Thread: identifing 390 block early model?ribs

Tweet

i just purchased this fe engine, the guy said it was a 390, but he seemed very unsure, i was able to pick it up for 100, it came with a edelbrock streetmaster intake manifold, C4AE-6090G heads, a 600 4 barrel holley carb, some knock off chrome valve covers. i want a rebuilt 390, to put in my 65 ford galaxie and replace the 352 thats in it, my problem is i am unsure if this is a 390 or not, the pistons say 30 on them, and i cant find any numbers on the crankshaft. i am pretty new to this so i need some help, i found the numbers on the heads and took a picture of them, also i took pictures of the numbers i could find. also there are ribs on both sides of the block i am unsure what that represents but maybe someone on here can help me! and are the heads good or the manifold? was it worth my money? let me knwo what you guys think...

fairly easy, measure the cylinder bore, then rotate the engine so one of the pistons is all the way up and mark where the piston top is in the bore then rotate it so the piston is all the way down. The distance from your mark at the top of the cylinder with the piston up to the top of the piston when the piston is down is the stroke.... Once we know the bore and stroke you'll know for certain what the engine is.....

Now would it matter if the heads are off of the engine?

hard to measure the bore if the heads are on

This source will give you the info you need:www.mre-books.com/interchange/interchange11.html That being said,BUY THIS BOOK! I have recommended it to others doing Ford build ups and after reading it recieved emails thanking me.From what I read you scored a great deal! The Streetmaster intake when used on a FE Ford seems to be an excellent choice,stick with it.

I'm definitely not an expert on FE engines but that looks very much like a truck block.
The ribs on the sides and the 4 bolt holes in the motor mount area look like what I remember of the 330MD truck engine and probably the same casting was used for some of the other (361-391) FE truck engines.
I don't know what all the differences would be between the truck and car blocks.
Just another possibiulity.

Richard

well the engine mounts are two bolts, he said it came out of a 72 f250 i mean regardless if it came out of a truck or not i just want it to be a 390 lol if it is. i will check the bore size tonight. the only numbers i could find on the crank were bb and on the rods c4ae no following letters. and measuring the borehow am i going to know which size it is? i mean the tape isnt going to be accurate, how am i going to tell the difference between 4" to 4.050"?do uguys know what the ribbing stands for?

The difference between a 360 and a 390 is the stroke... Stroke on a 360 is 3.500", and a 390 is 3.784. Bore is 4.052 for both.....

Originally Posted by robert55

well the engine mounts are two bolts, he said it came out of a 72 f250 i mean regardless if it came out of a truck or not i just want it to be a 390 lol if it is. i will check the bore size tonight. the only numbers i could find on the crank were bb and on the rods c4ae no following letters. and measuring the borehow am i going to know which size it is? i mean the tape isnt going to be accurate, how am i going to tell the difference between 4" to 4.050"?do uguys know what the ribbing stands for?

Did you click on the web site I posted? It tells you how to read the codes and what the 2 bolt engine mounts mean as far as the year ID goes.

Yes I went to the website, and it was very knowledgable, as for I went and checked the crank for some more numbers I found 2 letters (2u) and the stroke was about 3.75 I also think its .30 over the pistons say 30 and I think the bore was like 4 1/8

Robert you should see a 2U or 3U on the edge of one of the cranks counterweights if it's a 390 crank. There are some 13+ numbers in most books but the 2U and 3U by far the most common I've seen other than some early examples. 2T and 2TA can be found on a shorter stroke 360 crank. The rods are the giveaway here as the 390 used the short rods and the 360 the long rods.

The 3E4 is the date code of 73-May-4th. The 2 dots under the 3 tells it's a 73 block. The dots started in 69 to tell the difference between say a 59 and 69 block. Although there are other visuals to tell. The ribs are very common to 69 and later FE blocks. The ribs went away towards the end of production in 75-76. The block has both early and later motor mount provisions and actually there are 4 mount holes total. This covers early and later configurations.

The heads are lowriser heads and very good by factory standards. Those heads were used from 64-65 and the C6AE-R replaced them in 66. Your engine would have come with the D2TE-AA heads which replaced the earlier C8AE-H's. The C4 heads only have the 8 bolt vertical exhaust pattern. C6 and later heads used the 8, 14 and 16 bolt patterns depending on the application. So depending on the vehicle it's going in and the exhaust manifolds used might limit your choices. Most aftermarket headers have 16 hole flanges and will not be a problem to use in the right application.

So look for the 2U, 3U, 2T or 2TA. If you see by chance a 1U or 1UB it's a 3.98 stroke 410/428 crank.

If everything is in good shape you did good for $100.

Well thanks guys! I'm sure its a 390 now, you guys seem pretty knowledgeable and I appreciate it! Thanks! Its going in a galaxie too I'm not sure what the heads are on it. I have 2 360's and a 352 to pull parts from but all of the parts look really clean.

Originally Posted by JeffB2

This source will give you the info you need:www.mre-books.com/interchange/interchange11.html That being said,BUY THIS BOOK! I have recommended it to others doing Ford build ups and after reading it recieved emails thanking me.From what I read you scored a great deal! The Streetmaster intake when used on a FE Ford seems to be an excellent choice,stick with it.

The block date code info is wrong on that webpage and the book if that's where it's from. The block they picture is a 73 not a 63. Few other things at quick glance have glaring errors. Just a FWIW...

Hey Robert I just found the same ribs on the engine in my 63 Galaxie. I am hoping it is a 390 but it was a rebuilt engine a few years ago and I have the engine tag it was bored .040 by national engines so who knows what it is.

I will have to measure the stroke and since the engine is together I cannot measure the bore.

Glad to hear yours is a 390 I hope mine is also.