- My suggestion for an easy, lightweight FE with 500 ft-lbs of torque, 450 HP, and under 500 pounds complete: Stock 390 block with 4.25" stroker kit, Edelbrock heads, an aluminum Edelbrock water pump, an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Holley 750 double pumper carb, Comp 282S solid cam or an equivalent hydraulic, and a decent set of headers (FPAs work well in FE Mustangs). I did a similar build for $6000, featured in Car Craft several years ago; here's a link:
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/ccrp-0808-ford-390-fe/
Good luck on the project!
I have a 69 Mach 1 390 and that is almost exactly what I want my engine build to be. But I will be installing a Shaker so instead of the RPM intake I'll use either an iron CJ, aluminum PI, or a Holley Street Dominator. I'll need a little more advice on that once I get to that stage.