i just got a 66 ford tbird with a bigblock 390 automatic i am going to rebuild the engine wanted to beef up the performance on it..anyone got any performance parts for sale???? or any tips to make more power??? i the compression ratio is 10-2-1 can i shave the heads .30? any help would be greatly apreciated

 

Better of with an early headed DOVE 460...not a lot of FE stuff out there

 

i wanna keep the original engine in it when i sell it would be worth more money ...but i wanna have some fun with it first....i love old cars i drive em down the road and i fell like i am back in cuba all the cars are from the 40-60s beautiful cars real made out of real steel not these tin can cars they make now days .lol

 

1. Do not shave the heads
2. Old Edelbrock Streetmaster worked very well with one to two inch carb spacer.
3. Dual plane intakes are just fine also.
4. She can handle up to 750CFM eagerly ... vacuum secondary would probably be best for that heavy ride (0-3310 Holley)
5. Comp cams old 268 High Energy 33-224-3 or the newer XTreme Energy 33-238-4 ... you will enjoy that old sheet metal with these!
6. They love to breathe ... good dual exhaust needed.

Greg / FE Fanatic
Former owner of ... 68 and 69 Torino GT's, also '69 Mercury Cyclone 428 CJ

 

Its Got A Edelbrock 4 Barrel Carb On It ..well I Am Do A Stock Rebuild And Do Brand New Dual Exhaust With H On It And Flowmasters Outback......anyone Got A Cam?

 

i pick this thing up for 1800 bucks and drove it home ...today took it to work to take it apart i was doing 70mph on the interstate with a headgasket blowing exhaust out the side ...lol...

 

Edelbrock makes some decent heads for the FE engines along with intakes as you already know. If you rebuild the original heads upgrade to hardened exhaust seats.
Pick a mildish cam like the Comp 268. The rockers are a rail type from the factory. You can get adjustable versions for not too much.
Look for a truck 360 electronic distributor. Getting rid of the points and using a MSD box will wake the old engine up too.

 

+1 for getting rid of the points. Not sure on the actual HP gain,.. but you WILL feel the difference in the seat of your pants. The engine just runs so much smoother and the power band feels so much wider after. Every car I ever swapped to electronic ignition felt so much better after.

Be sure to check the combustion chambers if you do any head swaps. 66 390 engines could be made to run. The best 390 heads were found on the 66 - 67 Fairlane GT, 66 - 67 Comet/Cyclone GT, 67 - 69 Mustang GT. 68-69 Cougar GT, Also,.. the last year for that motor and those heads.

Best early intake was the dual 4 high rise and the 3 deuce setup. Rare and hard to find today. Next would be just the regular 4v GT intake.

390 is in the FE family. 360, 390, 428 and 427. 429 and 460 are 385 series motors and DOVE-C heads wont work on 390 motors. FE series engines used 4.63 bore spacing. 429 - 460 used 4.90 bore spacing. The heads do not interchange. The FE series were referred to as a medium block,.. the 429 - 460 were called big blocks because of the bore spacing.

Best heads were the later 428 SCJ heads found on the Mach1's, Cougar GT, and GT500 and a few others, casting ID is C8OE-6090-N. Second choice would be the later 427 heads, C6AE-6007-A . Odds are you wont want to pay the premium for any of these heads. Edelbrock makes a better SCJ aftermarket head that works on 390 engine and will cost less than any stock 'performance' head you come across.

Hurst

 

good info.....i got a msd distributor for a big block in my garage i am dig it out today and see if it would work i remember it was brand new in the box

 

Jim' looks like Tommy recommended a 460 motor with DOVE heads ... also, your input/read is great, as usual.

You can mod most distributors with Pertronix on the cheap, Ford HEI is good stuff too. Iraq&Roll good tip!

We know very well-versed FE machinist, if you need one LM.

Let's get the Cuban running wild in an FE