Customs removing a 390, for my 54 Merc custom

hey guys, maybe a few years o/t but, I am a Chevy guy !! and now I want to put a 390 Ford motor in my 53 Mercury... any Ford, tricks, getting this motor out of a 64 T-bird.??? I only need the engine. should I pull both, then pull the shot trans off. .????I know zero about pulling Fords.. I do know the exhaust bolts break into the heads. that's about it.. thanks

 

Should come out pretty easily, just cut the exhaust head pipes off short and leave the manifolds attached, if you can soak those upper exhaust bolts with Kroil or PB for a few days and use a bit of heat, they will usually come out with less drama. It will have a Cruiso as you probably know, so a C6 will be an easier and cheaper alternative. A friend had a Medium Riser in a '54, fit pretty well with the log manifolds

 

thanks Gene.

 

Good engine to start with. The trans in the Bird is likely a cast iron Ford-O-Matic. I would pass on the trans and leave it there. Many good aftermarket intakes are available for the 390 these days. Good vintage ones too. There should be 2 nuts on the motor mounts you can access from underneath.

 

ford fe 390,352 etc are notorious for cracked exhaust manifolds.my bolts came out real easy after soaking with kroil.

 

If you have ever pulled a Chevy motor, you know that the bell housing bolts are pretty close to the firewall and kinda hard to get to in some cases. Well the 390's sit further from the firewall and a lot easier to get to. The torque converter is kind of a pain but not to bad. Other than that, its just like anything else! Oh... Get headers!! Stock FE exhaust manifolds are very restrictive. Unless you get the Hi-Po cast iron ones but they arent cheap!!! Anyway, have fun!!

 

390s /352s also end up with crack exh flanges on the heads as well as the manifolds.

 

this just might be why I use Chevy's..lol

 

A buddy of mine put a 390 in a '51 Ford back inte early 80s, as far as I know it is still in the car.

He made headers as clearance was 'snug' with the exhaust manifolds (Ya gotta remember here in NZ the steering wheel is on the right!)

I guess the exhaust flange on th ehead could crack but I've never heard of it.

390 is a good reliable motor as long as you don't constantly beat on it.
Oh, and it IS heavier than a sbc!

 

I presently have about 24 FE's around the place and have had my hands on many more, and the ONLY heads I've seen exhaust flange cracks on is a set of 406 heads I have that were run very hard for a very long time on a V-drive boat, and have two small cracks that will sew up nicely. The exhaust manifolds aren't any more prone to cracking than any other cast iron stock manifolds. And they aren't actually very heavy, only a little more than an SBC at about 620- and an aluminum intake is a great equalizer. Think for yourself and ignore the propaganda brainwashing attempts and you and your 390 will get along fine. Give me a holler when you get it out and I'll send you some diagnostic and inexpensive rejuvenation and wakeup tips to get you started
And don't let any Chebbie- wired machinists work on it

And it's much easier to pull it all out at once and then divorce the old Cruisomatic than to try and divorce it in the car- trust me. Why beat up your knuckles trying to unbolt it in tight quarters when you don't have to?

 

thanks all, motor is out and waiting for the Merc frame, coming home tonite