I don't think this is going to help you at all KC. Is your '65 352 complete? It's very likely you have C4AE-G heads on that '65 352. They're much better than the '75 D2T heads are.

It's doubtful. The 360 truck motors had very low compression and used a large combustion chamber to get it.

On the street you really want a dual plane manifold which the port-o-sonic is not. Your choice of the Edelbrock RPM would be fine.

Without a doubt, Bob's right on the dual plane producing more torque. However, I still chose a P-sonic over the Edelbrock RPM for my Mustang. The reason why is that the FE makes so much torque already I wanted to shift the power up a little in a light Mustang. WIth a 250@.050 cam, ported heads w/2.15/1.73 valves, and Hooker Super comps, I still make so much torque that 1st gear is utterly useless if I just stand on it and thats with 3.50 gears right now.

My opinion is that either one is going to run good, but I elected to "over cam and overdo it on the intake" and the motor still doesnt care its making more low end than I need.

With that being said, a dual plane is a little easier to tune, holds a little more vacuum at idle and can run VERY strong, so the decision is yours, but if it were me, I'd run whichever you can get cheaper.

One thing to think about, for shock factor, the dual plane makes the motor look HUGE, the P-sonic doesnt seem to look as massive. I liked the way and Edelbrock F427 looked on mine, the P-sonic doesnt have that same look. I posted a link below to look at the P-sonic

http://members.aol.com/my427stang/myhomepage/engine4.jpg

As far as I can tell, that rear gear answered the question. Better stick with a dual plane unless you plan on going to deeper gears. When I had 3.25s in my Shelby, shifting at 6500 (428CJ) I barely shifted into 3rd before crossing the finish line. Have since gone to 3..55s and Detroit Locker. I am putting the Edelbrock RPM on my engine this winter. I've put it on other FEs and they are awesome. As far as the definition of 'high rpm' on the street, that's 5500-6500 in your car with that weight and gears!

No matter what you choose......the weight savings alone over that stock PIG will give you more everything! Good luck and don't hurt your back taking it off!

Gee Matt, I thought someone would have given you advice/instructions on this by now. I was too busy yesterday getting the very heavy T-85 mated up to my 427. All by myself with nothing but a floor jack and the '60 'liner up on jack stands. Had it just about there when John came by. Thanks John for that last little bit of help I needed for that input to slip into the disk.

Okay Matt, here you go:

You're right, you don't want to adjust FE 1.76 rockers like a small block Ford or Chevy. They'll be too tight as you found out. All you have to do is just take up all the slack in the pushrod and the rocker arm adjusting screw. This is kind of hard for me to explain this way so forgive me, I'll try to be clear and succinct.
As you tighten the rocker adjusting screw, make sure to keep the valve stem contact point in touch with the valve stem. Then just as you tighten to the point where there is adjusting screw contact with the pushrod - STOP! Push down on the rocker to make sure it's in full contact with the valve stem. Now check the contact between the adjusting screw and the pushrod. It should be in contact but not so there is a lot of drag when you twist/turn the pushrod. This is where the real difference is between a small block and an FE. There should just be contact so that you can't pull up the push rod indicating any slack. Now, just set your ratchet handle at high noon, and give it a 3/4 turn to like 9:00. As I think about it, since you've started the engine, you have the hydraulic lifters pumped/filled, cut that turn back to just 1/2 - 6:00. That should do it. If you are getting some lifter noise, try to pinpoint which one is ticking, and give that one just a little for turn at that adjusting screw. Just a little bit. A little is better than too much.

I hope this makes sense to you. With even a mild to warm performance cam, I personally like using the adjustable rockers. They offer a tad more lift with the 1.76 ratio over the non adjust. 1.73. Good luck. After all the ticking is gone. Install good valve cover gaskets for one last time. Then forget about 'em and enjoy driving.

Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has been able to squeeze any headers into the unibody '66 TBird? There isn't much clearance between the stock exhaust manifold and the fenderwell. Also, the drivers side manifold exit tube is farther back to clear steering linkage, etc.

I've been under the impression that it is next to impossible to add headers to the '66 TBird without cutting or modifiying the fenderwells. If headers aren't really an option, would there be much benefit to Extrude Honing the stock manifolds?

Thanks again...

1) will a stock rebuilt shortblock handle the 400+ hp fine? How far can I comfortably overbore a 390 block? .060?

Yes 400+ HP is no problem. Get the block sonic checked before you overbore it. Sometimes .030 is all you can safely get but .080 is not unheard of. The stock 390 bore is 4.05, and the 406 and 428 share the same bore: 4.13. The 390 and 406 has a 3.78 str0ke and the 420 has a 3.98 stroke. There was a also 410 engine in the '66-'67 Mercury that used the 390 bore and the 428 stroke. A 030 over bored 390 using the 428 crank gets you 416 cubic inches.

2) Would it be cost effective horsepower to toss in a 428 crank to pump my engine up to a 406? I know the 428's externally balanced, but other than getting a vibration dampener and 428 flywheel, are there any other pitfalls to this conversion? Would I need different rods, or just different pistons to make this work?

Use the truck 390 pistons referenced a few posts down. The vibration damper and pulleys from any '68 to '76 FE is what you need.

3) I chose Performer RPM since they're new parts instead of 30+ years old, lighter weight, fairly streetable. Is the performance similar to an original CJ setup? Better?

Performance is better but the Edelbrock heads not necessary for the street.

4) Since Performer RPM's power curve really kicks in around 1500 rpm rather than just off idle, would it be a good idea to use a higher stall speed torque converter for my C6?

No. No engine kicks in just off idle. You'll be fine with a stock converter.

5) is it possible, without modification of the heads to install Dove roller rockers on these heads? If so, will the added performance be worth the cost for a street FE?

Roller Rocker arms are expensive and totally unnecessary for a street engine. They are needed for cams with over .600 lift and heavy valve springs.

6) Is it recommended to use Mallory or MSD electronic ignition over the dual point distributors? Will there be any difference other than less maintenance.

No one uses points. The Pertronics conversion and the MSD box or a Mallory Unilite conversion are what most people use on the street.

They have a shorty header, though there's a note about it being redesigned for whatever the reason. I'll be putting their TriYs on my KR this winter, in all my research they seem to come highly recommended. Anyone have anopinion on them?

Jim,

See if you can pick up the October 2001 issue of Mustang & Fords ... Great article titled "BEEF UP YOUR 390/427/428 Add power, stronger crank and better heads". It has some great info!

Here's some excerpts:

Once you've got a good block, you have a number of performance options. A good trick you can use right of the bat is to install a 428 crank into your 390 block. You'll end up with nice increase in displacement amounting to 410ci. You'll need to use the 428 flywhell because your new 410 will be an externally balanced engine. This displacement was used fopr a short time in Mercury automobiles.
You may decide that an aftermarket stell crank is desirable, but a well prepared iron crank will serve very well for most street applications.

Edlebrock makes an excellent "new" FE cylinder for 390/427/and 428 head out of aluminum. Combine these heads with an aluminum intake manifold, and you'll shave nearly 150 pounds of weight off your FE engine.

The same as the 352s, 390s and 428s. The 410 is just a 390 bore with at 428 crank.

This is a typo, but translated it gives some good info.

You need to ignore ALL head numbers that have 6049 in the middle of them. These are head assembly numbers. Unless you are an FE Engine Plant assembler or a Ford parts counter person, head assembly numbers are meaningless. (Actually, I have more to say on this, but I'll avoid the tangential rant for the moment).

What you need to look for in a list are head "casting" numbers. These ALL have 6090 in the middle.

Note that a cedar slew full of fake casting numbers are listed in very official looking documents because the paper-pushing knotheads who compiled the original info didn't quite have a handle on what the hell they were doing. They mixed up 6049 part numbers and 6090 casting numbers with such abandon, the entire lists are approximately valueless. Fortunately, the hi-perf heads have been listed quite properly, but you can't find any of those at your nearest salvage yard, so that good deed is worth maybe a shoulder shrug.

As for the typo, it appears the 6049 was simply mistyped in this case. It apparently should really be a 6090, and the translation suggests that a C6AE-6090-A head also exists - something I've not yet seen, but something I'll now keep my peepers peeled for. Thanks for the tip - I never noticed that before.

Also, since the "raised exit" exhaust is always found with large runner FE heads, and the "low exit" exhaust is always found with the emissions "velocity" intake runners first designed for the 1966 emissions legistation, you can surmise from the caption that Ford did not want you to install a tall-runner intake manifold onto a head with short "velocity" intake ports. I'd like to elaborate on the folly of this note, but I'm gonna stay on topic for now.

Oh, what the hell. It's time to deviate. I just tonight learned that emissions laws in New York and California started driving the design of the FE back in 1964. Yup, only these two states had any emissions regulations in 1964 (the Fed regs joined appeared in1966), and these resulted in crankcase ventilation systems which limited the release of unburned hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.

New York had considerably less stringent regulations than California in 1964. The New York-type system was known as an "open" type of system and it consisted of the conversion of the road draft tube into a PCV circuit. The California-type system was known as a "closed" type of system, and it added a polyurethane air filter element to the PCV formula.

Note that in 1964-65, there were three configurations of the 352, one for California, one for New York, and the other 48 States got the old road draft tube. The 390/427 emissions formula for 1964-65 was a little simpler, as there was a "California" version for California, and a New York version for the other 49 States.

Hey, I've been trying to figure the road-draft thing out for a while. It's about time it made some sense.

Shoe.

A correct and complete carb may cost $200 plus on eBay. The parts are out there to make it complete.

Thermactor is the emissions control system Ford used in the mid to late sixties which had the air pump etc and blew air in at the top of the exhuast ports on the heads.

YOu can eliminate the expansion tank without problem.

Because the surge-tank type of intake has a larger hole to fit a larger thermostat, you'll want to be sure you use the thermostat which fits the hole, and also the thermostat housing which fits this larger hole.

These large thermostat-hole housings are common on early FE engines, but start to get less common about half-way through the '60s, as more FEs were equipped to use smaller thermostats.The housing you need is still quite common, and usually a durable cast iron, so you should not have any trouble picking one up cheap.

Shoe.

I just did this back in September. I used a housing from a '65 390. Don't remember the part number.

www.fordpowertrain.com- there pricie $ but good

Thanks Mike i'm always looking for new parts supplers, do they have a web site. Ray

C6AE-J, C6AE-L, and C6AE-U heads should get one type of header, and a C6AE-R headed engine should get another.

Shoe.