Oklahoma City I need a good 390

[Snattlerake]

Upon my recollection, back in the day of the Darryl Starbird car shows, you often seen the Chevy drive train in Fords, but never vise -versa. The only thing kept was the rearend ( posi over limited slip ). I believe that was due to the old 327 & 350 dependability, longevity and ability to be hopped up cheaper with more available parts than the 'Found On Road Dead' alternate. As always, just in good fun - Chevy>ford.

Thousands of Ford hot rods have 350's and LS engines in them. Why? Because they work.

 

[liliysdad]

71 Mustang would have likely had a 302 or 351 Cleveland in it. Either of these use the SBF bellhousing bolt pattern. 302s and 351Ws are everywhere and cheap.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Not to start an argument, chevy 350's are cheap and plentiful. The Ford Windsor motors (302 and 351) are pretty cheap and plentiful and can be just as cheap as a Chevy 350 to build. 351 Cleveland Awesome, not as plentiful, but does produce the torque of a Big Block. BTW, the Boss 302 is based on the Cleveland, not the Windsor.

 

[Camo]

i got a FORD 460 basket case if you want to build it up..

This, I despise FE motors.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

This, I despise FE motors.

The 460 is not an FE Motor, the 460 is part of the 385 series. FE engines 332, 352, 360, 390, 406, 410, 427, 428, 430 and 462 CID motors. Everyone thinks there is only 1 350 Chevy, if my memory serves me well there are several variations of it, some good and some bad. Personally I would have hopes of a 351 Cleveland 4 bbl or 390 FE for this project. The 390 FE can be a workhorse or screaming performance engine.

 

[Tinytim]

What engine did it have in it originally, and what transmission do you have now? Just curious thanks.

351, auto transmission , not sure which, convertible Mach 1

 

[Shadowrider]

That would have been a Cleveland. It's all they put in the Mach 1 in '71. I don't remember if they used the FE bell housing or not. It's been too long.

A 390 can be built very stout, but it'll cost some donero. I'd cross drill the crank and don't cheap out on anything. A 351C with 4V heads will cost even more. They rare these days, but man, when built right they utterly scream! Boss 302 was based on the Cleveland so they scream too.

 

[madokie]

in the Mustang 5.0 foxbody world there are plenty of companys building 351 windsor motors with aluminum heads making plenty of power, assembled long blocks ready to ship...or do you want Big Block power??

 

[cjjtulsa]

Thousands of Ford hot rods have 350's and LS engines in them. Why? Because they work.

Because they're CHEAP to build. Lazy way to build a car - spend lots of money on the body, interior, etc. - and cheap out on the engine.

As for the Mustang, the 71 didn't come with a 390, so if it had one, that was a swap job as it is. Ford went to the 429 in 71 for the Mustang for big blocks, and 302 and 351C for small blocks. If it's a 390 you're looking for, it shouldn't be hard to locate one.

 

[cjjtulsa]

427 Windsor uses a 351 Windsor Block if I'm not mistaken! Awesome engine BTW. Looks like a 302 from the outside as well and lighter than a 390 FE.

Want to build a stroked Windsor in the future, but would keep it to 408. With modern aftermarket heads, the 302-351W engines really make good power. Ford never really made a decent head for their small V8s, and that's what held them back. The later "GT40" heads are OK, but nothing like AFR, TFS, etc.