390 Engine Advice

[Terry64HT]

Some years ago, I put Ford Powertrain headers on my 64 390. They are a tight fit but work well. I didn't use spacer plates on the mounts, but as the pictures show there is only about 1/4" clearance. The first photo is from above and the second from below. I also used a Cobra sidewinder manifold and Edelbrock carb. I had to change the carb spacer plate to a phenolic one but kept the same thickness and in order to keep the air cleaner, I had to hollow out the hood insulation.
Overall, everything worked out well.
If you want more photos, let me know.

Terry
64HT

[travellew]

Holly crap those headers are tight...

Well after after a ton of back and forth with the machinist and pricing out parts... I made a decision. I'm going to do a stock rebuild with just an updated Melling MT4 cam. Everything else will be stock. I just couldn't swallow the costs (especially up here in Canada). The fact is we might drive this car 3-5K/year so throwing a ton of money to build a semi-performance motor made no sense. I still have body work and paint.

I appreciate everyone's posts and suggestions though.

[jtschug]

I think that is a pretty good choice. Cam grind change is your biggest bang for the buck. Next best is the aluminum intake, not so much for performance, but just because the iron one weighs 70 lbs.

[travellew]

I think that is a pretty good choice. Cam grind change is your biggest bang for the buck. Next best is the aluminum intake, not so much for performance, but just because the iron one weighs 70 lbs.

I think I read somewhere its 82lbs... My back agrees..

I would love a nice new aluminum one, but its $950 here. I got a cast one at a wrecker for $28.I'm still on the fence for headers, however I don't think I would see much gain with stock heads.

However, I did get some great news today. The block we picked up at the wrecker passed the mag test and was boreable to 30 over. So things are looking up (at least until I get the bill)!

[jtschug]

Wow the prices on the intakes have gone up a lot! They were less than $200 not that long ago.

Here is a Summit branded one for a little less than $500:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-226064

[travellew]

I appreciate the suggestion.. but after conversion to CAD, shipping and import fees it comes in at close to $900 here. Tough to swallow when the cast one was $28.

Was at the machine shop today talking about the plan. He thinks I have a good plan and recipe for a solid street build with good reliability and decent performance on a budget. His words "Sure, we can do anything and keep throwing money at it (porting, bigger valves, ect ect). Modifying the heads will bring them to $800-$900 in work per head and you can buy performance aluminum heads for $1200. Does the modifications make sense? If it was my engine I would do a solid proper rebuild and enjoy the car." (by proper rebuild he means ensuring all the important stuff is done. Heads decked, valves guides replaced, valves seated, crank ground/polished, ect).

So with that sound advice we have put together a good plan that won't cost my first born. Basically it will be close to an original factory 390 that came in the 66 T-bird. A little more HP maybe. Will need to run premium and use oil with zinc, but that is an acceptable trade-off.

Best of all, it will look like the original (a big thing for me).