Your 390 Sroker And Dyno Numbers.

[427HISS]

It seems like the 390FE stroker is very popular over the 352, 428 and 427.  I have only had a 428FE in my Cobra,
as the 427 body style only came with a side oiler or 428FE. I've never really put a 390FE stroker in thought.

So I'm curious about the build specs and dyno numbers on your 390 stroker.

What made your choose a 390 over a 428FE ?
If you have a dyno sheet, please post it.
Have you raced it ?
Anything you'd change ?

[cjshaker]

Why someone would choose a 390 stroker over a 428 is easy. Cost. Good 428 blocks are always much more expensive, and harder to come by, than garden variety 390's.

I haven't gotten my 445 installed yet, and I won't dyno it, but there are several examples of stroker 390's in the dyno section. From fairly mild to fairly wild.

[My427stang]

I chose a 445 for my truck based on the block I had

Mine is not wild, and has not been dyno'd but runs stronger than I expected it to by a significant amount.  I have been fighting a noise that I think is a cracked or defective piston in pin area, but the thing runs strong, just haven't run it much until I figure it out.  It's definitely a parts problem not a 445 design issue, need to pull it over the winter, too busy running the Mustang in the good weather

Build
- 445 inch - 10:1 compression
- D2 heads flowing 277 @ .550 on the intake side and 177 @ .550 exhaust, 2.09/1.67 3/8 valves,  close attempt to match ported med risers on intake side, went for best we could do on exhaust side
- RPM intake port matched as deep as we could, significant plenum divider and plenum roof work, 1 inch spacer matched to plenum divider work
- 1000 cfm vac sec HP series
- 1 3/4 Hedman long tube into 3 inch mandrel bent with X pipe, Jones mufflers (like Magnaflow)
- Bullet 282S copy cam,  but centers spread to 112, on 106 ICL, lashed at .014 cold (specs for .028 hot) so a little tighter, with Erson rockers
- Duraspark recurved with blue strand box

This combo will take a 4400 lb 4x4 with a NP435, 33 inch tall tires and 3.50 gears through the gears like I have never had the truck pull.  Think musclecar not truck, it's like a light switch when you hammer it.  The 445 significantly outruns the same vehicle with a 270S 396 with a 150 shot of nitrous (old configuration)  Actually considering 4 linking it once I find my noise

I really like the 445 for a street toy, significantly cheaper to build than a 462 or 482.  That being said, I love my 489, but if I didn't have the 427 block, the Mustang would have likely been a 445 or 462

[machoneman]

Say Ross....

Just a thought. Do you have pressed-on piston pins or aftermarket free-floating pins? Maybe a spirolock came loose, if the latter, and the pin is banging around. Had that happen once (doh, my fault) in an open header, pure race engine and on tear-down found all was o.k. except the pin end gouged the cylinder wall pretty good.

[My427stang]

Say Ross....

Just a thought. Do you have pressed-on piston pins or aftermarket free-floating pins? Maybe a spirolock came loose, if the latter, and the pin is banging around. Had that happen once (doh, my fault) in an open header, pure race engine and on tear-down found all was o.k. except the pin end gouged the cylinder wall pretty good.

I don't want to steal from this thread, but been apart already, only part that I haven't magged or zyglo'd are the pistons, checked all 4 spirolocks per pistons twice now...been a long battle

[KjcfeF100]

- 1 7/8 long tube into 3 inch mandrel bent with X pipe, Jones mufflers (like Magnaflow)

Ross,  not trying to high-jack the thread either; but did you custom build some 1 7/8" headers for the F100, or did you find someone that sells a set that diameter? All I've seen from the normal sources are 1 3/4" primaries.

[My427stang]

Buffoonery corrected 1 3/4 Hedmans...just did a 67 GTO 400HO/4speed  with a set of 1 7/8 primaries and had the measurement on my mind I guess 

[KjcfeF100]

1 3/4 Hedmans

Ooooooook, I was hoping some company was selling a new size.

[Drew Pojedinec]

I don't know that you will find ANYONE that built a 445 over a 482 just cuz they wanted to.

In my scenario, I would have LOVED a 427 based engine.  That said, a BBM block plus shipping/etc would be what?  a hair over $4000?  A 390 block is $100-$200.  To someone like me, $4000 is a decent chunk of change.
Now a good 445 can make 525-550hp, a 482 with comparable driveability can make 50hp more, but to what end?  Do I drag race to where .04 matters?  nope, I don't.  On the street where my car resides, it's nearly impossible to get 450hp to not lose traction, let alone 600hp.

[turbohunter]

All good points Drew.
But if I wanted to be logical with my hobby, well, I wouldn't be doing it.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Ok fine..... my newest hobby is anodizing, small batch chrome, zinc plating, and messing with a variety of chromates....  I really needed the money so I could properly go down that rabbit hole more than I needed 40cubic inches.



That and I've been obsessing over remaking old crap swap meet carbs and making them perfect both cosmetically and a perfect fuel curve.  This lil 1850 is flowing a lil more air than it ought to  (they keep calling me back out to work tho, which is really getting in the way of my current madness)

[Heo]

Nice work Drew

[turbohunter]

Wow, pretty amazing.

[jayb]

Ok fine..... my newest hobby is anodizing, small batch chrome, zinc plating, and messing with a variety of chromates....  I really needed the money so I could properly go down that rabbit hole more than I needed 40cubic inches.

Drew, that is really cool, you should start a thread explaining exactly how you do that.  For instance, do you have a local shop that does the anodizing or plating, and how do you prepare the parts prior to sending it to them?

[Drew Pojedinec]

Ok, I need to zinc plate a dozen throttle shafts and some other misc hardware when I get home, I'll take more photos of the electrolyte table, blah blah blah.  As stated, for some reason I keep getting recalled to working offshore, so I haven't had a good long time to mess with it.  Seems like recently I've been working on a bunch of other people's cars and junk when I'm home.  I currently have a small setup, and need to step it up so I can do more sq inches per batch so it doesn't take so long to just do a few bolts.  I have all the gear for the larger table/bath but haven't had the time to do it.

Hiring a shop?  that would take all the fun out of it.
It's easier than you think to do.  The hard part is in getting the finish perfect, especially when it's a 50 year old casting.  Also doing all of this with more eco-friendly stuff, so it makes everything harder to do.  (Sodium Dichromate, nitric acid, and electroplating baths will kill you if you are careless).