Getting the best HP out of my 360 FE

[flatoutford1976]

I have a 360 FE. I already know the only difference between a 360 and a 390 is basically the crank and the carb that came stock. i already plan to rebuild my 360 . i know I want to install a 390 crank.My questions are:

#1 should I bore it out and how much?

#2 What size cam should I run?
My options are : . .256/.268---.487/.493
.270/.270---.519/.519
.262/.27--- .513/.520
.268/.268 ----.494/.494
.272/.282 ---.460.480
.280/.280 ---.530.530
.296/.296 ---.572/.572

Now bear in mind I am not Building a race truck. this is a truck that is bagged and body dropped. I just want to be able to burn the tires off for the sole purpose of looking cool. Right now it can't pull the hat off your head much less do a burn out.........
I already have a 4 barrel carb and edelbrock intake and my other plans are a set of headers.. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.. Thanks

P.S If you truly have no advice or you do not know what you are talking about please do not submit a reply thanxs

 

[1985 Ford F-150]

390 crank and rods is a good place to start. The machine shop will probly determine how far it needs to get bored out but, .030 is the standard. 10:1 pistons are also a good idea if ya want to run on pump gas. The cam mostly depends on what ya want to do with it. The 268 is a great towin cam with a fair lope in the idle, the 272 is the next step up and will have a little more of a lope to it than the 268 will. Another option is a stoker 410 and that involves gettin a 428 crank and 390 rods and a wieghted flywheel or flexplate dependin on the trans. Of course an edelbrock intake and carb is another good thing to put on there.

An msd ignition box will also make it run alot better and have a much better spark. Good aftermarket wires from Taylor are a great upgrade. This is just some of the stuff you can do to em. You can also get edelbrock heads that are like a cobra jet head and will make alot of power.

 

[flareside_thunder]

Dan is dead on with what he's said. I don't have much to offer but I can tell you that if you bumped your timing up a bit then that'd give you a little more power NOW if that's what you're craving. It also wouldn't hurt to do that after the rebuild. What a sexy truck man.

 

[TexasNomad]

Do what Dan said
Also invest in some good head work..

 

[surewhynot]

Knowing the rear end ratio would help us in suggesting a cam. Getting the package as a whole to match up and make power in a usable rpm range for the truck is key.

 

[LEB Ben]

All pretty good advice thus far...only thing I have to add is I'd go with a .040 overbore, probably 4.10s in the rear...and Eddy carbs are dry flow tested as opposed to the wet flow tested of Holley carbs, which usually helps eek out a few more hp when comparable Eddy/Holley carbs go head to head.

 

[Kealhofer1@bellsouth]

If I was going to pull the motor, I would go ahead and drop in a 429/460. You will have plenty of power stock, but you would always have the option of adding little things to it to pep it up. If you spend all that money on the 360 and it is still not enough then what???? You can order a rebuilt motor from Jasper for cheap. You can order it stock or modified. It is amazing what a good running stock big block will do with the right gear setup. This is just my opinion and as you can tell I am partial to the Big Block.

 

[Mil1ion]

Edelbrock PERFORMER Intake and an Edelbrock Performer carb

Stay away from the Performer RPM series.

 

[flatoutford1976]

Thanks Dan your advice sounds good. now do you think you could float a brother a loan so I can get this done.....Just joking

will there be a huge advantage to buying new heads compared to having mine reworked and If I do get mine reworked what can I get done to trick them out. I have heard alot of terms.... ported, polished etc.... But I am a little hazy as to what those terms mean exactly. I just don't have that much experience in the engine rebuilding dept. I can fab my *** off but there is deffinitely a learning curve here...

I am really not sure what the gears are but I am sure they are whatever came stock..
is there any difference in 360 heads and 390 heads? I don't think there is but I am not sure.

 

[1985 Ford F-150]

The heads on yours will be fine just have the machine shop go through em and make sure theyll be good. As far as heads go the edelbrocks are kinda pricey. When they talk about port and polish they enlarge the intake ports on the intake side of then head and a polish means they smooth the chambers and the exhaust and intake ports out for better flow. Ive never messed with it but ive heard it can get expensive. The stock heads are fine for a daily driver. Ford made six or seven variations in the heads that im aware of. Most of the variations are for higher peformance motors like the 427 and 428 CJ but theres also 390 HP heads and 352 HP heads wich are close to the 428 CJ heads. You rear end gears will be on a tag on the rear end somewhere attached with a bolt and itll have the ratio and id numbers on it. If your gonna be doin any highway drivin then stay with a 3.73 gear. 4.10s are too low for highway speed when ya have smaller tires. My 72 has 33s on it and 4.10s and it turns about 2900 at 65 which is right on the edge of the powerband for the stock cam. ya want to be about 2500 for half decent milage and higher for towin. Also get ARP rod bolts for the connectin rods so ya dont have one come loose or beak on ya and blow the motor. That is what happened to my 428 I had it ended up destoryin the block and mangled two rods.

Heres some pics of the different intake port sizes between some heads that I have. The first pic is of a standard heads intake port size is. This is most likely what youll have on that 360.

This is a pic of some 427 heads intake ports.

 

[Mil1ion]

From the the sounds of it you are looking for more TORQUE as opposed to H/P.

Ford engines are designed to give higher torque at lower RPM'S compared to short stroke GM engines that require High RPM's
Check out the power band of your engine.
Most of it is at 2200-2400 RPM up to 4200-4400 RPM's


Porting and polished heads Yourself ?

Do it at your own risk

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Shop/2341/pandp.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_4928270_port-polish-cylinder-heads.html