360 V8

[leo]

Hi, i recently bought a 1972 ford explorer f100. I have not totally decided what i want to do with truck as in if i am going to restore it or just use it as a daily driver. I'm doing some research on cost of parts but can't seem to find any parts for the factory 360 v8 that is in the truck. I'm not very fimiliar with motors in particular. I was just wondering if there is a motor that is the same that parts will fit on the 360 or if anyone knows where i can get parts. A co-worker of mine says that the 360 is gutless and a gas guzzler, whats your opinion on that?

[flyboy2610]

These trucks are not known for outstanding fuel economy, although the sixes do fairly well.
The 360 is NOT gutless. It is designed as a truck engine. It makes it's power low in the RPM range, and it'll make lots of torque.
It'll pull stumps, but it's not made for drag racing. The 360 is a good engine for what it was designed to do.

[fordman]

the 360 is like as said above a truck enigne. it is for pulling and doing what trucks do. engine parts can interchange from several engine sizes. they are 352 360 390 406 410 427 428. but it depends on what parts you need. the heads from every size i posted will fit the 360 block. the crank rods and pistons will also fit. a good upgrade to a 360 is a 390. they also put those in trucks as well and in cars back then. they are considiered the best engine to use in a car or truck. so you can take the crank rods and pistons straight out of a 390 block and put them directly in a 360 block they are the same block. or you can just buy those parts and build you a 390 out of what you have. these engine blocks are refered to as a FE engine. which could stand for many things it was just a name given at the factory on a sheet of paper. the real meaning of those intials are in dispute by some.

[leo]

thanks alot guys you've been a great help, so parts for all those sizes should fit on my motor? thats good to know, i finally had some luck on summit.com with finding parts for the 360 but having trouble finding parts for my performance level i'd like to achieve. i know that a 390 is a more common motor so hopefull i have better luck with the 390. by the way fly boy, i'm not looking to build a drag truck, i want the truck to be fast but not like a drag truck, hopefully it'll give me what i want, thanks for your opinion, it's good to know what some other people think about it too... the guy i work with was interested in buying this truck though so maybe he said that about a 360 just to make me wonder if i really want the truck or not:P he would do it too, he likes to joke like that

[fordman]

to make a 390 out of a 360 you will need to replace the crankshaft rods and pistons for a 390. the block and heads are the same. other thing you will want to do is have the heads worked over with hardened valve seats. maybe large valves you can also have the heads ported and polished to improve performance. other thing yo ucan do is put on a alumninum 4 bbl intake and 4bbl carb. headers will also let the engine breath more.

[leo]

ok, i wanted to replace the crankshaft rods and pistons anyway, i was thinking of getting new heads but that is just too much to spend for me, thanks for your advice its been a great help

[rjewkes]

Also performance dual exhuast get that thing aspirated(breathing).! as said that 360 is a brute it'll haul, a couple years ago i had one of uhauls car caddy trialers, one you put the whole car on, with stuck trailer brakes. the one on the trailer neck that pops if the tow vehicle suddenly has to slam the brakes. anyways on flat ground it run around at 75 mph no problem other than it slowly burnt my points up. i never saw any tire damage on the trailer guess they was rolling enough not to be skidding around.

The sucky part was 6 degree inclines killed the forward momentum to around 10-25 mph.

[Jarred Hodges]

My dad had a 73 F-250 with a 360 4spd he had a homemade 5th wheel trailer and regularly hauled over 10,000 lbs of scrap with no problems. My experience with fe's is that they are torque monsters at lower rpm's but don't like to rev a lot

[leo]

ok thanks, i guess this motor wouldn't be no drag racing motor then, rpm's running too high i would imagine right?

[sideoilerfe]

360's are a low rpm torque engine idle to 4300 rpm range. That is where they shine.

[zentar]

I have a 72 sport custom with a 360 and besides the power its no wimp on speed either. They dont waste any time from 0-60.

[mwildcat2003]

My first truck was a 71 F250 with the 360 in it, got it from my great grandfather. Now while she was never gonna be at run what ya brung out at Firebird Raceway I smoked my share of vehicles on the street. With a good set of headers, some fine tuning, and good driving she just might surprise you...for a brick on wheels that is.

Now my great grandfather had one of those huge campers on the back and towed a 20 foot fishing boat every weekend. I remember him pulling that bad boy up a 45 degree hill with not so much as a studder!!!

[leo]

hehe yea i know this thing won't be no king of the dragstrip, i want it to go fast but on lower budget, i'm hoping to stay around the $2000 range for all the mechanical parts, less if possibly, that'll probably be the most expensive part of the rebuild, she's pretty much a brick on wheels i agree with you on that but there's something about it that i just love

[cmoore]

I think you'll be able to pull it off on that budget. Keep it reliable with headers, exhaust, heads and a new intake/carb set-up.....and then try to keep your foot out of it....

[court1100f]

well not quite all those parts will work. you couldn't use a 427 or 428 pistons in a 360 block the bores are way off 360/390/410=4.052" 428=4.132" and the 427=4.232" bore the rods and cranks would work though only thing that wouldn't would be Pistons..........and the 390s in truck apps aren't the most common the 360s are BUT the aftermarket hasn't yet nor will they in all likelihood EVER get behind the 360 because it was never intended to be a high performance Engine it's a truck engine so geared towards work hence Torque, although you Could make it high performance but then theres the fact that *anything you do to a 360 will give you even more power out of a 390 or 410* the 390 since it came in mustangs and the like has alot better support. because it was in the Mustang Fastback 390 GT and other performance cars. thing to note is when selecting pistons from what folks have said on here go with the Car pistons NOT the truck pistons