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Original Message
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| RE: what's rare? |
| By Mike McQuesten - 01/08/2002 3:48:13 PM; IP 206.193.0.122 |
I would consider that aluminum block 390 rare indeed. Especially since their existence is based on hearsay not documentation. Interesting hearsay to say the least.
In my humble opinion I believe the '61/early '62 genuine High Performance 390 is pretty darned hard to find. I'm not talking about the hydraulic liftered, cast ironed intake, 4100 Autolite 300 horse unit that hauled many a '61/'62 T-'bird & full size Ford/Merc. I'm talking the about the special 390 block allowing solid lifters only with special performance camshaft, oil pressure relief valve, heavy duty main web casting, HP rods, special high compression cylinder heads with high RPM valve springs, aluminum intakes either single 4V(ture 375 horse) or a trio of Holleys (401 horses), dual point distributor, large diameter generator pulley, and a few more unique performance oriented features. How many of these have you seen? Lots of 390s out there but not many of these stout screamers.
And yes, as I referred to a few weeks ago, any 390 can be built to the high performance horsepower standards but it's still not a genuine HP 390. Just like a 390 or 428 can be built to easily match the power of a 427...but it ain't a 427!
So that's my nomination for a rare 390. Second place would go to any genuine '61 - '65 Police 390. They weren't built with as many unique features as the genny HP but they still had a unique solid lifter cam, the shorty HP exhaust manifolds and the HP rods. They were rated at 330 horse and are a much better runner than the mini cammed overrated 300 horse wheezer.
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