Cheap 360 FE rebuild

[Fordinblue20]

I am in the process of pulling the 360 FE out of the truck but I would like to know what is the cheapest way to rebuild one to stock specs? Can you reuse the pistons and rods? Should I rebuild my stock heads or purchase a set of remanufactured heads? My goal for this truck is to get it back on the road.. for light duty work. I don’t need a 390 at the moment. How much would I be looking at for a stock rebuild? I also thought about purchasing a shortblock but I’m unsure how reliable a $900 shortblock will be.

[Busboy]

It all depends on the wear that is currently on the old pistons, bore, crank etc. I always have the rods reconditioned, bore the cyls .030 over, turn or polish the crank, again depending on the wear that these parts have. My stock rebuilds with me buying the parts from Rock Auto will usually run around 2,500.00. I try and stay with the original heads that came with the engine since I at least know the origin of them. I don't subscribe to the school of always having the valve seats replaced with hardened ones just because. Supposedly around 71 they were all stellite seats anyway from the factory. If the original seats will clean up with a standard valve job then I just go with them.

Machinists seem to be like veterinarians in that they always try to sell you more services to boost their bottom line.

[Idaho Chris]

...Machinists seem to be like veterinarians in that they always try to sell you more services to boost their bottom line.

That made me laugh! I'd probably add dentists to that list as well.

[Fordinblue20]

It all depends on the wear that is currently on the old pistons, bore, crank etc. I always have the rods reconditioned, bore the cyls .030 over, turn or polish the crank, again depending on the wear that these parts have. My stock rebuilds with me buying the parts from Rock Auto will usually run around 2,500.00. I try and stay with the original heads that came with the engine since I at least know the origin of them. I don't subscribe to the school of always having the valve seats replaced with hardened ones just because. Supposedly around 71 they were all stellite seats anyway from the factory. If the original seats will clean up with a standard valve job then I just go with them.

Machinists seem to be like veterinarians in that they always try to sell you more services to boost their bottom line.

That’s funny I’m going to school to become a veterinarian! sounds good.. I am going to tear down the engine this weekend. I understand machine work can be expensive.. I just do not want to get ripped off. I appreciate the feedback. Eventually, I would like to build a 410 Stroker using the 428 FE Crankshaft.. but That’s on hold until I can afford that.

[Busboy]

I've kind of given up on trying to get things done economically. Yeah I hate paying a machine shop1200.00 for machine work but oh well, I'll make more money next month. I sent in a seat for reupholstering and had the discussion of around 600.00. It ended up being over 1000.00. I wasn't happy but what am I going to do at this point? He had my seat. It's all about communication or the lack thereof. I feel he should have alerted me if he found that it was going to be more expensive. I just tell myself not to get pissed. I'll do the next one myself.

[My427stang]

You can do them right, or do them cheap. It all depends on how bad what you have is.

FWIW, I do a lot of FEs, and by the time I square deck, bore, hone with a torque plate, and thread for NPT, it's an 850 dollar bill. However, the engine right, you have the compression you want, the quench you want with proper parts selection, and a straight bore that lasts a long time.

That's just the block, but what can you do? You can do a rering and new bearings and gaskets, might end up with piston slap, might run great for a couple years, might last longer, all depends on taper, squareness, you name it.

I recommend looking at the truck and asking if it will be worth anything when done. If no, go cheap and maybe go twice, if it is a nice truck, much easier to save and do it right