How to ID a 390?

Cool Hand Lurker

Cool Hand Lurker

Well-known member
Somebody told me that the only way to identify a 1964 Ford 390 engine from the other big blocks is to take the heads off and measure the cylinders. That doesn't sound right to me and I want to make sure the replacement engine that I am getting is actually a 390. Is there any other way to tell the difference?
 
That is correct. Bore and stroke, numbers on the outside of the block will tell you nothing with respect to displacement. 390 and 410 are 4" bore, next up is 4.123, could be 428 or 406 and then the "daddy", the 4.25 bore for the 427. The cross bolt mains and the side oiler "bump" will say a little, might be a 406 or a 427.
 
Well what I have done is remove a spark plug and have a long screwdriver and measure the stroke.

If you get the stroke right,your getting at least a 390. Or a bored out 390.

Oldmics
 
Yeah and another thing when it comes time to sell a 360 , they will turn in to 390s or 428s and the seller will swear they came in the car or truck new.:)
 
I guess the easiest thing is to pull a sparkplug and measure the stroke. If it is 3.784 it is at least a 390 and could be a 391 or 406, depending on the bore. Only those engines have the 3.874 stroke.
I won't pull a head to check the bore because it really doesn't matter to me which of the three engines it is. Thanks for all the input.
 
Thanks Jeff. That is some good info, especially appropriate for what I am thinking of. The engine that I have located for the T-Bird is out of a truck so I will have to do some more checking to see if it will just drop right in. Maybe I will have to tear apart the one that I have after all. Rather have somebody else tear it apart though.

This site has really educated me on the FE series motors. I have had flatheads, Y-blocks and Windsors but none of the FE's in-between.
 
Cool hand, the FE motors are good heavy reliable boat anchors, that being said, have someone who is good with heads do your head work many times this is the problem area. The guides are almost always bad as are the rocker shafts. after these are repaired they run good and strong. Give it a little more cam, helps fix the breathing issues that Ford had in these years. Good luck and happy motoring.
 
oldbugger said:
Cool hand, the FE motors are good heavy reliable boat anchors, that being said, have someone who is good with heads do your head work many times this is the problem area. The guides are almost always bad as are the rocker shafts. after these are repaired they run good and strong. Give it a little more cam, helps fix the breathing issues that Ford had in these years. Good luck and happy motoring.
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That is true if your idea of a boat anchor is one butt kicking, bullet proof power plant. FE motors won an awefull lot of NASCAR races and championships in their day; they embarrassed Ferrarri at Le Mans 3 years in a row; their drag racing history is legendary; FE's kicked butt in boat racing. The only way they stopped FE's Le Mans type racing domination is by outlawing them! The sanctioning body couldn't stand the idea of an American auto company kicking their collective elitist butts. Even King Petty left Chrysler to join the FE brigade for a while until even NASCAR legislated against them by putting restrictor plates on them. They put restrictor plates on Chryslers too, but the FE plates were smaller than the Chrysler ones Chevy had the biggest ones of all! I'm not aware of the heads being a problem to anyone but competitors as Ford had many butt kicking head designs for various applications in competition. (High riser, medium riser, low riser, tunnel port for ex.) Breathing issues?

Some boat anchor.
 
The cast iron intake weighs 85 lbs. An aluminum one will save you about 55 lbs. The heads aren't very heavy as the intake includes about 1/3 of the head. Probably doesn't make sense to anyone not familiar with the fact that the FE intake actually goes under the valve covers and is part of what would normally be the heads, It has been a few years since I weighed the FE heads, but bare FE heads are about the same or lighter than bare SBC heads.

A decently built FE is virtually indestructable. In the 60's, they were good for 7500 RPM all day when even small block Fords Chevies and MOPARS would come unglued at 7000.
 
Interesting test published by the Bowtie guys:http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209051 Compare the Ford 427 to the Chevelle L88,boat anchor? NAH! Most of the weight in an FE is in the intake and heads,swap them out for aluminum and you have a about the same weight as an SBC with a huge amount of more torque.Lots more info here too:http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182/
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I checked out the link you provided Jeff. Those Chev guys sure got upset that the Ford and the Chrysler/Dodge outperformed their top engines.
A bitter pill to swallow. There is no engine if it doesnt have a bowtie.
LMAO
 
Motorhead6 said:
That is true if your idea of a boat anchor is one butt kicking, bullet proof power plant. FE motors won an awefull lot of NASCAR races and championships in their day; they embarrassed Ferrarri at Le Mans 3 years in a row; their drag racing history is legendary; FE's kicked butt in boat racing. The only way they stopped FE's Le Mans type racing domination is by outlawing them! The sanctioning body couldn't stand the idea of an American auto company kicking their collective elitist butts. Even King Petty left Chrysler to join the FE brigade for a while until even NASCAR legislated against them by putting restrictor plates on them. They put restrictor plates on Chryslers too, but the FE plates were smaller than the Chrysler ones Chevy had the biggest ones of all! I'm not aware of the heads being a problem to anyone but competitors as Ford had many butt kicking head designs for various applications in competition. (High riser, medium riser, low riser, tunnel port for ex.) Breathing issues?

Some boat anchor.
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I never said it wasn't the best boat anchor ever produced, but you have to admit that the early 332, 352 and 390's did not make a lot of hp in stock form. You are now talking about high performance and competition engines. In early stock form they mostly were 2 barrel carbs. The 4 barrel heads certainly flow better but really come alive with a bit more cam. the original poster was asking about putting a stock truck engine in his T bird. My comment was not for competition engines, I love my bored out 390 with cam and holley carb, It runs great, but its not ready for NASCAR. Thanks omho, Paul
 
I have to jump in here. The "Z" code 390 was rated at 300 HP. Street Rodder built three, one was bone stock except it had 9.5 cr, one was mild performance and one was all out. The bone stock engine produced 301 on the dyno, Ford used that engine in Birds 61 - 66 and other lines as well.

My old 390/4 speed/3:89 traction lock with Hooker headers and Corvair Turbos (the real ones) equiped 63 1/2 Galaxie ran solid 14.1s and 2s in 1969 at Union Grove in WI.
 
I have a `66 Mercury Montclair 2dr hardtop with a mostly stock 390 (H code). I have a 4 barrel and an aluminum intake ready to put in but would also like to update the cam to get a little more out of the engine. (I want to be able to burn some rubber at a stoplight occassionally!) Which cam would you guys recommend? I also plan on getting headers if that helps. Thanks in advance!
 
Anyone who disses an FE more than likely is someone who has never had one. All you need to do is open up the exhaust and add a little cam, the rest of the engine is built for performance and durability. No difference between a 2 barrel and a 4 barrel head.
 
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