapping the crank...hope thats your problem...d32
Is the engine in a 65 body? If not, check to see if they will fit before you plunk down the cash. I would love to use the cast iron headers on my FE in my 56 but I'm told that they won't fit. I built my own headers to resemble the early style Hedmans.
Hey Tommy- Yes the engine is in the '65 body and I have always been concerned about header fit whatever I but but since these are suppose to be repro for original they should fit without any problem.
I would expect a stuck lifter if it's not the exhaust leak old oil gone sticky after sitting for a few years. I had a motor with a tick that turned out to be a noisy fuel pump.
i was thinking about putting some cast iron shorty headers on my 56 merc does anyone know if this is a definate no go?
I have thunderbird 390 Fe's and they both have orignal cast iron Manifolds. Had a problem with exhaust leaks for a long time the Gaskets at my local parts store kept blowing out after a few months. I even checked my head surface for warping and had my manifold resurfaced flat.......but the annoying ticking leak always came back. One day the parts store guy says we are out of the gaskets do you want the original type? I said what the **** have you been giving me??? Turns out the ones he was giving me were the composite type but the originals were a big sheet metal with plug wire heat sheilding and some type of corrosion resistant coating. I put those on and never had a leak again. Good luck getting rid of your FE tick!
Definitely check the push rods. You may have to get the adjustable ones. Just a thought, but try running thick oil just to see if it gets quiet. If it does, then an exhaust leak could possibly be eliminated.
dudley32, funny you mention that dipstick. We had just fired up my Dad's '63 390 after a quality rebuild and had the same ticking. We immediately removed both exhaust manifolds as we were sure that was the problem. After replacing the gaskets the tick was still there. As it was running, I reached over and pulled the dipstick just to check the level after the additive was added and the tick stopped. My Dad looked up and said "Stupid dipstick is in wrong". He pulled it out part way and spun it around and all was fine.
Mine has had an ongoing exhaust leak that was a horribly frustrating tick on the p***enger side manifold to pipe connection. Finally added an additional support for the exhaust and it seems to be just fine now after 1000 miles. The tick is gone for now. So double check the exhaust first before tearing anything down.
My wifes 63 t/bird has the same exhaust "tick".I just cut a piece off exhaust gasket & double it up where it leaks as it is a major h***le to replace on the p***enger side.We also had the problem with the dipstick.Rubbed on the crank,during a trip up north, until it broke off & luckly went to the bottom of the sump.The crank has a slight wear mark but nothing major.Deadbeat
352 in "Grandpa's Pickup" ticked like mad. I had the exhaust manifold mating surface ground on the noisy one and the tick went away. Now the flange that holds the pipe to the manifold bent and I have more exhaust work to do.
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