Technical Freshen up my 390 FE

Broke my 390 ,tore it apart, and now to hopefully buy the pieces to put it back together, long story short ,piece of broken pushrod cup got into the cam and distributor gear and broke the oil pump drive .Shut it down pretty much right away but there is some galling on the crank and bearings that I hope will polish out ,will find out this week .Crank is already ground 10/20 .Found a std/std 390 crank that may polish .
If I have to use another crank does it mean rebalance the assembly again ?? Also what bearings ,haven't been to the machine shop yet so looking to be informed when I do later this week I hope .

 

It sheared the roll pin on the distributor as well ,but being standard rolled to a stop tried to start it , didn't know what was up till I pulled the distributor cap off and the rotor wasn't turning ,flatbed home ..

 

An oem crank will not require a rebalance. There is a good assortment of bearings available and a variety of prices.

 

Been looking at the sealed power 3/4 groove main bearings
Clevite 77 p rod bearings with grooved upper shell.

 

Don't think very highly of Don Palmer !! Wouldn't recommend him to anybody.. not that he doesn't know Fe's !!!
Thanks Jeff

 

Take a look at the flange that the distributor shaft goes down thru to check for breakage. A 390 is a very easy engine to repair/ rebuild, and since you need a crank, you could easily upgrade to a 410/416 while it's apart. I know most of the FE "majors", never heard of Don Palmer. Also, an FE crank can run at a pretty big undersize, if you can find bearings to fit

 

Just looking to get the motor put back together as cheaply.as possible , ran strong ,actually going to detune it more for the street. Was running a 680 ? Lift solid roller cam , 1961 hp block , not drilled to run hydralic

 

Sounds like it started life as a 375 Hp 390. Those came stock with a Factory aluminum intake, dual point dist. and a Holley carb. Most also had the shorty cast-iron exhaust manifolds. Those were pretty good for there day.

 

Actually came with shorties and tri power,rated at 401 hp

 

Remember when ordering the cam there was a timing gear change between 1962 and 63

 

The cam was dealt with when the engine was last done ,originally a spring and button