Ford 390 Crankshaft Search
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Topic: Ford 390 Crankshaft Search
Posted By: CrestonM
Subject: Ford 390 Crankshaft Search
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 5:08pm
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Anyone know of a source for one? Either reconditioned or used but able to be ground? I have a 1965 352 that I’d like to bore and put a 390 rotating assembly in. Thanks, Creston |
Replies:
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 5:22pm
| Good Luck, they are almost as Unobtanium as AC Parts. Buddy has swapped to later model engines and drive train in many of his old Fords, could not locate necessities for those old monsters either. |
Posted By: LouSWPA
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 5:40pm
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It's funny, the stuff that was 'throwaway' growing up, that can't be found now! ------------- I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27 |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 5:56pm
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https://www.dscmotorsport.com/asp/products/content_crankshafts.asp?SubCat=6&GroupID=3%20" rel="nofollow - https://www.dscmotorsport.com/asp/products/content_crankshafts.asp?SubCat=6&GroupID=3
------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 6:03pm
??????????? ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: Thad in AR.
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 6:44pm
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I’ll do some checking around here. I’d also be hitting the older salvage yards look at galaxies and wagons and such. |
Posted By: tomNE
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:03pm
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how many you want and any other stuff u need? there was a difference in the 64 and 65 blocks but i'm unsure of the cranks. if you want it ready to go, that can be done, also! |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:29pm
Well I'll be darned. Those look cheap enough. I've been looking for the last two evenings online, but couldn't find any online. Guess I didn't search right! Thanks Steve! |
steve(ill) wrote:Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:38pm
I only need 1 crankshaft, and I'll also need 390 rods. I'll source new pistons and wrist pins. Ready to go would be nice! I'm not sure yet what other parts I'll need. Those parts for sure, plus whatever the engine needs. I haven't got it out of the truck yet, still have to clean a ton of dirt out from underneath it and get the transmission taken out and the mounting bolts loose. The VIN says it's a 1965 and left the factory with a 352. Dad bought it used in the 70s, but the PO included a full list of service records. The only thing engine related was a valve job, so I'm thinking it's still the original '65 352. It's been sitting since 1982 when it supposedly broke the timing chain, but no one ever took it apart to find out. It was my dad's pickup and I want to get it running and mechanically sound while he's still around to go for a ride with me. The goal is have it on the road by New Years, but we'll see how many unexpected
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Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:43pm
| Just find a complete 390 and take the parts you need out of it. |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:51pm
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When it was new, it was yellow, but a lifetime of being outside has made it cream color. It has a 4 speed in it, only thing I would change is make it 4wd! 
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Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 7:52pm
I've called several auto salvage yards around Oklahoma, but I haven't had any luck there either. In the two that I've visited, I couldn't find anything older than a late 80s Chevrolet. Sign of the times I guess.
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Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 9:03pm
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You got to remember its 2022 ..... Junk yard, like anybody else are looking for volume customers so its 2000 model and later ...... anything older than that is a "special" junk yard, or was sent to the crusher. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: tomNE
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 9:35pm
| have you ever worked on a 390 ford? the exhaust manifold bolts will brake off. don't spend a bunch of time on them. a welder get them out easily! DO NOT get a drill out and try to ez out them. look for a used aluminum intake. the factory intake weighs just under a ton and is hard to handle. most people use an engine hoist to put them on! |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 10:07pm
Nope, never worked on an FE Ford. Thanks for the tip! |
Posted By: KMAG
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 10:21pm
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The 390 cranks come in truck and car styles. Truck cranks stick out further in the front. |
Posted By: tomNE
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 11:22pm
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truck one might be for a 391! |
Posted By: tomNE
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2022 at 11:27pm
| lots of tricks on a 390 ford. factory timing gear is actually marked wrong. you wanna buy a timing chain set that allows you to advance the cam. factory lifters were basicly junk. when you get one right, they fly; from the factory it was hit and miss! personally i'd bypass the 390 and go straight to a 428. real popular here as an irrigation motor! same deal with cam timing, exhaust bolts and intake! |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2022 at 6:18am
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30+ years ago, I built a 390 for my 69 ford half ton 4X4. The thing would run like a scalded dog and pull the nuts off a bull elephant. Still have the pickup, but haven't used it in quite a few years now Darrel |
Posted By: exSW
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2022 at 7:05am
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My old boss in College had a '76(?) F350 one ton flatbed. Had one of the last 390's with a big old Holley. That was one runnin' farm truck. Three ton of feed on the bed or dragging a 24' gooseneck to the cow sale or Reelfoot it was pretty nice. ------------- Learning AC...slowly |
Posted By: Fred in Pa
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2022 at 11:32am
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Drop a coyote engine in it and make it a sleeper .LOL ------------- He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless ,still dead. If all else fails ,Read all that is PRINTED. |
Posted By: Ray54
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2022 at 11:50am
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Never give it up now that you have it. I have a friend that has been keeping that body style going since the 80's. By accident all three he has driven started a a dark green. Still using the last one as a daily driver not that us old guys drive our trucks every day having ATV's or side by side if we don't leave the ranch. I lost track of what engine he is using today. But the divorced transfer case for the 4x4 and 4 speed. The axles have been updated to 3/4 ton stuff. Never got around to painting any of them.
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Posted By: Michael V (NM)
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2022 at 10:46pm
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Oh-boy,,,your gonna get to know Dennis Carpenter and LMC real well,,, Sweet ride... |
Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 6:35am
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The thing I remember most of those Fords was that they could never get past a gas station without stopping. The 4X4 models sometime never got to the gas station. I've seen loaded grain trucks that got better mileage than Ford Pickups. ------------- If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere. If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY |
Posted By: Codger
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 7:41am
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Back when I was a bit younger I purchased a rusted 1969 "County Squire" wagon with a 390 2V and that engine ran like a top and would get almost 15mpg on my newspaper route delivering bundles to remote route deliverers. When I quite doing that I purchased a 1971 Mustang "Mach 1" and "shoehorned" this engine/trans into it with an aluminum intake and Holley 780 carburetor, along with a set of cheap "Doug Thorley" headers and direct mount "Hush Thrush" mufflers with turndowns for the exhaust. No other work to the engine other than a timing chain and water pump while it was out. Power increased exponentially, and economy plummeted at the same time for some reason. My wife couldn't see very well out of the car so we sold it to another party, but it ran around several years where we lived prior to us departing the area. |
Posted By: IBWD MIke
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 9:01am
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Like Steve posted, there is pretty good aftermarket parts availability for these engines. There are some guys local around here that still use F.E.'s in high performance apps. I'll check with one and see if he knows anyone with a good spare crank. |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 9:37pm
Thanks! Yes I'm sure I will. I bought a few things from Dennis Carpenter when I was restoring the 8N. He's got a lot of nice stuff!
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Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 9:38pm
Thanks!
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Posted By: tomNE
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2022 at 9:49pm
| timing chain kits were miss marked at the factory! biggest HP gain for the least amount of money! |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 25 Aug 2022 at 12:01pm
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I have a set of headers for a 390 I would like to sell brand new, I didn't like the way they fit on my 1975 F-150 and didn't use them. |
Posted By: IBWD MIke
Date Posted: 25 Aug 2022 at 2:41pm
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Creston, if you're on facebook, check out ford fe fanatics garage sale. I have one or two more guys I could check with around here if you don't find one soon. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 25 Aug 2022 at 9:30pm
| a buddy has a 1 ton ferd truck with a 352 in ikt, something happened to it and it still sits cuz he can't find another to replace it. he said car engines were different from the trucks engines? ferds better ideas? |
Posted By: Thad in AR.
Date Posted: 26 Aug 2022 at 5:32am
I put many a car motor in a truck. Best place to find a true 390 is in a car. Best place to find a true 360 is in a half ton truck |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 26 Aug 2022 at 8:18am
| Define "truck". In the late 60's and all thru the 70's a real truck engine (F600 and larger) were 330-361-391 sizes. In a car or pickup 352-360-390. A real 'truck" engine has a steel crankshaft, steel timing chain/sprockets, forged pistons, sodium filled exhaust valves and the whole front of the engine has a longer and different look to it to be able to power air compressors, larger alternators, etc, etc. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2022 at 2:06pm
| the buddies truck was a 1 ton dually with a stock box on it, i'm think'in it was about a '67 year, anyway...he said that the car engines wouldn't bolt up to the stick tranny. just going by what he said... |
Posted By: Ray54
Date Posted: 31 Aug 2022 at 10:47am
Ford had a thing about not making things easy to mix and match drive trains.  Not saying you cannot do it  just takes more thinking.The neighbor down the road with a automotive machine shop, would tell you get a Chevy. As most different combinations just bolt up. But when some big spender that wanted a race boat or Baha off road engine and was a Ford guy he could find the combinations that worked. An just for Shameless he always drove a Chevy truck that he had built from parts. The first new truck ever and he bought a FORD. |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2022 at 6:29pm
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When I get the engine out of the truck, I'll have to do some crankshaft measuring and see what size the crank is and see if I can find a 390 crank to match. If not, I'll probably just keep my 352 crank and turn it into a 360. But if I can get the engine unstuck and running well in chassis, I may not pull it. Just going to be a tooling around the farm and surrounding area pickup for the most part. But we'll see what happens. A couple days ago I got a different set of slightly later 16" rims and tires to at least get the chassis rolling and off the ground enough that I can work under it. It had the factory 16" split rims on front and 16.5" rims on the rear.
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Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 09 Sep 2022 at 3:49pm
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Another update: sourced a 390 crank, freshly ground to .030 under on the rods and .020 on the mains, complete with bearings and reconditioned rods for $750 plus a little for the ride. Is this a decent deal for a crank that seems to be kinda hard to come by? Thanks |
Posted By: plummerscarin
Date Posted: 09 Sep 2022 at 6:26pm
| Did a quick look in the Jegs catalog. You're probably in the ballpark with crank and bearings |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2022 at 3:42am
| When it comes to parts for machines that are fast obsolescing, it all boils down to how much and how long one will pay the prices for pieces they feel are necessary to prolong the life of a machine or hobby. |
Posted By: Thad in AR.
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2022 at 6:18am
| Creston my buddy at the machine shop is gonna search his parts room today and get back with me. |