Later 390's will fit directly onto earlier mounts, too.įord produced mostly automatic Squarebirds.

Parts are very available and reasonable in cost.

The most popular and cheapest FE engine is the mighty 390. Any FE engine will bolt directly to your transmission and mounts, even ones from light trucks. Having said that, you will need custom welding and a new driveshaft made for this retrofit. To put your situation in a nut shell, it is always very hard to find cheap parts in a short timeframe.

And as I said, I'm not experienced at determining the risk with a silent engine. Will the 351 install be too involved? There are some supposedly running 390s available in the area for between $800 and $1,200, but none that I can start up before buying them. That said, my main concern right now is the short time frame. I would prefer not to use those, as I will be working on those restorations after this is drivable. I do have the original automatic transmissions available from a 60 430 tbird and a 58 352 if one of them fits the 'build it fast' equation. The TBird has a 3 speed w/ overdrive and the truck is a 4 speed with 2 wheel drive. The truck drives very nice and has no leaks or smoke that I can tell.Ĭan anyone tell me what would be involved in making this engine work? Drive trains are not my thing (yet) so please use small words. So, I've been looking for running engines in the Denver area to avoid a rebuild right now, and found a very strong running 351W in a '77 F250 truck for $650 - for the whole truck. (Although the yard claims it has only 56K on it I am pretty new at evaluating engines and just don't know if it's worth the risk/cost.) Unfortunately the only running 352 I've found is on the east coast for $900 from a reputable yard but I'm afraid that it will cost me about $600 or more to ship it. That engine is seized and I have a short time table to get this thing drivable for my daughter's 16th in August (her first car, she has good taste.) We are making it drivable together (out of a field - lots to do), and I will do a real restoration for her in a couple of years while she is in college. I have a '59 convertible that someone put a 390 in long ago. I've searched and only seen slight mention of the 351 engine on the forum.

Ford thunderbird 59