So here’s the story. Last fall I bought a 67 GT S code. The 390 had been pulled at one point and replaced with a 400. I just found a 67 390 local to begin a build. Now I know I’m gonna get a ton of opinions here but I’m starting to do some research to decide on parts and am wondering on what quirks the Fe engines family has?
The car will be street driven, I just want it to cruise good but also have the power when I step on the gas. I been leaning toward Edelbrock performer rpm heads, intake a 650 cfm carb (undecided on brand)… Just kinda trying to decide what cam would work best for me. I’ll be using a C6 and like I said it’s a street car so I don’t need anything to radical, don’t wanna have to run a high stall converter.
Little more info… like I said I’ll be using a C6. Also I have the 9 inch rearend with conventional 3.00 gears… I plan on getting a rebuilt 3rd member with a traction lock 3.5 gears.
What input do you guys have for me for me 1st venture into the Fe engine? Most of my experience is with the Windsor family and the Pontiac 400.
You need a machinist who is familiar with FE’s. Common mistakes are re - using worn out rocker arms and shafts, installing the cam bearings improperly, installing the rods in the incorrect numerical sequence, Installing the rocker shafts upside down, leaving out one or more of the oil pressure plugs, installing the cam bearing rear plug backwards, and usingFel Pro Print - Leak intake manifold gaskets.
These are only a few of the pitfalls that can happen if the fellow building your engine is a expert Windsor / Pontiac guy. There are many others. The FE is very light for its displacement, well worth doing right, but not like anything else.
I second everything Royce said, the machine shop selection is critical, and the FE is a different animal. As far as cams go I’d suggest contacting Lykins Motorsports or Mike Jones cams for a custom cam to match the rest of the build. It is not much more money and optimizes the outcome.
Royce, I will be doing a majority of the assembly. Right now I’m doing a ton of research on the Fe… I suspect finding a machine shop with good knowledge of the FEs will be my biggest challenge. Do you know of any other FE resource manuals/books? I’ve found a few FE specific building/modifying books online… Just don’t wanna get the wrong ones.
I have tore into my 390 top end twice now. If you’re looking to do it yourself you just got to pay attention to the idiosyncrasies that Royce refers to of the FE. There are more. Get one of the books, someone help me here, so and so’s FE rebuild book.
Others will chime in on the cam as I stayed stock when my own failure caused a UCR (unscheduled cam removal). I have been paying attention over the years as I wish to build my 390 as well. One thing that Royce said a year or so ago was to take a 390 and " bolt a pair of of CJ haeds on and hold on." That comment has stuck with me and I have quoted it a couple of times. Well in my case I believe CJ exhaust manifolds and larger plumbing to the back of the car is in order.
Currently my 390 is fun to drive and will spin the wheels at will from a stop or spin doughnuts from a stop but I need more, because I can!
I personally like the Ford Muscle Parts build. Basically a 428 CJ top end on a 390 block. You will need to mill the heads to keep the compression ratio up. Basically you run CJ heads, the aluminum PI intake, and the 735 CFH CJ Holley wit a set of cast CJ manifolds.
Thanks for the recommendations… I just started thinking something else… Should I automatically disassemble and get machining done or just do a compression test and make sure it’s within spec and do the mods I want to it? I’m thinking aftermarket heads, moderate cam, aftermarket intake and carb.
Do you know any history on the motor that you bought like how many miles it had on it when pulled, and how it ran? I am certainly no expert, but if compression checks out, you maybe wouldn’t have to bore it. If your going to tear it down as far as it sounds like your going to for heads, cam and intake, you might just as well pull the pan and possibly do the crank and bearings, a decent oil pump, and timing chain and gears. Really depends on the history of the motor.
Been following this thread close, and am actually a little scared for my 390 after reading some of the comments. I had it bored 30 over, crank machined, new pistons and rings, bearings, stock cam and bearings, etc. The machine shop tore it down, bored it, machined the crank, redid the heads with hard seats, put the freeze plugs in, and put the cam bearings in, but I pretty much did the rest of the assembly. I don’t recall some of what is being mentioned above like using the rods in the right order, and internal oil galley plugs when I did the rest (not to say I didn’t do that, just don’t remember) I know I reused the rockers on the shafts, (which sounds like may be a no no) and the pushrods with new lifters in the same order I took them out making sure they were all straight.
It seems it runs alright so far other than having a real slight coolant leak around one of the water pump ports I gotta fix. I still also want to verify I have the right dipstick tube and dipstick in it, so I am running the right oil level. My block came out of a 65 car.
I used the Haynes Ford engine overhaul manual, and the big blue ford manual for Cougar, Mustang, and Mercury for my guides.
Pony Carbs rebuilt a correct date coded 4brl carb for it to concourse, and I put that on a stock manifold. I didn’t use CJ exhaust manifolds, just the regular ones with the spacer valve on the right hand side. It seams like I can get a fair amount of condensation in my exhaust sometime. Wish I would have put a better exhaust on it rather that just stock 2in.
My about 25 cents worth (who put a quarter in me)
I have not looked cost of the various options, yet. I have my own shop and the neighbor shop has all the machines necessary to do valve stuff, bores, etc. So most likely I will be machining stuff. Once I find a PI intake I might get started. I know I can get other aluminum intakes but I like the idea of period correct stuff. Same thinking goes for the heads.
Well… Just to keep you guys up to date… I managed to get together with the guy with the local 390… So I picked it up today. It was out of a 67 LTD with head casting number of c6ae. Will be time to start the tear down shortly and see what I find.
Go with a 700-750 cfm carb. Stick with vacuum secondaries, since you’ll be running an automatic. Schneider is another old-school cam grinder with a lot of FE experience, that can set you up with a cam specific to your application. http://schneidercams.com/
Barry Robotnic is in Michigan. SurvivalMotorsports.com.
He also authored two books on the FE. One covers the performance parts and availability and the other building. Steve Christ also has a decent book out on FE building. I own all three.
-Keith
(who put a quarter in me)