Featured Folks Of Interest The Baddest 352 on the planet.

I could see a smaller cube version of an FE being an advantage in a cl*** where there are pounds per cube rules or weight breaks for different engine platforms , like SEGA. The little 352 would be fun in a little stripped out Falcon.

 

Let me see, the weight of a 427 and the horsepower of a 289, not much to think about. The 289 will make 450 tq and 500 hp only weighing 450 lbs or less probably closer to 400 lbs.. I don’t see any to get excited about in the video although he does another one where he does a 63 289 with long rods and custom pistons and cam, mildly ported heads and intake, stock carb and the equivalent to the Shelby intake and produced 350 hp.. No max effort like the 352 but something that will look and sound like a 271 hp 289.

 

How about a pair of Dominators on top of a Boss 302? 69 TransAm setup to run as IR.

 

Loved the video and couldn't take my eyes off of that Weiand intake. Fortunately one of my "neighbors in Oregon" has it now. The FE series are great engines (my oldest brother bought a brand new (black) 63 Galaxie with 406 and 4 speed) and they have surprised more than a few people with their power. I especially love builds using "non-mainstream engines" making good power. I'm far from his achievements with this build but happy that I yielded 461 HP from a .030" over 318 Poly with a 6 PSI supercharger. It's nothing in today's world of 1,000 HP street engines but they're not dealing with the same part and engine design limitations we are.

 

The 352 is tough as nails had one in my 65 F-100 ran the snot of that engine and it took it and asked for more.

 

The 352 is a great engine, and if you're going to keep it running the stock crank/rods/pistons, it has a huge advantage over the 360 as the 352 comes with much higher compression from the get go on the 4V versions (up to 10.6:1 on the 352, the 360 has legitimately just at 8:1 compression in real life). The engine in the video is super impressive, over 500 hp from a "little" FE is pretty awesome.....The good thing about a 360 is that it is EXACTLY the same as an apples to apples 390, only with different crank and rods (the pistons are even the same, hence why the piston is so far down in the hole on a 360), so if you are going to build a stroker there's no need to search out a 390, just buy a beater farm truck with a 360 in it....I'm a big FE guy, run a pretty stout 396" job in my OT F100 with aluminum everything except for the block. Here where I'm at in Montana, it gets down to -25 and will get to 100+ in the summer. Truck never lets me down.

 

The early '58-60 352s were powerful motors for the era, compe***ive with the 348s for the non-hipo versions at 300HP. Compression ratios were near or at 10:1 with 4V carbs depending on year. And they would respond to bigger cams and other hop-up tricks. The '60 360HP version was way ahead of the 348 at only 315 with tri-power. But after the 390 appeared in '61 it was detuned for grocery-getter use, losing 80 HP, down to a mere 220. It was tweaked again in '64 back up to 250HP because of the arrival of the 289 which nearly matched it for HP where it remained until being discontinued in cars in '67. The first year in trucks was '65, but these got even lower compression ratios so they would run on whatever cheap gas the farmer co-op was selling for farm use. In '68 it was replaced in the trucks with the 360; same motor, just with the 390 bore size but still low compression. Ford didn't offer the SBF in trucks until '69 but the option wasn't popular as it just didn't deliver enough torque for serious truck use.

Interesting that Ted Well's version so closely paralleled Brent Lykins version. But these days because of the easy availability of stroker kits and aftermarket heads, it just doesn't make sense to build one unless you're competing in a cl*** based on cubic inches and there are still better choices. I was very impressed with his scratch-built 9" center section, I'm sure that eliminated breakage!

Although those early '58-60 blocks will take a much bigger overbore compared to their later thinwall-cast brothers...

 

Not to derail the 352 thread but thinking that may not be a garden variety Boss 302.

 

In high school, I drove a '64 2 door Galaxie running a 4 barrel equipped 352. I worked on it all the time aiming for more power. It would chirp the tires going into 2nd if I stomped on the loud pedal. Sold it and bought a '58 Ranch Wagon with the Interceptor package. The top speed was around 115 if you gave it time. Next up was a '59 Galaxie with a 352 topped with a 2 barrel. It was equipped with factory A/C, but I took the unit off to use a different belt/pulley combo. Sounded absolutely bad*** with straight pipes. Would have gotten better mileage, but I drove it like it was stolen. Sold that one to a guy restoring one like it, mine was in better shape. So his turned into a parts car.

 

Wow... are reprints or old issues of that available?

 

I was most impressed and amazed with the intake valve size and the camshaft lift used on this build.

 

In stock trim, the 360’s were turds. I had one back in the 80’s in my 69 F100. It was reliable, but wouldn’t pull your hat off of your head.

For some crazy reason Ford left a lot on the table. It was the stroke. The piston was way down in the hole at tdc. The compression was anemic.

I have a 360 now, but it will be converted soon to anything but a 360.

I am new to FE’s, but they are growing on me. In my old age, I am feeling like Fords need Ford power….

I have been chatting with Mr. Lykins for the past few months. He is a great resource and super guy.

 

Even better is to compare the 352 to a 351C4V cost, power & weight wise... Then you have the ruined rep of the 352. Apparently, they built it up to 360 HP but didn't put stronger valve springs in it causing valve float at high RPM....

 

The 350 Chevy is 349 & the Pontiac 350 is actually 354 making it a Hemi!

 

Back in the fifty’s Chrysler built a 350 bb but I’ve never heard of anyone building one up, it’s the same architecture as the 361 and 383. The small displacement of the 352 doesn’t justify the weight. The fact that you need to build a ******** engine just to make 500 hp something easier to attain with a 406,427 or 428 with a much milder combination.