Building a 390 FE for mud racing...

[vikjr368]

Well here goes, me and my dad are building a 1976 ford f150 4 wheel drive into a mud racer, 4 linked chassis and the whole 9 yards. Long story story short, the ol man is a big time FE guy.. But we're having a difficult time finding some .60 over 11:1 pistons that fit the stk tear drop rods.. And would like to match a cam n carb to that combo. 1st time really getting into the motor, but would really appreciate some advice and info, last motor build consisted of a mild crane fireball 262 cam, headers and a 750 Holley that did really well for a stock class truck. Looking to up the anti and put it to them Chevys now..

[ScotiaFE]

At 60 over a flat top with two valve reliefs and a smallish head chamber 68 cc or smaller will get you close to 11 to 1.
Zero deck and the correct gasket will get you even closer.
The question is, What intake are you going to use?
Is this an unlimited class and use any cam you want or are there limits?

[fe66comet]

I would just do a stroker kit with forged crank and H beam rods. Gets you the power you need and the block will fail before the parts do. 060 is kinda big for a race engine, I think you may run into a wall problem like overheating, hot spots and eventual wall failure.....Jon

[Ford428CJ]

I would just do a stroker kit with forged crank and H beam rods. Gets you the power you need and the block will fail before the parts do. 060 is kinda big for a race engine, I think you may run into a wall problem like overheating, hot spots and eventual wall failure.....Jon

 Maybe... If its a D3 or a D4 block. I wouldn't sweet it! You can hard block it. That does help a lot! A .060 over 390 should be fine in most cases. Have it checked out before you do! If you have .100+ walls... I would run it. Hard block is key here. JMHO

[vikjr368]

thanks for all the advice. gonna run the single plane holley street dominator and as car as the cam, no rules.. pretty much as wild as u can build it. as far as the block, going to have it checked 1st... ran it before for quite a few years.. never had any problems with over heating. any pistons brand reccomendations, ive been looking and just not having any luck..

[jayb]

Hey guys, rules of the forum are that if you have something to offer to sale for another member, send them a PM, don't post it on the boards.  I'll be deleting the last few posts soon.  Thanks, Jay

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