Can any of you hotroders out there help me on this one. please and thank you.

Are you running a 4-speed or automatic? How heavy a car is it going into? I have run tri-power set ups before and these factors are important.

The original tri power cam that came on the 1961-62 390-406 was also used on the 1960 352-360 horse engine. It was a solid lifter design of .480 lift 228 duration @.050 tappet lift, 114 lobe separation. It was a good all around cam that would idle nice and develop good torque. For the T-bird in 1962 they had a hyraulic unique to 62 only that was rated at 340 horse with 3-2v. It spected out to .446 lift 286 duration at te valve opening and closing points, also with 114 lobe separation. I had one of those "M" birds and that cam was perfect for that wieght of a car. I could balance a nickle on the air cleaner with the engine running! There is a solid cam by TRW # TP107 that is the same specs as the hi po grind and is an excellent performer.

hmmm few questions for you guys. ive read that there is a way to machine the metering blocks so they wont come out of sinc. i dont know how realistic this is. just curious, ive read it somewhere but cant recall the specifics. hmmm being that it runs off the center carb. could it be possible to get better gass milage then a 4v. by the way what is the jetting diffences from the out side two from the middle. or are they the same? im just full of questions today.

8=1968 model year block
U= Louisville car assembly plant
153253=Vehicle serial number
C7AE-A=emissions-era head, could be found on almost any FE in 1967-68.
"S" style intake=Equal runner "emissions-era" design, could be found on almost any FE car in 1968.

I've got a listing of what type of cars were made at what plants, but I can't get to it right now. You may have a GT motor, the camshaft and valve springs will tell for sure.

Because it's a 1968 block, if it was a GT it would also be drilled for "Thermactor emissions" in all 50 states, because the GT cam and Holley carb couldn't pass emissions with just the plain old "IMCO emissions" system (IMCO is just lean jetting and distributor curving done by Ford to reduce emissions).

Invariably, a GT is a GT because of the cam and carb. If you wanna build a 390 from 1968, they're all based on the same sturdy shortblock, though 390 blocks came in two compression ratios - three if you count pickup trucks.

Shoe.

I don't have much first-hand experience when it comes to engines built as much as yours, but I have some questions:

What kind of air cleaner are you running?
What kind of exhaust system?
What kind of ignition?

I'd like to make a future build sound something like the numbers you've posted. It'd be good to learn why your power falls off right when it should be kicking in hardest.

The intake, heads, and rockers sound ideal for making serious revs in a 390. I don't know cams very well, but yours sounds pretty healthy. From what I hear, them Lunatic cams should run like crazy.

Shoe.

are you in ny. my father bought a lincoln off a guy that had a early 80's rangfer with a 390 in it. look like a sleeper other then those dual chrome exaust tip sticking out. open the hood an it was all engine. just wondering just thought it would be neet to run into that guy agin.

What a ride, How do you get it to pass Pa. emission standards or is it just for the track. You never mentioned what dist. you was running or the total advance? My hunch is it's a dist/timing/ total advance problem if it's not starving for air. I seen in hot rod mag. a home made ram air system made from stove pipe adapters That would be a neat thing and if you do have a air starvation problem could be the anwser. I have that mag. some where if you want the information.

It's definitely not stock.

A 410 head is the same as a 352, 390, and 428 head of those years and could have any of several casting variations.

Shoe.

What year cj? Is it really a cj or is it a 66/67 428? The 66/67 may well have come with the 410 head.

It's not a critical item, but in your motor it would be better to keep the pan istalled. If you don't reinstall it, it's likely that no problem would ever result.

The valley pan is not used for oiling anything. I believe it's sorta used for NOT oiling the underside of the intake.

The intake manifold has got an exhaust gas crossover in it, and I believe that minimizing oil splash seems to be the best for this area, as the hot area likes to carbonize oil when it hits it and starts baking. The intake manifold already has the most important steel baffle rivited to it's underside, but the valley baffle manages to stop most of the crankshaft-and-lifter-whipped oil before it gets upstairs to the intake.

I've taken a couple FE engines apart which have had large chunks of coal attached to the bottom of the intake. I don't recall whether these motors had the valley tray installed or not, but it makes me think they may not have.The chunks did no harm to the motor, but it's just not as easy to drive with the knowledge that your engine may be cooking "treats" for you as you travel.

If you just wanna get the project over with, ignoring the pan will likely be of no consequence. If you wanna nail the job the first time, either reinstall the pan, or use this event to rationallize buying an Edelbrock RPM intake, as it blocks off the exhaust crossover and doesn't care about the tray.

Only my opinion,
Shoe.

I put the pan back in and it did help with oiling lifters ( the tapping keep on without it and quit with it installed). now Im getting a loud tapping from, I think, both sides and a good miss when its running. I checked the wires, plugs, carb , push rod straightness, and ignition timming. There good. So confirm my fears . Its either the rocker arms and shafts or a burnt valve or valves..........you think? With my luck with this truck its proably both and the oil pump. Ive only had the truck since December and this is my first FE. I want to keep it and the FE engine if I can get this one going good and it can be reliable. I have heard that FE oiling systems and the valve trains are weak but can be very strong with some easy mods. What are they? Sorry about the letter here but I want this FE to run well for a long time.

Not knowing why you torn it down, so I'll comment on the put to gather part. If you valve train is old you have to keep the components matched. Meaning each lifter, push rod and rocker wears a certain pattern and if not matched the push rods will not spin or oil properly. This could be the noise you hear. If you didn't you can remove the valve covers start the engine and observe which push rods are spinning and which ones aren't. If they are not spinning they won't oil. May not be your problem, but I seen this done several times causing the chatter. As Ed said fill us in on the complete history, then we might come up with a solid soluation.

Autolite doesn't mess around with cheap cable, so they generally work well. It's good to know they can go bad sometimes.

Hey, it beats a hole in the head, any day. Glad to hear you're back in business.

Shoe.

A "C" block is a reinforced 428, an "A" block is a regular 428. The 428 inside the water jscket is sometimes located in oddball locations, not just the floor of the center core plug. Also, it's sometimes not there at all. Some 390s even have a "390" in the hole.

I'll check the garage tomorrow to see what distances the two standard (emissions era and pre-emissions) exhaust FE port styles normally have.

Shoe.

If your car is driven on the street especially in cold weather, you made the correct decision not to block off the exhaust crossover. There are lots of "tricks" that are best left to racecars. This is the kind of modification that would only show up on the clocks at the track, if at all.

BB has been talking about that block for a year.

It's unusual in that it's one of the few "early" 427 blocks with reinforced cylinders - a feature which became much more common around 1966 or so.

If BB says it's a good block, it probably is. He doesn't pussy-foot around the facts.

Note that early 427s had the two-bolt engine mount bosses and press-in freeze plugs.

Shoe.