my 68 F-250 Project IS FINALLY DONE!!!

[Sindelir]

Well Im in the process of building the 390 for my 68 F-250 estimated to be around 375-400hp at around 450ft lbs of torque, my dads friend has a machine shop and thats all he does is build motors for a living so Im doing all my own machine work on the 390. Being the motor is going together at a decent pace I decided it was a good time to tare down the truck and get the old 360 out, I have to replace the core support and right side inner fender so I took the whole front clip apart making it easier to pull the motor and easier to paint everything under the hood, as I was in there I discovered Im in need of both inner fender brackets on the cab, So Im still looking for a right side inner fender and the inner fender brackets, so if anyone has those items laying around that they would like to sell let me know. Here are some pics of it so far

[mljjones67]

Lookin good.

[Brett6269]

Thats the way to do it pull everything off and out of the way!!! Looking good dude !!! When engine is done all nice and clean, youll be proud to pop the hood for people!!!! i replaced all gaskets but didnt rebuild my 360 last year...thats what i want to do eventually....

[Sindelir]

Thats what I was going to do but I was going to see how well I could make a 360 perform at first, I was going to do a budget build 360 and see how much I could squeeze out of it being nobody really messes with 360s but I figured I would do the 390 instead being I had 2 other doner motors.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Sindelir

That ooks like deja vu to me...
I did the samething to my '68 F-250 CS last winter...
Well worth it to me...
Looks great... can't wait to see the project unfold.

Just in case you didnt already know..
68's ROCK !!!

KaptnKA S

[stangconv]

Looks good! I cant wait to start ripping my truck apart!

I can get a pretty decent deal on a rebuilt 390 engine. The thing holding me back is I dont know much about them (More of a 302/351 guy.) Are they more expensive to hop up then a 302/351?

How long did it take you to tear the front end apart?

Nice puppy!

[dcbullet]

Nice open space to work in!

I'd hate to drop a nut or screw on your floor though.

[rjewkes]

Becuase of rotted out head on one core support bolt , i took the whole core off in about three hours including the entire front sheet metal.

[Pipes71]

Looks good! I cant wait to start ripping my truck apart!

I can get a pretty decent deal on a rebuilt 390 engine. The thing holding me back is I dont know much about them (More of a 302/351 guy.) Are they more expensive to hop up then a 302/351?

How long did it take you to tear the front end apart?

Nice puppy!

One thing you need to know about working on a FE motor (352,360,390,427,428) is the more you open up the motor the wider you need to open up your wallet. That being said, there is nothing like a FE motor, hard to kill,strong as anything and they can make plenty of power and more speed then ya need, and oooh that big block sound just does something to a guy..
But if your on a budget, and not looking for ground pounding horse power,tons of torque for pulling houses down, a 351 would do you just fine

[two-bit]

I see your truck had a core support and inner fenders like mine.

It took me even less time to replace my core support because there was no sheetmetal left bolted to the frame.

I used the core support, and inner fenders from a dentside.
Took a little effort, but well worth the rust free parts.

Good luck with everything. FE's rock I have a medium build 390. That will be going into my flatbed when i do the cab swap. Can't wait to hear that monster roar again.

Where are you in Minn.??? I'm in South Central WI.

Two-bit

[stangconv]

WHat order do you do the work in? I am thinking....

Strip it down to frame
Suspention and Brakes
Test fit motor and drivetrain.
Put body back on with new mounts etc.
Body work get everything straight
Tear apart paint.
Reassemble
Done?

Is this what you are planning?

[Sindelir]

Well I havent been on here in a long time, just been really busy, money has not been good to me at all so the truck is still not done. But the good part is I have $800 set aside for the motor, and its going to make more power then we first thought, here is what we are doing. Im using C8 Heads off of a 1972 360 and Im using edelbrock stainless steel 428 CJ valves that I did a 3 angle valve grind on, with mild porting to the heads with the 428 valves the heads flowed as good as a 428 CJ head on the intake and slightly better then the 428 on the exhaust, so we did a lot more porting and are going to flow the heads again this weekend, they should flow as good as edelbrock performer RPM heads now, when I get back I will post flow numbers. The block is bored 30 over, and Im using hypereutectic flat top pistons with solid lifters, we are going to be at about 10.0 to 1 compression. This motor should work out really well, we are hoping for over 400hp and closer to 450ft lbs torque now. We will see, All my parts are here now except for the cam and lifters witch we will decide on after the heads are flowed this weekend. I have decided to paint the motor black and gold like the anniversary motors in 1965, I really like those colors. Ill post more details on the heads after this weekend, Im excited. I just finnished getting the brakes done and I got all new wheel studs as my wheels are to thick for the original studs so I went to a 9/16 stud and bought some lug nuts and have my wheels on now to, the only part of the brakes left is the line from the master to right under the firewall of the cab, fuel tank is mostly cleaned out and needs a final rinse and we can install the bigger fuel line.

[Sindelir]

Here are some pictures of all of it so far, all my parts arrived this week, got the rods all done with new bushings and new studs and they are all ready to go, did some minor work on the block before it goes to get line honed. Here are some pictures of all the parts, unfortunately I cant get the heads flowed this weekend so that will have to wait. I have some pictures of the valves and how they have the 3 angle grind but they are bad pics, the one the furthest on the left has one angle like all normal valves, the one in the middle has two angles and the one on the right has three. The pictures are bad cell phone pics, Ill get better ones later.

[Sindelir]

Well I finally got back on the truck project, its been one MASSIVE delay after the other, then when we were ready I was out of money, now I should have enough to make the truck drivable, brakes are 100% done, heads are back from being flowed for the second time, I have to find the flow sheets and Ill post the numbers a little later but we decided on a 540 lift cam still using solid lifters, crank, rods, and pressure plate area all balanced now, cam is on order. I know this project is taking much much much longer then it should, but like I said its one bad thing after another, I ordered up new inner fenders today, found a pair of rust free used ones for $80. everything is coming together now so Im getting pumped.

[OldRedFord]

I like your helper in the first pic.