390FE Build Take 2 (Pictures)

[swinn]

After blowing it on the last build with a spacer behind a steel timing gear that allowed the cam to have too much endplay and get ground up, I am now working on the rebuild rebuild. I decided to go higher performance with this build so I'm using a pretty different set of components.

I chose a new machine shop that the local racers seem to like. They are a lot more knowledgeable than the previous shop and have 'blueprinted' the block for me with a fresh align hone on the cam and crank, resized the rods both ends, balance the crankshaft internally as well as the rest of the rotating assembly. During the first build the machine shop I used drilled the flex plate and harmonic balancer as a shortcut to balance it, I had that undone and the crank properly balanced. Here is the block fresh from the machine shop:


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I decided to have the common oiling mods I read about done on the block. Here you can see the front bearing oil hole has been chamfered to meet up with the bearing:


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I also had the main oil feed enlarged to 7/16":

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Now I put together the piston/rod assemblies:


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I am using Silvolite 1131 pistons .030 over. The 1131 flat tops have 8cc of valve relief. The first rebuild was with 1130's and I didn't calc the compression ratio, I assumed the catalog value of 9.5:1 was accurate. Turns out that it's pretty far off. The 1130's with 19cc of dish/relief come out to 8.1:1 with an .032" deck clearance (measured), .060 compressed gasket, 72CC heads, a 4.080 bore and a 4.40" bore gasket. The 1131s come out to 8.9:1 with the same installation which is right on target for what I want. This pic shows the 1130 Silvolite (dished), 1131 Silvolite, and the original 390 ford piston that was in the 360 from the factory.


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Got the crank installed.


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The cam and timing chain installed too. I am using an adjustable billet double roller timing set. Set the cam at 2 degrees advanced. The cam is a Comp Cams Xtreme Energy grind XE256H.


http://winnfamily.smugmug.com/photos/506206942_Y8Dmb-XL.jpg

Painted some sheet metal, all old ford blue.


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The heads are at the machine shop, so once I get those I can proceed with the build up. Will post more photos.

[DuckRyder]

Looking good so far!

[Redcap]

Nice!

[swinn]

The cam advance is for two reasons. First it will prevent any retardation as the chain wears in. Second, a little bit of advance should improve low end torque (at the expense of high end power). The build goal is a reliable, streetable engine with low end torque for daily driving, towing, and highway cruising. The focus is on torque, efficiency and reliability, high RPM is not in store for this engine. I am stroking the motor for the same reasons, (it was a 360). Increasing the compression ratio should improve efficiency some and also match to the cam better. More pics as soon as I have more parts in my hands.

[BMJs 67]

Looks like it's coming along real nice!

[swinn]

I just got the quote back on the heads. They needed a lot of work. New valves (I wanted one piece valves), new bronze guides, hardened seats throughout, surface, machine spring heights all the same, and modify valve stem seal mounts to allow a dual spring. Too much money to spend on old steel heads. So, I'm going to spend a bit more and ordered up a set of Edelbrock Performer RPM heads for it. WIll use the felpro .038 gasket with it and up the compression ratio to 9.5:1 to increase efficiency a bit more and the aluminum heads should allow the increase no problem. The new heads will flow better too they have larger 'cobra jet' sized valves and are 'cobra jet' style combustion chambers. Will have them surfaced if necessary and bolt them in. A couple of days till I get them. It cost more than having the old heads done up right but the end result should be a lot nicer. I could have re-used the old heads as is, but they wouldn't have lasted long and I couldn't get the right springs for my cam to fit it without machine work. The guides had sleeves in them that were worn after only a few hundred miles since they were put in. The valves were all original and the stems were shot. So far the only parts I am re-using from the first rebuild is the crank and block.

Scott
68 F250 CS LWB
390FE, C6

[Happy_Camper]

Nice!
What are you doing for intake, exhaust and carburetion?

[convincor]

just a FYI, if your using Fel-Pro 1020's the FORD Racing "are" Fel-Pro 1020's at 1/2 the price. They even have the 1020 stamped in them.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
Also, you know not to use Fel-Pro "printo seals". right? Victor Reinz if you can get them http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182/th ... ce+Gaskets

otherwise, Edelbrocks http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

[seattle67]

This is a great thread guys, keep the info coming!

[swinn]

The Edelbrock heads arrived today.


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I'm taking them to the machine shop for a light surface to ensure that the face is flat before installation. Then assembly can proceed.

Good advice on the head gaskets, unfortunately I had already ordered the 1020 gaskets at the same time as the heads. I'll keep it in mind for next time!

The intake is an Edelbrock Performer, the carb a Holley 670CFM vacuum secondaries and electric choke (Avenger). The exhaust will remain with stock manifolds for now I may do headers in the future, but my budget doesn't allow it right now!! The ports on the stock exhaust manifolds are much bigger than the ports on the head, I think it will flow OK. Ignition is a rebuilt stock dizzy with a pertronix ignitor module in place of the points.

I also got the high volume Melling oil pump installed, timing cover and front seal installed, and the oil pan in place and sealed up. Checked the end play on the crank and cam. Checked the TDC mark on the timing cover/balancer and it was within 1/2 degree. So far so good!

More photos to come!

[FRANKdaTANK]

Wow!! ...that looks nice Scott. Very clean!!

I would love to take my engine out and atleast clean it up and paint it. I hate opening my hood sometimes when I tell people the truck has a 390.
Just one of the things on my "to do" list when I get the time....

Frank

[fomocoguy]

Looks like it's going great! Those heads are gorgeous. If you don't mind I thought I'd chime in about a couple of things just for you to think about.

1. Performer intake: The fellas over at the ford fe forum seem to unanimously agree that the performer will seriously choke anything but a stock engine. One expert over there has done a big intake comparo and claims you'll lose something like 20-30hp on the top end on a built 390. This is why I've decided to sell my performer intake and buy something better for my 390 build. A performer rpm will work, or even a cleaned up S- code stocker is supposed to flow way better. Also the old streetmaster by edelbrock is supposed to do pretty well.

2. High volume oil pump: I had an old ford fella that I used to hang around quite a bit, and he told me a story once about a buddy of his that drag raced a mustang with a 390 in it. He had a serious problem with the lower end being starved of oil and after a few ruined cranks figured out that culprit was the high volume oil pump he was using. He replaced it with a stock unit and had no more problems. Anyways, a lot of people will tell you that fe's have a tendancy to starve the bottom end. Some guys drop a #90 Holley jet in the oil supplys to the heads (under the rocker shafts) to fix this. You may want to call edelbrock and see if their heads are supposed to fix this problem. I'd bet they are, but it's something to look into for sure.

Not trying to tell you what to do or anything; just trying to provide some useful info. Good luck!

[swinn]

I got the new edelbrock heads back from the shop today they were crowned slightly so they took .002" off. I did a dry fit today to check clearances, bolt lengths, pushrod lengths, etc.. basically check to make sure everything is going to bolt up correctly. Dealing with all new parts and aftermarket parts presents new challenges and I'm trying to make sure I don't assume anything or overlook anything that needs attention. I don't want any problems in the future.

The ARP head bolts fit perfect.

The OEM ford rocker stand bolts did not. One of the four bolts used to install the rocker stands on each side is a reduced shank size to allow for oil flow around the bolt up to the rocker assemblies. The oil actually flows through the bolt hole for those who haven't seen one up close. For some reason that reduced shank bolt is longer than all of the others from the factory. On the ford steel heads there was an intrusion into the intake port (big bump) to allow the extra length. The edelbrocks don't have any protrusion into the intake port so it does not have enough depth to accept that one OEM bolt. So it looks like the 'highly recommended' edelbrock stud kit is actually a required part for my engine.

Secondly I found that the intake valves sit .030" higher than the exhaust valves and this causes problems with the pushrod lengths. I don't know why it was manufactured like that, I'm going to contact edelbrock's tech line to find out why they are not all sitting at the same heights like the OEM valves did. However, to get the proper pre-load on the lifters I'm going to have to use shorter pushrods on the intake valves and 'stock' size pushrods on the exhaust valves. I am seeing .040" difference in pre-load from intake to exhast (which doesn't really add up with the different valve heights, with a 1.76 rocker ratio, it should only make about .017" difference). There may also be something going on with the rocker arms (a remanufactured set) or even the cam that is having an effect on the geometry but I don't have any way to measure that yet. I've ordered a pushrod length checking tool and I'm going to check all lengths. Then I can order some custom pushrods from Manton to get exactly what I need. By doing so I can achieve the proper preload on the lifters, and measurements should also help point out where the differences in length are coming from. It would be nice to order adjustable roller rockers to get around this whole issue, but a complete set is really expensive.

So, no real assembly today, but I should be able to get the heads mounted and a pic snapped soon.

fomocoguy: Thanks for the info on the intake. I wasn't aware that it was so restrictive. For the moment I'm going to go ahead and install it. This might sound strange, but I plan to do a multi point EFI conversion on it later and I'll upgrade to the Edelbrock Victor EFI FE intake at that time. For the oiling, I was aware of the oiling issues with this engine and will confirm with edelbrock that it is already restricted. The edelbrock heads have a considerably smaller oiling passage to feed the rockers. I haven't measured it but I'd say its around .090" - .100" as a guess. I will confirm with edelbrock if any additional restrictor is needed.

[convincor]

bite the bullet and go with Ersons.

[DuckRyder]

I second ersons, also there is a specific set for Edelbrock heads...