John, head over to the other side of the truck and look just under the bottom bolt of the water pump. The timing pointer is attached to the front of the timing cover. You might want to paint a little white line at TC and 10 degrees BTC on the balancer so you can see the marks better under the light.

I'd take it to a Pontiac dealer, Ford put one on the SC T-bird to.

my hand is in there to show how small this thing is.

I agree with Walker, it looks like a supercharger from a 3800, the vin code is "1" I believe...

Looks like a small Detroit diesel blower... but not positive.

I think you can,but $ for hp.It might be best to make it into a 428.I can realate to cost factor. I run those same heads.Have you seen project FE on www.fordmuscle.com. ? It is a sad story.How much did roller cam set up cost? good luck. It is a real tight fit with headers. I used a performer intake and could tell big difference,with holey 750,over stock intake and carb.

That kind of power is at the extreme end of the scale for a 390. Its gonna take a whole lot more than you may imagine. Why a roller cam? For that kind of money,you can have the Edelbrock heads! Thats where its going to count the most. NOBODY just throws a 390 together and makes 400 HP,NOBODY! Even 350 real world HP from a 390 is elusive. You are going to have to upgrade the valvetrain as well,like hardened shafts,stronger rockers (like rollers),end supports for the shafts,chromoly pushrods,etc. This will add considerably to the cost. If you want something like this to live,then you MUST pay the money for it! Now, Im not trying to dissuade you,Im just letting you know some of the things involved with this engine,still the choice is your's,not mine or anyone else's. The answer to your question is yes. Yes you can make 400 HP with it,but it is my personal opinion that it will not last long at that level of power. Anybody have any comments to add to this discussion?

That is lot of horsepower at the rear wheels for a 390! I estimate my 390 to be about 430HP at the flywheel with edelbrock heads and a stout Lunati solid. Two peices of advice. Get the oiling system right and dont skimp on the machining, (line bore, index grind, stroke match crank, length match rods, good balance job etc.) Big hp on a tight budget, good luck. Let us know how you went.
ANDY

If you are serious and you know what you're doing, it's possible. It's kind of hard to tell if someone is dreaming on the internet.

I think you're going about it the right way. That is, oil mods and rocker mods first. Don't skimp on the machining (ANDY's comment). Go with a good intake - Blue Thunder, Dove, etc. The Edel heads won't give a huge performance improvement. Yeah, they'll make a difference, but they flow about the same as the CJ heads. I don't know about your heads. Block the exhaust crossover. Port, polish, etc. You should be able to make it w/out the roller, but it'll make it easier.

it should be interesting.

That's a lot to ask for a 390, 400~425 at the flywheel is very good for a 390. I'd get the 428 crank and flywheel, this will give you a much better chance at that number. The cost of the 428 crank is about $300~400 and it's money well spent. The heads really need work on the exhaust and both intake and exhaust bowl but they can make good power. Bigger valves, good valve train are worth the money and will help a lot. But I do have to say that the 428 crank is an excellent choice.

You're building a street car.
HP only counts on the strip, and mainly only at the end at that.
You want stoplight performance, you want torque.
You've heard some good benchmark performance figures here, including quartermile times.
All you can do is build it the best you can, compare it as best you can to what others have accomplished, and don't focus on absolute HP numbers as much as how much fun you derive from the building process and the driving experience.

This 390 is going along with a C6 (both original for the car - 69 cougar)... One of my friends is a diehard Chevy guy, he is building a 396 for his 72 Chevelle, and keeps talking trash about how his engine will whip mine. And about how my tranny sucks. I really don't care, i'm building it for my own enjoyment and satisfaction, but I will laugh if I beat him once on the street. But that isn't a goal of mine, like I said. I know torque is good on the street, and I should be putting out a whole lot of it. How much do you think would be an approximate guess?

390 Ford

Dynamometer Development Engine

The Mule

This is the engine we used to develop our street 390 combinations!

9:5 to 1 compression, blueprinted, balanced, SPS rod bolts,
ported GT / 390 /360 style heads, BBC valves, over 100 hours of porting
and flow bench time in the heads alone.
280 Crower Monarch cam, Crane High Intensity lifters.
Has made over 400 lb. ft.. and 500+ horsepower. Dyno time only.
Would make a great engine for a Mustang, Ford® pickup or a street rod.

Over $6000.00 in labor and parts.
Will sell for $3000.00,
Complete, with a intake manifold, carburetor, valve covers and pan.
Call "Dave" at 559-625-4563 or 559-734-2764
Or Email
dnettles2@yahoo.com

Frank, I think it would be best if the ports matches, People spend big buck to port and polish so their must be a reason why.

Don't do it. The port matching is very important. you may even loose power with the conversion. The Performer RPM is a great choice and the price isn't too bad ($282), good range 1500~6500, no exhaust cross over, good modern design, nice looking and they are hot sellers as far as used parts go.

The 427 low riser intake is not a good performance choice, but not because of the port size at the gasket. The CJ intake is of a medium riser design, but the CJ head ports are of a low riser design. The low riser 427 intake will match fine with the 428 heads, but because of it being so low, you will not see the performance that you want.
If you want a 427 factory intake, go with a sidewinder. To just save weight, you could go with a 428PI intake.
A Blue Thunder intake will cost about the same as a sidewqinder, but it will be a new unmolested item. The Performer RPM is not quite its performance equal, but you will save money.

Ed

Paul, depending on the year and cam you have in your 352 the factory recommended timing can be any where between 3 to10 degree BTDC. If it didn't stall before the intake and carb. I suspect the carb. settings need fine tuned if every thing else is good like points, dwell, wires, no vacuum leaks, ect... And last dist. installed back the same spot (meaning you didn't get it a tooth off, if so this throws the timing off at the bottom end.). Maybe you'll get some more opinions

I have played my timing on my 428 and i got a big differance with timming a little past 8. I also run a performer with a 750,I also got extra power with changing the vacum spring on the secondaries.( i used quick change kit by holley) I'm no pro though.
good luck

Paul ;One thing you should try with advancing dist. is to recurve the dist. . Find a shop that can recurve it and limit amount of centrifical advance ,then you can run 12-16 inital advance and git some real inprovement. With out dentionation.

http://www.gessford.com/images/FordMuscleStory.htm

http://jcoconsulting.com/forumfe/reply.aspx?ID=1811&Reply=1808

http://www.members.tripod.com/lyc_42/fordv8/fe/fe.htm

Now I remember...it was the Ford Engine Workshop site. Thank you all for the informative links as well.

With the valve cover off,put the rocker arm in the closed position (on the base of the cam),then wiggle the pushrod up and down. There should be no play in it at all. If there is,you may have a collapsed lifter,or a bent pushrod. Also make sure the rocker shaft is not bent. FE's are notorious for valvetrain problems,so check out everything ASAP.

Stanley gives good advice. You shouldn't be able to wiggle the pushrod when the cam is on the base. You might be able to spin the pushrod, but it should be difficult.

If there's excess play, the lifter is likely collapsed. You may have other problems, though. I don't know what all the possibilities are, but you could have a worn cam, bent pushrod, gunk in the lifter (not allowing it to pump up), or possibly something worn under the valve cover (shaft, rocker, valve). The bottom line is that the lifter is supposed to take up the extra play. If it isn't, either it isn't pumping up, or there is too much slack.

I disagree about Stanley's valvetrain comment. The valvetrain is probably the weakest link on an FE, but it only comes up when you run a big cam with stiff springs. Even then, it's the rockershaft that breaks, not the lifters.

One last thing. I run a solid cam, but I've heard those that run hydraulics say that they use adjustable rockers on their engines. That way, they can adjust in the proper amount of preload.

Good Lord yes! At least I would nail it...
If the cars in decent, restorable shape, I vote in favor of buying it.

n/m

If the back of the block has a large (2" tall or so) "C" that looks welded on, then it's the good block. It'd be behind the flywheel probably on the drivers side. An "A" weld bead also indicates it's a standard-duty 428 block - though in 1969 most CJs were the "C" type.

Also, it's possible there is a partial VIN stamped on the rear of the block on the rectangular pad near the drivers side head. That's where it was located on my '69 Cyclone CJ. I believe it contained the first two digits and the last six digits of the VIN.

If the flywheel is still on, look for a counterweight cast in (or on a flexplate welded on).

If the oil pan is off, look for the extra main support webs - extra webs doesn't indicate it's necessarily a "C" type 428 (lotsa 360/390s got 'em too), but it improves the odds.

If you think the car is cool, that's the best reason to buy it. If not, you might not appreciate all the time and money you're gonna have to stuff into it. I really liked my Cyclone CJ, so I can only vote that you pluck it up and get it back on the road - just so long as structural rust hasn't eaten the floorboards and framerails all to hell.

Shoe.

One more thing. The heads should have 4 bolts around each exhaust port, and they should have the numbers C80E 6090N between the middle two spark plugs. The N is the main key. The 68 CJ had C80E 6090H, but most had the N.

Make sure you get the exhaust manifolds. They're worth maybe $300. The intake is pretty good too. If I'm not mistaken, the carburetor is also a nice piece. I'm not sure, but I think all of the CJ's had the 735 cfm holley. That carb had one fuel line, with a second line that fed gas from the front bowl to the back.

it's a 410 if the bore is a 390 bore and the stroke is 428, you can use virtually any 390 or 428 part in them, aside from the balance will always need to be maintained

Post your question here at these forums.

http://network54.com/Forum/74182

http://network54.com/Forum/21142

Only thing I can add is that the 410 pistons are unique. I did learn from this site that some mid 70's 390s had 410 pistons in them to reduce the compression. If you do have a 410 hopefully you got the flywheel/flexplate with it. I've got a 410 that I've had for over 30 years. This engine have been in a car and two different trucks and still a standard bore. Done the timing chain and heads once, replaced the dist. and rebuilt the carb. three times. Still pulls hard and uses little oil. 410 Merc. are kind of rare, they were only made two years 66 and 67 and I think all were Maruder 4V's, had the neat 427 style valve covers with the lighting bolts, and the shortie cast iron headers. Mine came out of a 66 parklane.