I just had a valve job done and paid $400. This included hardened exhaust seats and surfacing two sides of each head ($100), as well as $25 for seals. Get the hardened seats on the exhaust ($100).

The 428 needs to be balanced, 390,427... don't have the same balancing setup (390/427 are internal / 428 is external)

I had problems with the machine shop:
the valve job took a month, a rod was twisted and the shop said it was straight (the rod side clearance was not equal on both sides when torqued)

Be careful! If you just drag the heads,block... down for machining, you probably won't get any warranty. I saved about $300 and now I'm looking at having the crank returned and maybe replacing some/all of the rods. I only have about 50 miles on the engine and I've built about 12 engines before and never had this happen.

FE's like the dual pattern cam, I like the Crower ones and the exhaust needs more lift & duration. The Performer RPM is the only one ED intake worth having, the Performer is the same as the 390 GT 'S' intake, just made with alum.

pass up the forged pistons for most non-race usage. Spend the extra $20 on a hi-vol or hi-vol/ hi-pressure oil pump! I consider this cheap insurance.
Costs:
Bore: 120
general machining: $500~600
I wish I had let the shop do the whole thing, if you can get a 3year/30,000 warranty, I would consider that path.
Best luck, Karl.

Just something else to think about.
You may well be able to extend the life of your current short block. For a good rebuild expect to spend a couple of grand just for the short block and that's even if you do the disassembly/assembly yourself. Also expect many delays while waiting for the machine shop to get to your stuff no matter what they tell you. You may get lucky but be prepaired. machine shops have their prefered customers and generally give them priority.

I would pull the heads and inspect the cylinder walls. If there are any hone marks left and you can't rock the pistons back and forth and the engine is pretty clean inside I would just do a valve job, change the timing set and lifters (put in a mild cam at this time too if you want) and change the rear main seal if it's leaking. The rest of the leaks will be taken care of when you reassemble.
A new oil pump will most certainly take care of your pressure proublems.
The smoke at startup is caused by bad valve seals. They are possibly the cause of low oil pressure because they tend to crumble and find their way into the pan and then block the screen.
Since the engine is not knocking, bearings are probably ok. You can pull a couple of caps, very carefully, and inspect them.

If this engine has had the oil changed regulary it's possible to get another 100k out of it.

Like I said, it's just another option. I recently did this to the 360 in my truck, adding headers, Edelbrock performer cam, manifold and 600 carb, and it now runs like new. The best thing is you only need to worry about getting the valve job done. The car will be down maybe a week instead of
a month or more.

Craig, you have a lot of good questions and it would take awhile for anyone to give complete answers on the forum. You might want to get these two books that will give you some good information:
"Engine Blueprinting" by Rich Voegelin gives a very comprehensive expanation of machine shop proceedures, blueprinting, and performance modification. It will help you know what to ask of a machine shop and what to look for in a good one.
The "bible" for any FE guy is "How to Rebuild Big Block Ford Engines" by Steve Christ. It gives a step by step explanation on all facets of FE engine rebuilding.
Both of these books are available at libraries (my local library has them both and its not especially large) or the internet booksellers all have them for less than $20.
Good luck. Bill Troth

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Sorry Brian,

I get a bit drifty whenever I hear of someone buying Cammer stuff.

Good luck in your search.

Shoe.

Why shucks ya'll. I think I got one of them there suckers in a corner of my garage. Are they worth anything?

There was one on e-bay last week that sold for $ 4500, all it needed was a front cover, the shafts and rockers and intake. CHEAP! at twice the price.

Try Carroll Shelby in L.A. he'll build you one, maybe he has some parts for sale. I've got his web site in favorites, but it's call "The Official Carroll Shelby World Wide Web Site"

Jim

Everybody does there own thing, but all I wanted was a crusing car so here is what I did. Took a std 1967 pickup 352 bored it out to 390 with an Edelbrock performer cam, D2TTAA heads from a Ford pickup. The heads have std valves but smaller ports that match up with my 1966 S code GT manifold. Not going to win any drag races but in my 1965 Galaxie XL it is a good crusing motor. The heads had the hardend valves seats. Just another way to build a motor Bill

I've been told the Edelbrock alum heads, Performer RPM cam and intake makes 418HP on a 390...see their website...the RPM intake might be too high though for hood clearance...

I'm also rebuilding my FE ('66 Galaxie 7-litre) this Fall (see the good suggestions for machine shop work under my earlier post) and have decided to go with the Edelbrock line of cam/lifters, timing gear/chain kit, manifold, and carb. I checked numerous places and it appears that Autozone has the best prices, although everything is special order. I've recently talked to Ford guys with the Edelbrock setup at several car shows and they all preferred the Edelbrock carb over the sticky-floated Holley for their cruiser cars. For racing, however, they all use Holleys.

I understand that "Engine Blueprinting" by Rich Voegelin and "How to Rebuild Big Block Ford Engines" by Steve Christ are required reading for FE guys and my own personal bathroom copies are on the way from Amazon.com.

I have been unable to find a catalog that specifically lists headers for an FE block Galaxie. There are headers for FE block Fairlanes and Mustangs but I'm not sure if they will fit around the power steering works on a Galaxie. Has anyone else solved this problem? There are used FE headers from trucks on ebay that are fairly cheap, but would be no deal if they won't fit.

I've had several folks also suggest changing the stall converter in the C6, but I'm unsure about details on this. Anyone have suggestions?

A distributor/coil swap for a more modern electronic version would also be a good addition at this time. Anyone have recommendations on a relaible, simple ignition system for an FE cruiser?

Also it sounds like a high volume oil pump is a wise investment. Any suggestions on brands/models?

The information exchange on this forum is great! Please post any new information you get. It looks like there are many others out there with similar questions. - Craig

They should be pretty easy to find. If not auto parts stores Ford should have them. They do press it. make sure the hole is clean and smooth and use some sealer, it will make tapping it in easier as well as seal possible leaks. Tap lightly as possible, they are easily damaged.

Edelbrock used to supply a heavy brass nipple with their new intake manifolds. I don't know if they still do or not, but it wouldn't hurt to ask them. Or you could try a plumbing supply house. Brass won't corode away like the thin steel nipples that Ford used.

COUGAR

Part number C5AZ-8555-B Should be still available. You have to by a box of three.

Can anyone tell me exactly what the bypass is for? It seams as though there are lots of guesses, but I wonder if anyone knows for sure what the idea behind the bypass is for!

Can anyone tell me exactly what the bypass is for? It seams as though there are lots of guesses, but I wonder if anyone knows for sure what the idea behind the bypass is for!

I used a piece of plain old 1/2" copper pipe. I chamfered the end toward the manifold, tapped it in "carefully", and cut to length with a hacksaw.

I like the stock distributor, but I'm just a sucker for factory castings.

Upgrading to a REAL ignition amplifier like the 6AL will get you the performance you seek. Retrofit a Ford electronic ignition into the stock distributor (it's an easy swap using 302/351/400/460 guts from the 75ish to 83ish era) or a Unilite or Pertronix trig, the "coil of your dreams" (no need to overdo it if you ain't supercharged or running killer fuel), a Duraspark cap conversion, and Duraspark fat wires will buy you all the performance you need without the extra bucks for a new distributor. Besides, the "stock" look of a stock distributor pays for itself.

You will wanna verify the old distributor has OK bushings (no slop), and you WILL need to have the advance springs recurved by a distributor wiz for your performance application.

If this seems to messy, go ahead with your distributor purchase and let us know how it turns out. I've never dropped the bucks for an aftermarket distributor, so I don't know how well they work. I'll bet you still gotta recurve the suckers.

JMO,
Shoe.

I am using an MSD distributor and have had good luck with it. It comes with a selection of springs for setting when you want the timing to be "all in" as well as a selection of "stops" so you can change the initial timing. When you buy one it is also brand new and plugs right in to the 6AL box.

I've been running a Pro Billet and 6AL in my small-block Cougar for five years. The chip rev limiter is great, however, you give up your vacuum advance. Try deleting the vacuum on your stocker and driving a while before you commit.

My info has the C4AE-6090-C heads as 1964-289 heads w/54.5cc chamber. Dunno how accurate it is.

I'm not aware of any heads, other than HR heads (C3AE-K and C4AE-F) that had intake ports taller than the 406 heads. Most pre-emissions era heads were about the same height.

I'd really like to see some photos of these heads, as the port size and shape is of interest to me. Any way to post something visual? How about some ruler measurements? Also, what intake do you have, and how close is the port match between the heads and intake?

Shoe.

There not FE heads. Do you even know what FE's are. Those valves are smaller than the smallest FE heads valves. And a the combustoin chaber you have, 58cc is really small. the biggest Fe had them in the 90's

The head is a C4AE G head used on 64 2 and 4V 352 and 390 engines. NO Andretti Special here. Sounds like your machinist is blowing hot air up your dress. Suggest you change machine shops.

Forgot to add that my truck is a 71 f250 2wd with 360 ci engine

Thunking sounds serious.

Don't go discounting everything yet, though.

It's true that, at present, a rod might be trying to occupy the same time/space continuum as the crankshaft (hopefully you'll turn the ignition key in a counterclockwise direction before the merger is successful), but much fun remains in this beaten-but-not-beat motor.

If the motor was severely overheated, you might as well drive it hard until you see fireworks (bring a fire extinguisher). A severely overheated motor of any kind (i.e.: run dry of fluids) is no longer worth wrenching on.

But your motor wasn't. I believe I know the kids you bought it from.

It was simply hammered on and run dry of oil, so you've probably got no problems that a good ol' magnaflux and rebuild wouldn't fix right up. Also, 390 motors really are still "dime a dozen". For $300 you can pick up a fine running used 390 (65-and later is preferable, due to the motor mount modifications - you'll find one from a '74 F150) and plop in into your car, with no compatibility issues at all. Earlier motors are fine, too, as they'll tend to kick ass on the '66-later (emission) motors, due to the head design.

I'd probably look at buying a cheap engine stand (if it's really cheap, watch your toes - seriously), and renting a cherry picker twice - once to pluck the motor, and next to plop the motor.

You really need to either replace this motor (keep the original, if not overheated, for parts), or rebuild it yourself. It's important to repair the motor in a pleasant environment. You know: Good tunes, plenty of cold beer, out of earshot of nagging yells, no mosquitos. This is what owning an old car is all about. This is the good life.

Heck, back in the days when I wasn't varnishing six-panel doors, screwing subfloor joists, or replacing goddam roofing shingles (i.e.: back when I rented), I'd find time to rebuild my good ol' FE when the car in the next lane backfired.

You've picked up a snazzy old ride. Don't disgrace it by trying to minimize the repair effort. Yank that motor. Flip it around. Replace every gasket you can find spares for, reinstall the oilpan backwards just for yuks. Maybe even repair the original problem while you're at it.

It's definitely NOT fun to attempt repairing an old Galaxie in the most efficient possible way. Minimum effort also means minimum bonding with your car. This leads to poor communication with your car, and a poor sense of it's operating condition. When you can repeatably predict an operating catastrophe two minutes prior to it's occurance, then you are "at one" with your car.

Get to know yor car, Please! You have already learned what ignoring your children has done for their stunted development - don't repeat this mistake with a true friend and life partner.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that trying to repair your motor while it's still in the car is really gonna suck. It would frustrate and bore the heck outta me. You need to give the repair a "purpose" by planning to "soup it up". This is what FE ownership is all about.

JMO,
Shoe.

One thing you might check is to see (if it has one) if the windage tray is getting hit by one of the rod bolts. This happened to my Dads car the last time we rebuilt and needless to say he about lost it.

Randall