390FE (406ci) for #50, built by Tom Lucas at FE Specialties.

[70_F100]

What's Tom doing with that 62 Chebby in his shop?

[robroy]

Good afternoon Kyle and 70_F100, thanks for replying!

Wow!!!!!!!! great video sounds awesome i am jealous.

Thanks very much! It did sound good, didn't it. And the response the throttle seemed pretty vicious!

Tom remarked that due to its short stroke (for an FE using 428-sized pistons), it actually revved up and especially down noticeably faster than FEs with longer strokes.

What's Tom doing with that 62 Chebby in his shop?

Good question! When asking me to pull my truck up to start loading the engine, Tom joked by calling it a "piece of Chevrolet." I suppose Tom can naturally work on lots of different engines, but it's easy to tell which type is his favorite. Just look under the hood of his own toy!

After over seven hours on the road, I wasn't sure whether I had enough steam left to unload the engine last night. But a little moisture in the air convinced me!

As always, you can click on any of these miniature photos to see the full sized editions.

In these photos, I just untied the ropes:



The whole process went very smoothly. What a difference nice smooth concrete makes over mud, rocks, branches, and gopher skulls!



After I lifted The Yellow Jacket up, Kasie helped by inching the Chevy out from under it! Here's Kasie:





Back at the base!



Here's Kasie and I with The Yellow Jacket (she was being such a good sport).



And here it is from a few angles!




I gather that the back of the block has a white residue on it from the POR-15 metal prep product, which Tom used on the block before painting on the yellow!



Kyle and 70_F100, thanks again for your superb replies!
Robroy

[DuckRyder]

It does sound awesome, I am sure the longer pipes will tone it down a bit, but it has a really nice idle and seems to rev VERY fast.

I was wondering about the Chevy too, but if one has to have a Chevy a 62/63/64 Impala is the one to have. Make mine a tipple black convertible SS409 with 3x2V and a 4 speed please... A 57 Convertible with a 283/283 would be cool too...

[robroy]

Good afternoon Robert, thanks for replying!

It does sound awesome, I am sure the longer pipes will tone it down a bit, but it has a really nice idle and seems to rev VERY fast.

Fantastic! Tom mentioned that he fiddled with the Edelbrock carburetor for hours and that's the best idle he could get from it, and that when I was in the mood, he'd suggest putting a Holley carburetor on it instead. I heard that it should have a better idle with a Holley (he mentioned a particular model, but I've forgotten).

The fast revving was the characteristic that impressed Tom the most! He said that he actually didn't expect that to be so pronounced, but was pleasantly surprised. I gather that this particular combination of parts is a little unusual. It will be interesting to see how much that changes when the flex plate from the test stand is replaced with my heavier flywheel!

Robert, thanks for your excellent reply!
Robroy

[BobbyFord]

The heavier flywheel will noticeably slow the rate of free rev. Sounds awesome!!

[FreakysFords]

That is a thing of beauty! The eyes don't even need to behold

[basketcase0302]

Robroy,

So happy for you man!
It took awhile for the video to download, but well worth it!
Tell Tom he might just have another customer on this end when I can afford it.
And please tell Kaisie to stand well away from that chebby!
Congratulations man! Sounds awesome! You more than deserve it!:thup:

Just hope you can afford the gas for what that FE will ask for.

[iamthewreckingcrew]

That. Was. Awesome!

Sounds wicked Robroy. You will have a lot of smiles to the gallon with that. The only thing else I would like to see, is a few revs with open headers.

Now, what kind of exhaust are you going to run? Please tell me you won't put some super quiet mufflers on it.

Also, your wife is a cutie and a great sport for helping out and letting you enjoy your hobby.

I'm going to go watch the video a few more times now.

[BobbyFord]

Please don't say Flowmasters...

[1971ford]

Not flowmasters. He's got some Borla's

[Happy_Camper]

There is nothing like the confidence of hearing the engine run on a test stand before installing.
Robroy, that is awesome!
I can't wait to hear it all hooked up in #50.

Scott

[fomocoguy]

Your engine sounds great Robroy! You'll be wanting to drive it all the time once you've got it all together. I'm glad for you that things are panning out on this end of the deal!

[robroy]

Good morning BobbyFord, FreakysFords, Jeff, IAmTheWreckingCrew, Ryan, Scott, and FoMoCoGuy, thanks for your excellent replies!

The heavier flywheel will noticeably slow the rate of free rev.

OK! I guess it might also smooth out the idle a little bit, right?

Sounds awesome!!

Fantastic!

That is a thing of beauty! The eyes don't even need to behold

Thanks FreakysFords! Yeah I think it sounds good.

So happy for you man!
It took awhile for the video to download, but well worth it!

Thanks very much Jeff!

Tell Tom he might just have another customer on this end when I can afford it.

Great! I'm sure you'd be very happy with Tom's product, and it's a real pleasure to deal with.

And please tell Kaisie to stand well away from that chebby!

Will do!

Congratulations man! Sounds awesome! You more than deserve it!

Thanks!

Just hope you can afford the gas for what that FE will ask for.

Good point! I think it will be okay, since I'm used to low mileage vehicles like my 454 truck (and it's not 10% as fun as this thing's going to be). At least this engine will really be doing something with the gas!

That. Was. Awesome! Sounds wicked Robroy. You will have a lot of smiles to the gallon with that.

Excellent! Yeah I'll bet it will move #50 in a whole new way that I haven't experienced before. I'd better make sure the brakes are in top condition!

The only thing else I would like to see, is a few revs with open headers.

That's a good idea--I actually had an opportunity to record that, but failed to. I think that by that point, I'd run out of capacity on my video camera. I had a second mini-DVD for it, but left it on my desk at home!

Tom did run it without the mufflers though and it was quite impressive!

Now, what kind of exhaust are you going to run? Please tell me you won't put some super quiet mufflers on it.

The exhaust system will be Hedman 89810 "Elite" headers, 2.5" pipes, an "H" or an "X," (probably an "H,"), and Borla Turbo XL mufflers. I already bought the headers and mufflers a while back, so those are set. The only remaining decisions are whether to use an "H" or an "X," and how to route the 2.5" pipes!

Also, your wife is a cutie and a great sport for helping out and letting you enjoy your hobby.

Indeed, she's very special--I'm extremely fortunate!!! She rode in #50 years ago and liked its bold and old fashioned characteristics a lot!

I'm going to go watch the video a few more times now.

Excellent!!! Thanks for checking it out IAmTheWreckingCrew!

Please don't say Flowmasters...

No Flowmasters here, although that is the muffler that the previous builder recommended.

Not flowmasters. He's got some Borla's

Indeed, thanks Ryan! They're stainless Borla Turbo XLs.

There is nothing like the confidence of hearing the engine run on a test stand before installing.

Absolutely. This time it looks like it's going to work out. I'm tempted to change its oil every half hour for the rest of its life!

Robroy, that is awesome!
I can't wait to hear it all hooked up in #50.

Thanks very much Scott! I'm looking forward to that very much also! Hopefully it won't take me nearly as long to put it together this time, since I've had a good practice run.

Your engine sounds great Robroy! You'll be wanting to drive it all the time once you've got it all together. I'm glad for you that things are panning out on this end of the deal!

Thanks FoMoCoGuy! I think you're right about wanting to drive it all the time. It will have the best power-to-weight ratio of anything I've driven before, by a good margin.

BobbyFord, FreakysFords, Jeff, IAmTheWreckingCrew, Ryan, Scott, and FoMoCoGuy, thanks very much for your superb replies!

Next I'll post the video interview with Tom. Thanks very much to Ryan for recording it! It will take me a few hours to cut it out and encode it.

Robroy

[Ranchero50]

Robroy, does it have disc brakes in front yet? Methinks you should only go as well as you can woah. Plus you can put a front sway bar on at the same time so it will handle the twisies a bit better.

Jamie

[robroy]

Good day Jamie, thanks for replying!

Robroy, does it have disc brakes in front yet? Methinks you should only go as well as you can woah.

Good point! I'm all set with factory disc brakes, and they're 100% brand new, all the way from the rubber pedal pad in the cab to the brake shoes! Well, I did re-use the brass proportioning valve and brake junction pieces, but that's it!

Plus you can put a front sway bar on at the same time so it will handle the twisies a bit better.

This is an interesting idea that I haven't researched yet. Probably to start, I'll go ahead with the factory setup, and add the sway bar later. I'll avoid pushing #50 through any corners for the time being!

Thanks for your great reply Jamie!
Robroy