Thread: 62 Ford 352 timing gear question

Tweet

Hi all I'm new here and foung this great site, I have been looking over some of the posts and have found and learned a lot of new things i never did before.My question, I have heard that there is a way to give the 1962 352 a bit more snap, other than say better carbs, manifolds etc. but someone mentioned once to me installing a timing set off a later 428 engine, which advances the mechanical components more not just the distributor doing advancing.Am I hearing this person right? what would this really do? or are they just talking???I'd hate to grenade this engine by installing this timing set,I spent enough money on her over the years. I just wanna try a little something more, I have it rebuilt, pretty much stock, 4 v carb, stock manifolds and dual exhaust. Any tips out there, I'd like to hear! thanks in advance!!!

kev.

I know a 460 can benefit from a 429 timing set with different timing, but never heard of any differences in FE stuff. With stock parts the diff is going to be marginal anyway.

In the early 70s Ford used timing gears with straight up marks. As smog efforts in around middle 70s they retarded cam timing 8 degrees---putting in an earlier gear set would raise the torque on a 460 Lincoln engine by 40 lbs.
The best thing to do to the 352 in a 1962 car would be change it to a 406 or at least a police 390

Jerry

Kind of limited on the old 352's Kev. If you really want some stout FE performance, start scrounging around for a good solid 390 block and drop a stroker kit in it. The FE's can be built to produce some very respectable torque numbers in the 500 ft.lb. range and still be very streetable...

As for your timing gears question, if the engine was set up correctly when assembled it should already have the cam timing set straight up. I'd suggest just start accumulating some parts to build a fresh bullet for it then drop it in and keep the stocker covered up nicely in the corner so someday, if the mood strikes, you could put it all back original...

Before you start worrying about the "grenade" part of the engine, consider the fact that you still have a 4 inch bore with 3.5 inches of stroke. Good rod to stroke ratio and piston speed that is desireable for an everyday driver. If this is the engine in your Galaxie, go for what you can afford. Cam is a bit weak and little things to improve is where I would recommend going. Not everybody wants to or can afford to drop big bucks into a monster cube motor. If you want to keep the 352, start with the basics and improve the flow and performance without overkill. Those motors have a bad reputation but it can wake up and be a good cruiser.