390 bigblock vs 351w smallblock

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What will you guys suggest here? I got a 390 engine on my hand from a 68 mustang with 325hp for a good price.. My ideas with hp is to go with something like 400hp. I just think it's easier to reach that with this engine, instead of building a 351w with that power, or am I wrong?

What do you guys think?

Daniel

 
The 390 was never a very good performance engine, compared to the later 428 and 429.

The 351w has had tremendous development over the years and there are far more choices in parts available. You could very easily get a smooth and reliable 400 horses out of a 351W for far less money and hassle than a 390.

Plus the car wil handle much better with a small block.

 
That being said, a properly setup 390 FE does generate a tremendous amount of torque. Unfortunately, it's a bit on the heavy side.

The other advantage to the SBF is the number of parts and upgrades available for it. Things like the factory serpentine, fuel injection, much improved alternators, etc.

 
400 hp (flywheel) with a Windsor is pretty easy. 351w with 9.5:1 compression, Edelbrock heads, RPM or Air Gap intake and a 224/230 (@ .050") cam. It's easy to drive and has a slight lope. If you're going with a complete rebuild, a 393 stroker is hard to beat. I went that route with AFR heads and the Air Gap intake for my '68.

 
What do you have or plan for a driveline? FE engines have a different bell housing pattern. Whichever way you go, consider not only engine build costs but accessory and bracket costs as well, as some of those can really add up

Windsor will be cheaper to build. Absent a set of specialty heads, it will generally outperform the 390-get some high flowing heads for the 390 and everything changes.

 
What do you have or plan for a driveline? FE engines have a different bell housing pattern. Whichever way you go, consider not only engine build costs but accessory and bracket costs as well, as some of those can really add up

Windsor will be cheaper to build. Absent a set of specialty heads, it will generally outperform the 390-get some high flowing heads for the 390 and everything changes.
That's a good point. Big block bellhousing limits a lot of transmission options.

 
400 hp (flywheel) with a Windsor is pretty easy. 351w with 9.5:1 compression, Edelbrock heads, RPM or Air Gap intake and a 224/230 (@ .050") cam. It's easy to drive and has a slight lope. If you're going with a complete rebuild, a 393 stroker is hard to beat. I went that route with AFR heads and the Air Gap intake for my '68.
Sounds exiting, how many horsepower did you end up with that setup? :)


Well, as I understand it, everything will be a lot more hard to build with the 390..

My plan is to make a T5 or TKO swap when I got the money for it, so I think the best will be to searh for a 351w block, and build it with some good stuff! :)

 
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I am not FE expert in anyway, but I would pay attention for the FE engines too. I am not a fan of Barry Rabotnick in anyway, but here’s an article where they build a 446 cid stroked 390 FE with over 450 lb-ft of torque from 3000-5900 rpm and 508 hp as a street engine or for more serious use a 546 hp example. Not too bad from an ol’ fe I would say with cost $8500.00US with headers etc.

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0808_ford_390_fe/viewall.html

Protouring Mach 1. Your vehicle has now C4 and 302, by term pro touring, you want an od automatic or 5-6 spd. manual transmission. With 400 hp range you’ll be ok with the T5z for sure. But if you want to upgrade to TKO series or even T56 or Magnum you are going to need a bellhousing bought separately most likely and in that point you can chooce either FE or SBF bellhousing. With your mechanical skills I woudn’t hesitate trying FE, but if you are willing to go higher +600 hp I would start considering again the SBF until the certain point or 429/460 series engines again.

If I would be you, I would be asking the same question at the FE-forum, there is the knowhow from the fe engines. Either way you can make the power.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182/

Or if you want to be different, get a Triton V10 and get the never one so it doesn’t brake the spark plugs. It is rated around 340-360 SAE hp. It would be cool even in stock mode. There are few examples of Triton V10 for sale in Germany… We’re planning installing one to my friends Galaxie.

I might consider selling my street engine 600 hp 460 cid with alum. heads&intake (I want bigger engine). It can be stunned to 400 hp in many ways like pulling 2-3 sparkplug wires or by a simple cam swap, can be also changed to heavy mechanical roller and achieve 660-670 hp at 7000 rpm. It would be close to NL... and the best come in July for a holiday to Finland, enjoy the summer, thousands of lakes and I'll give you a wheel lifting ride at the strip of Alastaro Circuit...

 
I think I just want to stay with a 351w.. I will try to find a block to start from.. And I think the transmission will be a TKO, because as I can see with the setup I want for the engine, I will get around 500hp..

But what about that t5 transmission Ford Racing make? Is it enought to chance the clutch, or will the transmission still not be strong enought?

 
I think I just want to stay with a 351w.. I will try to find a block to start from.. And I think the transmission will be a TKO, because as I can see with the setup I want for the engine, I will get around 500hp..

But what about that t5 transmission Ford Racing make? Is it enought to chance the clutch, or will the transmission still not be strong enought?
How are you planning to make 500 hp?

While I love the smoothness of a T5, there is not a single unit out there that can reliably handle over 400 ft-lbs of torque. I've had good luck with a non-TKO Tremec 3550 behind my supercharged 304. Generating slightly over 700 hp at the crank, I've not had any problems with that transmission in over 10 years.

 
400 hp (flywheel) with a Windsor is pretty easy. 351w with 9.5:1 compression, Edelbrock heads, RPM or Air Gap intake and a 224/230 (@ .050") cam. It's easy to drive and has a slight lope. If you're going with a complete rebuild, a 393 stroker is hard to beat. I went that route with AFR heads and the Air Gap intake for my '68.
Sounds exiting, how many horsepower did you end up with that setup? :)


Well, as I understand it, everything will be a lot more hard to build with the 390..

My plan is to make a T5 or TKO swap when I got the money for it, so I think the best will be to searh for a 351w block, and build it with some good stuff! :)
With the 393w, I went with 10:1, Air Gap intake, I used the Smaller AFR-185 heads and a 232/240 @ .050" hydraulic roller. The heads are a but small but I already had them. At the flywheel, making a tad over 475hp. A similar build with AFR-205's made 500+ at the flywheel.

As for the TKO, it's a nice transmission but a little notchy. Not nearly as smooth as the T-56.

Mike

 
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I would have to agree with thbe votes thus far that the 351W will probably give you the best overall pro touring return on your investment. My 67 GT has a stock 390 FE and it is great for low end torque in a straight line. Make a turn and you better hold on. I think your decision on the windsor is good, but I need to ask why not consider a cleveland build?

 
I'm not trying to start a fight with the "W vs C", but it seems like the Windsor blocks are very plentiful, can build the power he's looking for probably for less money, and can easily add a "factory style" EFI and or supercharger if wanted down the road. Everyone tells me that 4v heads (Cleveland) are needed for 450+ hp but you need to wind the Cleveland up to make that power due to the heads (what I have been told on here). Not necessarily the case with the Windsor.

 
While I love my 408 Wheezer, it did come with some issues. First, good luck finding headers. $1500 in a custom set and you're done, however.

Second, Wheezers, since they don't have a dry manifold like Clevelands, have a tendency to weep from the timing covers at some stage. There's generally a much higher chance of fluid leakage on any Windsor block.

If I were to do it again, knowing what I know now, I would opt for a small block bellhousing 400M block, upgrade the rods, use the stock crank (one of the strongest stock cranks Ford ever made apparently), drop my 351CJ-4V heads on top, roller cam it, inject it using 351W manifolding and Price Motorsports adapters, and enjoy a much more powerful engine costing half of what I spent on the Wheezer. I've done this on my '79 Bronco and it hauls ass.

 
I have my 393w in a '68 which is a smaller engine compartment. I used Hedman mid length ceramic coated headers. The only issue was that the linkage for the clutch pedal wouldn't fit. So I went with a cable setup. They don't hang down like the full length headers on my '73 and fit very well.

 
Nobody makes a header to fit a 351W in a '71-73. You can find headers to fit a 302 in a '71-73, but the tube diameters are too small for 500 hp.

 
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