want..to..play..a..game??

[mdbaker42]

If you owned a bone stock 1970 high boy,360,four speed,less than 85,000 miles,autolite two barrel carb; good compression and it runs great. All original,all there....What would you do with $1,500.00 to make it run better, stronger? I was thinking intake,four barrel carb maybe exhaust but who's? What size carb? What model Intake? What type exhaust? All opinions welcome, thanks for playing.

[Madman]

If you can do the work yourself, I'd upgrade to a 390, and install a aluminum intake, probably a Edelbrock performer, and a 600 cfm holley or edelbrock carb

[ultraranger]

IF the suspension and brakes are marginal and sloppy, I'd spend the money on getting them up to snuff before I hopped the engine up. A strong engine that can propel the truck faster is fun and all but, all the go fast in the world it isn't worth much if the vehicle is difficult to control and doesn't stop well.

[Ranchero50]

All good advice but if it were me, I'd shoot for an OD transmission so the truck could go further cheaper.

[mdbaker42]

All your suggestions are great but I was reading lots of comments about exhaust upgrades and that the 360 is an engine that was designed for torque not horse power and if a person was interested in keeping that quality there wasn't a whole lot that could be done but to help it breath better,some folks even said that the two barrel carb was enough for that stump puller. I am such a person and looking maximize my "stump puller". As always all comments are welcome.. So, do you still,WANT..TO..PLAY..A..GAME.
.

[Ranchero50]

Find a big bore 2100 off a 390 and put it on. I have one on my '68 Fairlane with a 289 and it runs well while looking stock.

Really the biggest problem with the 360 is it's a low compression engine so it really doesn't respond to efficiency mods like something with 9-1 or 10-1 compression. That's why I would install a five speed tranny.

My '71 when stock would get 10mpg at any speed with a T18 and 4.10's. It buzzed along over 3k at 70mph but was very comfortable running 45-50mph which is where I think Ford designed it to run best at.

[ToughOldFord]

I'd drive it, that $1,500 would make it possible to put fuel in it for a few weeks.

[fastEdsel]

Keep the two barrel, install the 5 speed and with a little imagination a hydraulic clutch. I have no personal love for the 360 especially one's built after 1969, something changed in them but anyone I owned after 1970 were fuel burning, valve guide eating underpowered hogs. Some folks have changed the heads or have their own planed to bring up the compression but gasket sealing can be a problem. Remember that when installing dual exhaust, the wind coming off the engine is only 180 cubic inches per side. I own an old tractor with a 169 cubic inch engine and the exhaust pipe is only 1 1/4 inch in diameter so is plenty. I can't understand why folks install up to 2 1/2 inch to make "it breath better." It's still a 360.

The best upgrade I ever did on one of my old Ford's was a 428, counterbalance flywheel, 11 inch clutch, left on the 2 barrel and 4:11 rears. There was no mistaking that truck was a powerful unit and the gas mileage didn't change one bit, mainly because the engine was so powerful that the pure torque of the engine was enough to overcome any extra pressing on the gas pedal. It was a '73 dent side F100 4X4. 4:11 rear and 4:10 fronts. It never was driven over 60 mph but packing an 8 1/2 foot full camper and pulling a 14 ft. boat it would pass anything on a long uphill pull. However, I did install duals on that motor, 2 inch off the engine into dual quiet big truck mufflers and 1 3/4 inch tail pipes. It sounded real tough. It was just an old dented up farm truck but boy did it run strong, a true sleeper!

[ToughOldFord]

I feel the 360 is an under-rated engine. I suspect the people that diss them had or drove a tired and/or badly tuned one. By the time I pulled my 360 for the 390 I had it in perfect tune with the only mods being dual exhaust and electronic ignition.

I got sucked into the 390 vortex and pulled a perfectly good running engine and put a 390 in. So, went from the stock 360 to a 390 with a 4bbl manifold, 600 CFM Holl*y, a mild cam, Dana timing set, and of course the same dual exhaust and electronic ignition from the 360.

This was quite a few years ago now, I am still underwhelmed. Yes, there is more power, but it is not jaw dropping in comparison. Considering the cost and the time involved I would not have done it had I known.

But to the OP's question/game:

Dual exhaust is a good start. Also headers are supposed to wake up an FE, I have not done this myself yet, but everything I've read/heard says the factory logs are way restrictive and choke off a good deal of power. I hope that information is more accurate then the 360 vs 390 thing.

As Jamie suggested you can get a larger Motorcraft 2bbl and gain some performance while retaining the factory intake. A 500 CFM Holl*y 2bbl is available as well.

Other than that a darn good tuneup with quality parts. Bump the timing up, the factory 6 degrees is pretty low (for emission purposes), 8-10 works pretty good, some go higher but I didn't see any gains between 10-12 so I rolled it back to 10 and kept it there.

[fastEdsel]

I would have to agree 100% that the 360 is an underrated engine. All the 360's I ever owned were also new. When I traded my '68 for a new '74 F100 2wd I actually pulled over a couple blocks away from the dealership to open the hood to see if the truck had a 300 six instead of the 360 I ordered. What a let down from my old '68. After 3 sets of heads and only 1 year old I traded it on a new F150 2 wd 460 auto. Now we had some decent power but that would be my last new Ford truck. I did buy new '79 Ford LTD 4 door car with a 351W and again, 2 sets of heads and poor power. All the trucks got traded up the GM and the car went to a Surburban.

But enough of the history lesson and of course back to the OP's question/game: Sorry for the rant.

Thinking back the 360 had a lot of low end torque though and am almost sure now that the heads had breathing problems. Duals made a difference which leads me to believe that if the heads were ported better to let these engines breathe they would find their true wealth. I think that an owner can do all the extra trinket things like 4 barrels, high rise intakes, electronic ignitions, new plugs and wires but if these engines can't breathe, what's the point? And yes, 10 degrees works well with the Ford's. I own 3 bumps and 2 '59's with Ford big blocks. The '59's are monsters for power and one actually dynode at 325 HP so there is lots of potential in these old engines. But again, the heads are different from the newer 360's. And that would be my suggestion that if you want to make your existing 360 decent for power, I would put a mild cam or RV cam and big valve heads. I have a couple sets of the big valve heads here, I will get a number off them and post it here if you wish.

[mdbaker42]

First I'd like to say thanks for taking the time to post all of your responses, the information is solid and i'll put it to good use, fo sho...But many let there sense of humor run, and even though I think "LOL" has run it's course and then some, thats what was happening over here.Thank you all. Oh sure,if you come across those casting #s i'd put that info to use but time is'nt an issue so whenever works around here.. Thanks,Mike.

[fastEdsel]

One of the '69s I just bought has a rebuilt 390 in it. The casting number on the heads are D2EAA so that is from a 1972 production year. These engines in my opinion had more bark than bite and the rebuilt was most likely installed as a long block with the two barrel.

The other '69 is an all original truck and the head castings are C8AE-H so they are the real good ones. I have an extra set here that I plan to use on another project.

My '59s have two casting numbers between the middle two sparkplug holes and they are 2143 and 575. They do not have the "B" prefix on the numbers to identify them as from the 50's but I know they are. If you could find a set of these heads or the C8's and install a "Comp Cam" with a little more duration you would have a pretty decent runner. Also the 59 heads have 2 inch intake valves and 1.5 inch exhaust. The measured diagonal intake port of these heads are 2.5 inches and the exhaust is 2 inches. And by all means, keep the two barrel or if finances improve in the future I would also install a Pretonix ignition and EFI.

I also have another set of heads here that are C1AE-A that are from a 1961 332 big block and most likely are for low compression engines that were eventually replaced by the 352's. Happy hunting and to be quite honest with all of you, all this is the first time I have actually measured these heads so not sure what or how this compares with others experience. This is a great topic and most likely a good resource to improve the power of these great engines. Keep in touch.