360 hop up

[bigjay]

Thanks to some very good advice gleaned from my last post ( the one thats locked now) I am going to stick with the carbed big block and eventually do a 390-ish motor using my existing stuff. I drove the truck today for a longer perdiod than i ever have ( just about an hour) and I really like it, this motor is noticeably different in feel, sound and just about everythign than any other motor ive ever had,its got more power than i initially thought, enough that I am just going to do a mild hop up on it as is, if it breaks ill do the 390 thing so my new questions are

what carb/intake combo does everyone like best ( keeping with the low end, low revving torque theme)

what is a popular cam for stock heads and pump gas that wotn require a stall with my stock c6? ( just want the extra torque and the lopey idle ive become used to)

hedman headers seem to be popular on the FE, with no major internal mods ( aside from cam) are they worth it or should i just build my exhaust off of the manifolds? either way im doing 2.5" with an H and spintech pro streets dumped before the axle. Ive had spintechs on all of my LS1 and LT1 cars and liked them ALOT

Thanks for the help guys, pics of the truck coming later today if the weather breaks ,10- 20mph winds and sideways rain going on since last night.

[sgs]

I wouldn't do headers. I don't think you're seat of the pants dyno will be able to detect any real power increase with a basically stock engine. They can also give you clearance problems and are leak prone. 4V carb will give you a little boost for the $$$ and you probably can pick up a stock 4V manifold for $100. Don't go too big 600 is max and a smaller Edlebrock would be better. If you install a lopey cam with the low compression 360 you will loose power. lopey cams build power on the top end. When modifying an engine you really have to match the components to perform at a given rpm range or your power and driveability will both suffer.

sgs

[bigjay]

I wouldn't do headers. I don't think you're seat of the pants dyno will be able to detect any real power increase with a basically stock engine. They can also give you clearance problems and are leak prone. 4V carb will give you a little boost for the $$$ and you probably can pick up a stock 4V manifold for $100. Don't go too big 600 is max and a smaller Edlebrock would be better. If you install a lopey cam with the low compression 360 you will loose power. lopey cams build power on the top end. When modifying an engine you really have to match the components to perform at a given rpm range or your power and driveability will both suffer.

sgs

thanks for the info man, I was kind of getting that vibe that alot of guys with stock ish motors didnt think the headers were worth it. Ive seen alot fo talk about 2v and 4 v carbs.. is this ford terminology that i dont know about? im used to 2 barrel and 4 barrel talk.

on the cam, i didnt mean a loping monster, but even a cam aimed at torque production has a good sound, thats what im going for, i just want the cam to be big enough to hear and produce a bit of a gain ( basically as big as is still beneficial to a stock motor).

when i do rebuild this thing and do the 390 rotating assembly, I will go for a good set of aftermarket heads and a top end package designed around them, at that time headers will be a must im sure.

[DuckRyder]

More later on Cams,

But I completely agree with my427stang on the header issue, and the 390 issue. You can buy the extra parts to convert to a 390 for 300-400.00 over the cost of a standard rebuild.

[390F100]

I would also have to agree with the header issue, I used to have a stock 360 with a holly 2v and the headers did wake it up quite a bit, now on the down side my autozone starter was failing on me every 6 months or so due to the extreme heat and well it's autozone and then off came the header everytime so it was not the most fun but it was worth it to me.

390

[bigjay]

Thanks for the info Convincor, Its odd how on chevy forums guys say 4bbl and on ford ones guys use the proper terminology of "venturi" that first ebay link looks like the perfect set up, seems like it would be daily driveable but give you all youd ask for in a truck on the street.

My427stang, My budget when rebuild time comes will be about $2500 into the motor and $1000 or so into the tranny, I know i wont be building any 550 horse strokers but i dont need all that for this truck, i just want to sit low, crank up the tunes and burn some rubber

I suppose a good thing to do is make sure any parts i get now will work on my 390 build? I imagine the intake and carb would be good ( the carb could get jetted up since it wont be a nutcase of a motor right?), If i use my existing 360's heads ( in ported and valve jobbed form) then the headers i get now should work just fine right? or will i NEED to find 390 specific heads ( with my budget aftermarkets are probably out of the question). any cam choice for my existing motor would be too small for the built motor so maybe that should just wait, no sense in wasting $300+ on something im not going to re use in less than a year right?.

in the mean time i can keep an eye on Craigslist for any 390 stuff i can use that would save some $$, heck, a guy in scaramento sold a running 3 year old rebuilt 390 with a pretty fresh c6 ( both with reciepts) a few weeks ago, before i had my truck or any plans of getting it, for $500, if that thing checked out good i could have thrown heads and a cam at it and been all smiles.

Thanks for the on going help everyone, planning a motor and mods is almost as much fun as putting it all together.

[convincor]

anything you bolt onto your 360 will work for the 390 also.

[sideoilerfe]

Alot of good points and advice given above. The 360 is a good motor and if you want to freshen it up before you do the 390 conversion than your intake and carb will work on your 390. A 600 cfm carb is plenty. The heads on 360/390 truck engines are the same. With GT heads, they have a different exhaust bolt pattern so you'd have to get the manifolds to match or find headers for that application.

Regarding the header issue, there has been a lot of arguments over this and i don't want to start another one but i will say something that I found true in my experience so if that starts another argument, so be it. I had a 65 F250 with a 352 (a 352 is an FE just like the 360/390 but in 1968 they put the 352 crank in a 390 block and you got a 360 CID) anyway, i had 2" duals with exhaust manifolds and i went to 2.5" duals with headers and with my relatively stock motor noticed NO performance or mileage gains at all, period. As sgs stated above, on a relatively stock engine, you won't notice a seat of the pants difference. A lot of people think headers on a stock engine are bolt on power when the fact is that the exhaust ends up being louder so the driver likes the way it sounds, ends up driving it harder so he can hear the sound more and in turn, the truck goes faster and he thinks that the headers were the reason for it. If you've got a built 390/410/427/428 then go for headers but if you've got a "freshened" 360, you won't be able to tell the difference.

That being said, if you're going to do a 390 eventually anyway, and the 360 runs good now, why spend the money now? Just wait for the 390 conversion and do it then.

[bigjay]

I really appreciate all the good solid info guys, definitly a great help! Sounds like for now my best bet is to look for an aluminum 4v intake and carb, do the exhaust ( headers may not be necessary at this point but if budget allows, might as well get them on now) and have fun with it while i buy parts for the 390 rebuild. I will definitly do the port job on my existing heads if they are as good as any other, and at that time, match a good cam to the heads. if i can bargain hunt and pick things up here and there it will allow me to spend more on the total build up, maybe leaving me extra money for more port work, more cubic inches or what have you. if in the mean time I run across a good condition real 390 ill just be that much farther ahead of the game eh?

I looked on ebay last night for intakes and such, there seems to be alot of different aluminum ones, is there a particular one that would be best for my application? if so what would the best choice be for a carb on that intake ( something that will work now that i can jet to handle the motor when its rebuilt and a little more thirsty)? thanks again guys!

[fomocoguy]

If it were me, I'd get any alum intake you find (there really isnt a bad one for that size motor), a 600 vac sec Holley or Edelbrock, and a set of headers. Recurve the distributor for 20 degrees mechanical all in by 3200 or so, set initial to 15. That alone will make it feel like it gained a bunch of power.

So do you know of a god place that I could send my distributor to have it recurved? There aren't too many great hot rod shops here in St. Louis anymore. I can hardly find a place to get a decent exhaust job done.

[My427stang]

Fomoco guy,

Shoot Tim an email, Tim@428cobrajetcars.com

He does restoration and performance distributors for CJ's and is a regular on the FE Forum.

I haven't used him, but heard his work is very nice.

You can say Ross from the FE forum sent you his way