360 to 390 Swap

[ToughOldFord]

Well I ended up pulling the tranny, (what a tank!!!! I'm used to auto's being light. The only really heavy auto I've run into was in my '55 Caddy, but that monster is cast iron! The C-6 makes the second heaviest I've worked with. Chevy's and Mopar's are a breeze.)
Turns out I bunged up a thrust bearing and another one is wore pretty thin. I found that you can get a thrust bearing kit for around $30, but I found a local guy that has a 360/C6 combo with accessories that he'll sell for $100 so I'll probably go with that. I figure even of the tranny turns out to be a turd, (he "guarantees" both are good), I can pull the trust bearings out of it for my original tranny. Plus I get all of those spare parts which is a good thing.
It's the hard way, but I am finally learning some about auto's, it's kind of interesting. I take back what I said earlier about the Haynes manuel, it's helping a little bit, but mostly it's a matter of looking at how it's assembled and what the parts do.

[ToughOldFord]

Well, I checked out that 360/C6 combo today and it looked pretty good so I bought it. Engine looks okay, with some pretty recent parts on it, 2 barrel carb, fuel pump, and starter. Coincidentally it happens to be a '69 as well. And out of a truck, it has the correct tail shaft on the tranny. Transmission looks decent, I'm going to try to use it whole first.

[ToughOldFord]

Progress!!! The "new" transmission and 390 are finally in! Both bolted together and to the truck. The heavy stuff is over, now to all the misc time consuming hook ups.

[68F250]

I got the 360 pulled last nite. Found the data tag still bolted to the intake:

360 69 3 Ford
8 K K 301 S

The 360 and 69 are obvious, the 3 I'll guess was the month. No clue about the rest of it.

The answer's right on the site:
http://www.fordification.com/engineIDtags.htm

well sort of, no 360's listed.

[ToughOldFord]

Well, didn't get a chance to work on it today, but I did get my older computer set up so I could download a few pics from my camera:

My gutted C-6. (next to a SBC )

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e104/ ... ttedC6.jpg

My donner engine after I pulled the C-6 I'm now using. Need to get the '69 out of the garage soon so I can pull this engine out of the back of the diesel. Unfortunately the engine is as advertised, it's a 360. I was hoping to luck out and pick up an extra 390. That's the way it goes I guess.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e104/ ... ner360.jpg

The 390 going in! (That's tranny fluid all over the floor. )

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e104/ ... oingIn.jpg

The 390's in, finally! Got my greasy paws all over my new paint too.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e104/ ... /390In.jpg

[xxxtina63]

Congrats!! Knew you'd get it!

[ToughOldFord]

Well, got it running last night and test drove it today. Can't say I'm terribly pleased with how a lot of this turned out so far. First off the truck tried to kill me. The linkage on the new transmission is a little different than the old one so even though the indicator said park it was actually in drive. There I was with a remote starter and on a foot stool in front of the truck. The thing fired up and lurched forward, knocking be backwards stepping into the drain pan full of my old AT fluid. Fortunately as I was frantically reaching for the coil wire the truck hit my old 360 and that stopped it quick. Tweaked my bumper a little, but what the heck, my bumpers are cr*p anyway. Glad I wasn't to my left a bit, I would have gotten in the way of that 360.
Secondly, my timing's jacked. Trucks smooths out and runs really well when it's far advanced. No big deal, right? Distributor must just be a tooth off. I pull the Distributor to move it over and luckily I noticed the tail was broken. The shaft had seized at the bottom and broke the Distributor right above it! Still ran like that, just spun the whole lower end of the distributor instead of just the shaft. I pull the distributor out of the parts engine and get it fired up again. Timing's still whacky, but I don't want to keep starting and stopping until the cam's broken in. So I just set it to where is runs good and do the break in. Afterwards I have several drag out fights with the Distributor and that stupid oil pump shaft coming out of the oil pump I gave up for the night.
Today I'm rested and have a little patience back so I attempt to time it right again. If I move the Distributor up or back a tooth the truck runs poorly so obviously I had it right the first time. I set it back and just have it timed by ear for now. I hate doing things that way, but I don't have anymore ideas right now. I know I got the new timing set in right, I must have checked it 5 times before assembly. I did use the 360's harmonic balancer, but I did compare the two and there's only 2 degree's difference between the two. But to make it run good the marks are way, way off.
Third is linkage, my carb linkage is Mickey Moused right now, I think the linkage on the 4bbl sets forward more than the 2bbl. Right now I just have a piece of bailing wire connecting the carb to the scissors. Again, I hate to do things like this, but I did want to drive it today. I'll fabricate something better in the next day or two.
Last, sometimes backfire, (or just loud pop?), through the carb on sudden acceleration. Might just be the carb needs rebuild, it's a used H*lley I got off of ebay. Not really a big deal, but then it might be due to my timing issue above so rebuilding the carb might be a waste of time and $$$.
There is improvement though, truck sounds nice. Glasspacks are louder now, although I do need to replace a doughnut, r/s one's warped badly. A lot more get up and go than the 360 and I don't have the kickdown hooked up yet. "New" tranny is good, I put new fluid, filter, and gasket on it. Speedo's not working though, hope that's not in the tranny, but my cable's new and the gauge worked before tearing the engine out. Look into that tomorrow.
LOL, sorry so long.
Anyone ever put one of these hoods on by themself? Not fun!

[ToughOldFord]

Echo! Is this thing on? Oh well, even if I'm talking to myself I can at least get some quality post-padding time in.
This is what I was hoping to find at a local parts store, but no go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Longacre ... dZViewItem

And I'm not paying $30 for it either. Looks like the hardware store is my next stop.
Haven't had the time to touch the truck since Sunday, between work and painting the [censored] I'm keeping pretty busy. Hopefully have some time in the next day or two to diagnose that timing issue.

[hutch1973]

Let me know what you find, I have the same issue with my carb linkage. I went from the small block to fe, and what I have isn't quite there. It's all hooked up, but my pedal height is messed up.

As far as running ones self over, I tried that too, but didn't accomplish it quite as well I was popping it over under the hood when I was dealing with my own timing issue, and during one trial I felt the truck start coming forward, but stopped quick. Must have hit the stick when I was wrestling around in the cab.

I'm not super impressed with what I've ended up with either. Hopefully we're both in better shape soon.

[ToughOldFord]

I'll keep you posted.
I was reading about your timing issues earlier, symptoms sound close to mine only my vacuum advance isn't' affecting me in the same way.

[ToughOldFord]

Well, double checked my timing marks and distributor installation, (actually this is more than double checked, but who's counting?). Everything was good so I retarded it from the advanced setting I had it and brought it to about 12 degrees. Kicked up the idle and re-adjusted the a/f. Changed my source of vacuum to the vacuum advance, I had it on the base of the carb, but I noticed that was constantly pulling a steady vacuum so I switched it to the one on the r/s of the carb that's higher up. That one wasn't pulling at idle and was mild at fist idle. Other than the exhaust leak it sounds good, I didn't think the mild cam would have such a noticeable lope to it. Truck has nice power. BUT I'm still getting the popping through the carb at aggressive throttle at low speeds. I guess at this point rebuilding the carb is in order.

[xxxtina63]

Don't worry, we're still here . Popping through the carb can cause the power valve to blow, nice about Holleys .

Also, timing is usually the problem with carb "popping". Sounds like you've checked everything at least once. Have you checked out the timing chain? If distributor and components have been checked, that would be my next stop. They have been known to stretch, jump-a-tooth, or even distort/break the woodruff key if misaligned. This could explain why it's so touchy.

If you haven't checked your dist. cap, which I'm sure you have, you might want to. Things like the "No. 2 pencil trick" can cause all sorts of timing nightmares.

[ToughOldFord]

It does seem timing related to me too, that's why I don't want to waste any time on the carb, but I'm pretty much out of options at this point. Timing set is new and I must have checked that installation at least a half dozen times before completing assembly. Distributor cap is fairly new and worked fine on the old 360, but it can't hurt to check, that's easy anyway. But after that the carb's the only next step I can think of taking.

Odd, I didn't get any of my reply notifications for any threads since last evening.

[CJ,s 67 F100]

ToughOld Ford, Your braver than I am, I didnt have a tranny jack so I pulled it up to my tranny shop and let him pull it and then back again to let him put it back in. Saved my back to. Charles

[xxxtina63]

I'm thinking you've covered all the timing stuff at least twice so chances are this is something else-like a "phantom problem". Something that produces symtoms like something else that's non-related. How big is the 4bbl you put on and is it on a 4bbl intake or a 2bbl with an adapter? Vaccum or mechanical secondaries? Did you check the float level? Popping or a full blown backfire through the carb? Does it do on acceleration only or right when you let off the gas? Part throttle? How's the vaccum lines? Could there be a small vaccum leak elsewhere?

Been racking my brain for a couple days now and thought I'd post the areas I'd look next, if you haven't already. You can only check timing parts so many times, especially when you have the same results every time. Think the problem lies in another area. Good luck!