Original Message
390 Rebuild questions
By John M. Sutton - 12/12/2004 8:48:01 PM; IP 68.220.64.254
All: I lurk here on the board, and have come to highly respect Shoe, Hawkrod, Mr. F, Kevin Marti and others. I appreciated so much how ths board handled recent allegations against a very upstanding man, and therefore I trust your thoughts.
My '66 F-100 is named Sweet Southern Comfort. (No relation to the liquor, as I learned about later!) She spun a rod bearing last week, and I need to rebuild her motor. I would like some advice on the rebuild, because money is tight, but I want to do what is good for the long run.
Here is the situation, and I would really appreciate your thoughts and input.
First, here are my questions; read on down below for the details behind the questions:
1. Which block and rotating assembly should I use for rebuilding, a '66 Galaxie 390, a '69 torino block with C-7AE heads, or a '74 truck mirror 105 390 with D2T heads?
2. Which set of heads should I use?
3. What externals do you all recommend?

Here is what I have now:
'66 352 2V with original block, but with re-worked C8AE car heads (about 30K ago. They will need freshening, due to stripped exhaust bolt holes.) Behind it is a C-6, a Doug Nash overdrive (similar to a Gear Vendors or US Gear overdrive), and a 3.50 9" rear.
Accessories already include power steering and air conditioning.

Here is what I have available to me:
1. A mirror 105 390 block, with D2T heads, out of a '74 or so F-250. It had a cast iron 4 bbl on it originally. (Price: $100)
2. A '66 4bbl 390 out of a '66 Galaxie. (Price: Free)
A '69 4bbl 390 from a torino, with C7AE heads. Cross hatching is still visible. (Price $400)

These are my intentions for using Comfort:
She needs to run on regular gas.
I will use the stock manifolds, with the current dual exhaust on her right now. (I don't like tube headers, and I cannot afford the cast shorties.)
Also, I will use the stock pushrods and rocker arms. I don't see the need for adjustable ones in this application at all.
I intend to rebuild it with a 4bbl aluminum intake, and put a brand new (not rebuilt) 4bbl carb on it to for good mileage, but have the power in the secondaries if needed. Edelbrock has come highly recommended over Holley for this purpose.

I would like to consider fuel injection, but I think that multipoint injection is beyond my price range right now. If the cost of gas stays pretty much the same, I don't know if a system such as the Holley Proinjection (sp?) unit will pay for itself soon enough. I don't know if it will be worth the savings.

I intend her primarily for street use, occasional towing of medium level things, and no racing or the like.
I do not intend to haul heavy things except rarely; I keep a camper shell on it to preserve the bed.
The motor rebuild must be kept economical, but I don't want to scrimp so that I spend more in the long run.

I've been following the other FE forums about FE rebuilds, and they have some great ideas, but most of them seem to get a little carried away spending other people's money!

This list is the consensus I have pulled from other forums; I would like to hear from you all about this.
KB-Silvolite 1131 cast pistons, with the 1.76" compression height.
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake
Edelbrock 600 cfm carb
OR, the Holley Proinjection setup
Crane 343941 cam (with new lifters, of course)

Thanks for your thoughts.
banjopicker66 at hotmail dot com.
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Collapse <b>390 Rebuild questions</b>&nbsp;-- <font color=#0000ff>John M. Sutton, <i>12/12/2004</i></font>390 Rebuild questions -- John M. Sutton, 12/12/2004
 RE: 390 Rebuild questions -- giacamo, 12/14/2004
 RE: 390 Rebuild questions -- big dave, 12/22/2004
 RE: 390 Rebuild questions -- McQ, 12/23/2004
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