My 68 Falcon back up and running after the crank broke in my FE stroker

My 390 is ready to go back together. I cut the piston so the Intake valve will clear with the .740 lift cam. I need to get head gaskets and a gasket set to put it back together.

The car has been sitting for 20 Months. My 427 was going 10.00-10.15@130. The cam, heads and intake came off that motor and is in the 390 now. The 390 was in my Falcon from 99-05 and was running 11.50's@117 with a solid flat tap cam .601 lift and 256 duration @.050 and fairly stock 428CJ head with 75cc. Best et was 7.26@96 and 11.49@117. Now the cam is a solid roller .740 lift 276in 284ex duration @.050 and the heads have some port work and a good valve job and the chambers are 68cc. So I hope it runs good for pieces thrown together but hope it last long enough so I can save up to build the 460 for it.

I heard it run tuesday. Sounds good. I need to wash the car and engine bay. But I took pictures anyways.

Good luck with it. I've still got a soft spot for the FE's.

Nevs wrote:Good luck with it. I've still got a soft spot for the FE's.

Some darn good iron for sure.

LOOKIN' GOOOOOD !!!!

Looking good. I still love them FEs..Good luck with it.




Keith

sometimes I wonder if i'm making a good choice switching to a 460 from a FE. But the price is right.

fe50stang wrote:sometimes I wonder if i'm making a good choice switching to a 460 from a FE. But the price is right.

We just build a 460 stroked to 521ci for his 69 Mach 1. My FE was only 487ci but was my FE had more compression, cam and everything. My car weight 3300lbs his 3400lbs. My car went the best of 6.38@106 and his 5.97@114. 460 are just cheaper for the hp and you have a choice for aftermarket heads that wont break the bank.

I still have plans to build a 460. I have the short block minus a good crank. It has a stroker cast crank in it right now and I will wait until I can afford a good crank. I need an Intake. I'm also looking to buy a set on P51 heads.

Nevs wrote:Good luck with it. I've still got a soft spot for the FE's.

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Love the fe's...makes me wish I had my 428 back.

Holy buzz box batman that thing is gonna want to rev to the moon with that cam imo.... Hope those stock rods and rocker arms in the pictures are ready for a pounding... Good luck with the motor and car. Hope to hear some good results. I like my FE's

Nice ride. I have a 67 i am putting back together.

Yeah...I know that the 429-460 is a better deal for HP and parts selection, but there is something special about the FE...for me. My first real engine, I began when I was 14 was a 352 that was upside down in the mud. I revived it with a lot of help from some older racers and car freaks that I hung out with (on my bike..) It had a Mickey Thompson flat tappet cam of some sort, but it was a free hand-me-down. I cobbled together a couple of old Carter AFBs and had them on a low riser 2x4 intake. It actually ran and I had it in a $150 1957 Ranchero. My first rough 427 was installed in the Ranchero with a nice 3x2 setup. After wrecking the Ranchero, the 427 and all parts went in to my current '58 Custom 300.
I ran the 427, which became a 452 for a long time with a trusty 390 as a backup spare.
The last 452 died at Union Grove Dragway with a rod failure in about 1992 or so.
The old FEs are just cool, I can't explain it any further.

Nice combination....nice ride!
Don't give up on the FE yet.
Thanks,
Keith

bluef100fe wrote:Holy buzz box batman that thing is gonna want to rev to the moon with that cam imo.... Hope those stock rods and rocker arms in the pictures are ready for a pounding... Good luck with the motor and car. Hope to hear some good results. I like my FE's

It will get shifted at 6400rpm and cross the line at whatever it crosses to see where it goes. Stock rods with ARP rod bolts. The rocker arms and shaft are not stock. When I ran is before I would shift at 6200rpm and cross the line at 7000.

Thats good because i seen the stock adjustable rockers next to the rods and pistons in one of the pictures... I was wondering how you would get the stock adjustable rockers to live with roller cam spring pressures. What are you using for valvetrain? I havent graduated to a roller cam yet but im sure there is going to be one in my future. Are you going to keep the rpms down for longevity?

BigBlockFalcon wrote:

It will get shifted at 6400rpm and cross the line at whatever it crosses to see where it goes. Stock rods with ARP rod bolts. The rocker arms and shaft are not stock. When I ran is before in 99-05 I would shift at 6200rpm and cross the line at 7000.

The rocker arms in the picture are the ones I'm using but they aren't stock. There crane adjustable one. I ran them with my 487ci.

I keep forgetting about those old crane adjustables. Sorry for the confusion. I hope it runs hard for you

bluef100fe wrote:I keep forgetting about those old crane adjustables. Sorry for the confusion. I hope it runs hard for you

It's not going to run 10.0's like the 427 but as long as it runs for awhile. Until I can gather pieces up to build the 460. The 390 went 11.49@117 with the set up before. So anything faster would be a plus and stay together.

390s are cool engines. I owned a 72 half ton with a rebuilt 390 in it. I had a 78 3/4 ton 4x4 ford with an old 352 in it. I also owned a 1973 ford 4x4 highboy with a 360 in it. I blew the 360 up and put a 400 in its place. aren't many 390s around here anymore, mostly 360 fe truck engines.

I still have a few

Here is what it went

r/t .016
60 1.622
330 4.592
1/8 7.128
mph 96.31
1000 9.336
1/4 11.220
mph 119.28



It leaves the line well I wouldn't stay leaves the line but it just rolls off the starting line. The converter is why to tight but what do you expect. The converter was built for a 750hp motor and not a 430hp motor. Snowball has a converter that is a lot looser I might try down the road.

430hp and your running 11's? I'll give you credit for that, must be a light car too.

bb429power wrote:430hp and your running 11's? I'll give you credit for that, must be a light car too.

Who know's what it makes but I know it's not alot. The car weight 3350lbs. Ok 450+hp

Tonight was the first race out I lost at 10 car, out of 100+ cars.