Engine problems and solutions

Well, nothing much has happened in the "restore" mode of the car.  I wanted to have the motor completed before the end of Christmas break, but there have been some major setbacks.

I finished the heads and started seating the new valves when I noticed one of the valves was very loose in the seat.  (This is the valve that had the broken spring back sometime in the early 90's.) The valve seats way too low in the head.  There is a half-inch play in the valve as well. 

My choices were to replace the head, put in new valve sleeves and hope they fix the problem, use oversized valves, or just send the heads out and have them completely redone.  I decided on none of the above.  After researching the block a little further, I found out it is actually a 1967 428ci Cobra Jet block.  This led me to hunt for a new motor as a basic build.

 

Luckily, I was able to acquire a new 390 today.  I have not picked it up yet, but I have purchased it and secured it.  The only information on the history if it is that it is from a 1969 car and has a 2bl carb.  The engine comes complete with carb, automatic tranny, starter, alternator, and original stock powered by ford chrome covers still attached.  ($200 for everything)  I was unable to get any block numbers, but the block does have lower ribs, which indicates it was probably a 427 interceptor base block.  I will not know much more until I get it home and start the process of taking it apart. 

Since I already have all of the parts to rebuild my 390, this should be an easy rebuild.  I will be using my original intake manifold in place of the 2bl intake.

Slow going

I have done very little in the past week or so other than a little cleaning and purchasing.  I did finally identify all of my engine parts.  My block is actually a 428ci Cobra Jet.  This gives me a lot of choices if I want to beef up the horsepower.
I have finished one of the heads.  I will be working on the second head this weekend in hopes of getting them back together very soon and shelved. 


Cleaned and Finished



This week I did get new lifters, a new cam, and new valves.  On top of having different lifters in the car, a few of them are stuck.  It has been nice sitting at my desk working on paperwork while taking apart each lifter just to see if they were all good.

I probably will not tackle replacing the cam, since it is not pitted or lobed.  I purchased the cam and lifters together for the bargain price on eBay of $36.00.  It never hurts to have extra parts to trade.

after cleaning and painting

after cleaning and painting

after



before



before cleaning and painting

Trouble brewing

So, I have decided to make the engine my first priority this month.  I was hoping to have an easy time cleaning and re-assembling.  The more I cleaned, the more trouble I found.  The first problem was the heads.  They are not from the same engine.  The numbers show they are from a 1972.  That is not a major problem, as the 72 heads are actually better than the heads from a 60’s model.  I remembered that back in the late 80’s, I broke a valve spring and replaced it.  Upon further inspection, the new valve spring was a little different.  It was actually from a high performance 390.  No problem, I would take it off and put back on an original.  While I was at it, might as well put on all new springs and clean the valves.  After removing the springs and valves, it did not take much cleaning to realize that the valves were different.  I have only removed the right side, but all of the exhaust valves are different.  They are different manufacturers, different lengths, and different bases.  I had the lifters in cleaning solution and was checking them to make sure that the hydraulic lifters operate correctly, when I made the discovery that 4 of the 16 are actually shorter!  So now, I have to replace the valves, push rods, and lifters.  Unfortunately, I am not quite sure what year to search for the parts.  The local parts place list different valves, springs, lifters, and push rods for different years.  I have put information on the ford forum, but the only response I have received are from hard-core 390 rebuilders who recommend the heads be totally reworked to use high performance parts.  I hope that I have a response soon.  Until then, the cleaning continues.
*I have an answer for the heads.  They are from a 1975 F100.  The parts and numbers match.  This came from another forum.  The heads are 360's, but that is standard for the 390's.  I have found all of the parts and this problem should be solved.