Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

[Brad54]

So while walking through my favorite local junk yard, I keep spotting FE engines in old Ford trucks. The trucks are '60s and '70s.
Now, I know I'm not going to find a holy grail and pull a 427 or 428, but I've seen 390-equipped trucks in there often (going by some air cleaners that were still in place, or factory stickers on the core support, etc.).

I'm thinking about pulling one of these junk yard dogs and rebuilding it with a stroker kit.
There's a '75 in there now that has an FE, 2bbl, and I just read another site that said it could be a 360 engine. A third site said the only difference between the two is the crank and rods, and you can swap a 390 crank and rods in and it's a direct fit.

Basically, I'm looking at getting the engine as a core--I'll assume the heads are garbage, the intake is a door stop, so I'll be getting it for the block, oil pan, water pump housing, etc. etc. and will then build it up to look like a vintage 406 or something cool.

Will a 360 work for what I want to do? Should I hold out for a verified 390? Anything else I need to think about for this project?

(Never owned a Ford, but with FEs literally littering this yard over the last couple years, I feel the need. And I always liked early Galaxies, so this could be an excuse for a future project--"Honey, I've already got the engine...").

-Brad

[squirrel]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Seek psychiatric help.

[Brad54]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Seek psychiatric help.

Oh I'm waaaaay past that.

I found an empty spot on the garage floor that's screaming for something heavy.

Plus, being a freelance writer, an FE engine on the floor could lead to a story or two. "Honey, it'll feed us..."

Finally, it'd be bitchin' with gold, rounded stamped steel valve covers and zoomies in a front engine dragster chassis!

hmmm... maybe a little time on a shrink's couch wouldn't be such a bad thing...

-Brad

[squirrel]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

some guys really get into the FE engines, but the 70s truck motors are serious boat anchors.

You know the 361 is a 360, right? when they put it in a medium duty truck they added one to the size designation. same with a 391

I coulda snagged a 406 real cheap a few years back...my neighbor parted out a couple early-mid 60s tbirds....but I have enough engines laying around.

[Brad54]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Nope--I didn't know the 361 and 360 were the same engine. See? I told you I knew nothing about Fords! :

So why are the truck engines boat anchors? Is there something specific with the blocks? Essentially, that's what I'm going to be buying: block, pulleys, sheetmetal, etc. Internals will be returned as scrap, as will the heads and intake.

-Brad

[Dynoroom]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Brad, I've built an FE or three in my day. Fun engine, heavy engine, kinda pricey engine to find performance parts for BUT at least parts are out there for it.

I'd look for a 390 as you did say you wanted to install a stroker kit. So this would be the cheapest route. Also consider aftermarket heads as the iron units will very likely be cracked and will limit power by a bunch.

Have fun.............

[Monster]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

I don't know much about Fords either, but this is good schoolin' ... cool thread.
;)

[Falcon67]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

You need to go do research over on fordfe.com - that's the center of the FE universe on the web.

[67prostreet]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

The first thing you need to do with any FE motor is toss the cast intake. It's just a BIG HEAVY pain in arse to work with.

[milner351]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Yes - by far the most badder asser website of all time for the vintage Ford pushrod through the intake engines -- is FordFE.com

they are bar none the finest set of jabronies on the planet with enough knowledge on those old mills to make anything worth messing with run like a scalded ape.

They can be pricey - stay away from anything that has the letters CJ, or SCJ associated with it - I know this all too well.

I have some spare 428 stuff if you're interested in making a backyard stroker 360/390, by using a 428 crank. ;D

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

BBC is packing the pits across the world
the FE is a nice museum piece ( and I like FE race history , but by 69 they were done ) - go with a 460 lima for a ford

[chuckw2]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Nope--I didn't know the 361 and 360 were the same engine. See? I told you I knew nothing about Fords! :

So why are the truck engines boat anchors? Is there something specific with the blocks? Essentially, that's what I'm going to be buying: block, pulleys, sheetmetal, etc. Internals will be returned as scrap, as will the heads and intake.

-Brad

391's have a steel crank with a larger diameter snout than a 360/390. Factory 361md had different pistons than a 360. 361hd had the steel crank like the 391.

[squirrel]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

Keep in mind that when you go to the forum where the FE worshipers hang out, you'll probably not hear any criticism of the engine.

Even if it is worthy of criticism.

[jfuelracer]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

My buddy Barry has a 332 in High school. He tried to make it into a 406, lots of work as I recall. I remember things like having to make a pilot bearing because Ford used a different crank for a stick or automatic car and the automatic crank didn't have a recess for a bearing. The word at the time was those Fords are all the same, WRONG. Making that 406 stuff fit was quite a challenge. I seem to remember something about the timing gears being different,. Long story short, it was a lot of work only to get blown off by each and every 327 on the street.

[mustang13]

Re: Ford FE 360, 361 and 390 engines... help?

An FE with aluminum heads, intake and water pump weights the same as an all cast steel 351w. Food for thought. Save some American steel from the crusher, enjoy the build process, do the tech right ups for a little cash, then sell it to someone building a Cobra kit car. Hate to agree with Spidie but, go for the 385 series 429/460 if a BBF is a most. Crank and pistons are the difference between them, not a big deal to grow the extra cubes if you find a 429. My $.02.