From what I've heard on this forum, if you're using the original manifolds that came with the car and the mating surfaces of the head to the manifold are machined perfectly flat, you DON"T NEED gaskets.

Fel-pro shows a gasket for the 14 bolt head. #1485. Good luck!

Red neck it and use Orange Hi Temp Permatex

Mr. Gasket has one, part No. 257.
http://www.mrgasket.com/ftp/pdf/Gaskets.pdf

You can get aftermarket headers which will work with your 65 heads, or any 66 and later head can be drilled to fit CJ factory exhaust manifolds. It is a little more work to get the 390 midsize manifolds to work with non 14 bolt 66 or newer heads, but it can be done also.


Ed

Dear David,
All of the available headers for the 67-68 Cougar / FE are made to work with any of the available exhaust bolt patterns including the one on your '65 heads. I installed Hooker headers on my 427 Cougar 4 years ago and have never had a leak. If were going to buy another set of headers it would be the ones from FPA:
http://www.fordpowertrain.com/firstpage.htm
Hope this helps,
Royce Peterson
68 W-code XR-7 GTE 427 (two of them)
68 1/2 428 CJ Ram Air XR-7

Is there any evidence that this motor has ever been apart before? Check the outside surface of the bearings for a ford part #. How about the head gaskets? I bought a car one time, that was supposed to have 25,000 miles on a rebuilt motor. After a few years, the oil consumption was so bad that I had to replace the front and rear main seals. I pulled a couple of the bearings to see how they looked. There was a ford part # there against the bearing cap. And of course the bearings looked like they had 200,000 miles on them. Scorched again!

Steve Christ's book lists the applications of a 3U crank. I don't have it handy, but I recall it might be a 360 casting. It's possible it is a 390, but I'm pretty darned sure the 390 crank was a 2U casting of some variety. I know for certain that all 428 cranks are 1U items of some variety (either 1U, 1UA, or 1UB).

Shoe.

Sounds like somebody stroked it. You should be able to tell by the Pistons, crank, and flywheel if you have it.

Ben, I've heard about this problem before. Usually this is a sign of worn bearings but we really need to know how many miles the engine has.
A popular thing to do to most performance FE engines is to the oiling system. The three things done are:
1. open the hole from the pump to the filter from 3/8" to 7/16 or 1/2"
2. open the bearing to main passage at the main bearings on the crank
3. restrict the oil passage from the head to the rocker arms.

You should look at doing number 3. Most use a Holley jet, and they just drop it into the hole under the rocker shaft support.
1. remove the rocker shafts, this should be done 1turn at a time until the spring pressure is off.
2. drop a Holley carb jet ( I think the prefered size is about 65) into the hole that is at the edge of the second stand from front on drivers side and third from the front on the pass side. You can also use a piece of pipe or drilled rod.
3. replace the rocker arms, 1 turn at a time until tight and then torque to 45#

This has helped many to increase oil to the crank and increase pressure.

I would also flush the oil system and change the filter and even go to a heavier oil. But this assumes an older high mileage engine. If this is a newer engine, let us know.

By the way, it's a straight forward job to replace the stock oil pump with the HV or HV/HP pump. I used the high vol high press type myself, but I have a deep sump pan, so I don't have to worry about oil starvation.

If you have to remove the pan the pickup will have to be removed or one bolt removed and rotated toward the crank center.This should give room between susp crossmember and motor.It is not fun I had to do this on a 67/2wd 3/4ton to find the pump drive shaft in the bottom of the pan.I wish the Ford engineer used his head and secured the pump shaft to the distributor like my Ford 300I-6,mutch more civilized arrangement.

Look for a C6ME Block. Otherwise have the prospective block sonic tested for cylinder thickness.

C8AE-H would be found on any FE car/pickup engine between 1968 and 1971 only, except 427 or 428CJ. It was the standard emissions head and applications include 360(all), 390(all), 428plain, 428PI.

Some were drilled for thermactor, some not. Some were drilled for 8-bolt exhaust, some for 14-bolt. A few head assemblies got HD valve springs and non-rotating valve retainers (1968 390GT, and any 428PI). Otherwise, they're all pretty much the same.

JMO,
Shoe.

Chris, hello, FPA? is this Ford Powertrain in Tacoma your talking about. If it is, were looking to do the same mod. Because these are adjustable rockers, and my max lift is 510, the geometry should work just fine. Their price is a lot nicer than Compcams. I recently bought a 265DEH kit and the roller rockers for my 390, and plan to buy the FPA bosses and shafts. I also just "had to have" FPA's ceramic Tri-Y's, they look great. Do you know of any roller lifters for FE's that do not require block mods? I have pulled my top end, only 25K on it, built it a little too tame on the top end for my "current needs". Which translated means I want to feel a little more neck strain these days. Give me a shout, let's colaborate. If it comes thougth, here's a pic of my car. Mark

Compression will likely drop between a quarter and a half point. 360 compression varied between 1968 and 1976, so you gotta be more specific as to which motor you've got to calculate actual compression change.

Industrial heads can vary in style, but most likely you have the "sharp-D" chamber shape on the 428 heads and definitely the "jellybean" shape on the 360, and this is what I base my assumption on. These heads are pretty much identical to an automobile C6AE-R head.

Also, you will note the intake runners are much taller on the irrigation heads, and the exhaust runners are positioned slightly differently, too.

I'd ramble a whole bunch more, but I've gotta head out right now. Mostly, I'm interested in learning more about your 428irrigation motor. If you wish to write down head (and maybe block) casting numbers (any), it would be interesting to discuss this further.

Shoe.

Actually the heads might possibly be the exact same heads, it really depends on the casting numbers on each. For example, C8AEB's; D2TEAA's, D3TE, B, C, E, F's; C6AEA's, etc. were put on both 360's and 428's. Some 428's had high performance heads with larger valves. As far as the compression is concerned the combustion chambers could be the same size or different. Most combustion chambers for these heads are between 67.1 and 74.2 cc's.

Dave, I, by no means am an expert on FE heads. I merely responded to CD's question. He never mentioned that the 428 was an industrial motor, rather, he said it had been used as an irrigation motor. Theoretically, the 428 could have come from any application and later been converted to its latest use. The casting numbers I posted are strictly from illustration purposed and come straight from Christ's publication. I certainly didn't make them up.

Send questions to

cj68rgstry@aol.com

They know everything.

John

From the outside they all deceive. The stroke can isolate the crankshaft variables to 352/360, 390, and 410/428, but you've got to dig deeper into the block to differentiate between a 352, 360/390/410, and 428 block. They are all cast differently in the cylinder core area. Heck, there are even standard-duty and heavy-duty variations of the 360/390/410 and 428 block.

A 501 on the front of the block or in the date-code area (see pic) does indicate it might have some reinforcements, but this is not always the case. The 501 block I've posted here has reinforced main webs but standard 390 cylinders. The date code, incidentally reads "6D15" which might mean April 15, 1966 or April 15, 1976. In this case, the "MCC" foundry symbol below it identifies it as a 1976 casting, as I don't think MCC was up and running in 1966.

The only sure-fire block identifier I know of is a large "A" or "C" cast on the block behind the flywheel. This indicates it's one of two types of 428 motors. If it ain't got either of those two letters, it ain't likely a 428. Also, sometimes, you can find "428" cast on the floor of the block inside the center core plugs on each side. The location of the cylinder core identifier varies, but this appears to be the common location. On rarer occasion, a "390" can be seen on the floor in the center hole, indicating it's a 360/390/410 casting.

Good luck. I still have trouble deciphering what block I'm buying before I take it apart. Actually, that mystery is part of the fun of making a purchase, but then, I really don't care what I get, because any of these engines can have really cool "interchange" goodies inside them.

Shoe.