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Non-FE Discussion Forum / Re: 65/66 Galaxie clutch linkage.
« on: October 12, 2025, 07:44:50 AM »
found another illustration that may also help, this is out of a manual I have.
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I started off with a 410 with the intention of just upping the cam. When I decided to go the 445 route and build a serious engine I swapped my disassembled engine with a buddy for a 390 block, Street Dominator intake, and a few bucks.
Now the bad news, the block has been taken out to 4.08 and in one cylinder there is still a little rust about an inch below the deck. You can just feel it with your finger nail, each spot is between 1/8 and 1/16 of an inch around, and there are a couple of them. The machinist feels you could build a more or less stock engine and it would run fine, but knowing what I'm doing he said he wouldn't.
My buddy will give me back the 410 block, and it was already about 4.07, and it would go 4.08 without a problem (we measured them before we swapped).
He also has a 390 GT block with an "X" cast in the lifter valley (or the end of the block, I don't recall) that he thinks indicates it is a high nickel content casting. This block has already been bored out to 4.07. He is of the opinion that because he has all the original parts including adjustable rockers that it is a valuable engine.
This leads to a couple of questions:My understanding is that an original date code correct 390 GT was only worth a little more than a standard 390 today, but a high nickel content block might be interesting.
- Is the "high nickel content" a myth or is it real?
- How do you tell?
- What difference would it make (as in, should I lean on him to get it)?
- Last, I told him I didn't think an original 390 GT was considered a rare or valuable configuration, is it?
I have a 1966 7 Liter Galaxie with 428 and power steering. With the help of my mechanic buddy, I added the '65-'67 427 cast iron headers quite a few years ago. They do fit. A couple thoughts I'll throw out there - when we did it the car already had the power steering installed, is it possible you need to take a header off first to install the power steering gear box? Where exactly are you seeing interference? We also installed NOS rubber motor mounts at the time of the header install to be sure sagging motor mounts wouldn't cause an issue - are your mounts in good shape? I looked in the Ford parts book, it looks like Ford used 2 different power steering gear boxes in the '65 to '68 period - a Saginaw box and a Ford box. They can be I.D.'d by the code on the tag attached. I don't know how they differ, but it's possible one works with the cast headers and one doesn't? Unfortunately my car is stored away from home so I can't immediately take a look at anything.