first fe experience

[fryedaddy]

i remember when i was 12 years old my dad bought a 63 galaxie off a old moonshiner.the man had the 390 in it built back in the day.im talking 1975 is when we bought it,not sure when he had it built. on the way home with the car i remember my dad saying this thing is supposed to have a good engine in it,about that time we were behind a string of cars doing 40 on a 2 lane road.he kicked the 4 bbl in and we passed 3 cars at one time.i remember looking over at the spedo when we cleared the cars and we were already doing 95.from that day on i have been a huge fe fan,and i never lost interest in them.and i never will.

[shady]

Well, my old man bought a '60 Country Sedan 352 from his aunt and there we were, two full 100lb. propane tanks in the back, four kids & mom.  Dad had a few beers in him & when this '67 396 Chevelle went to pass him, he drops it down into second & punches it... and that Chevy went by us like the old man put the old Ford in reverse. That was 1969 & I learned to drive in that old wagon. It became my first car. I told everyone it was a 406, as it got no respect & none of my girl friends moms would ever let their daughters get in that car. Oh yeah, my next car was a '64 Gal XL with a 390 4 gear. The rest as they say is history.

[chilly460]

I was right out of college, 22, and bought a '76 F250 4x4.  Kid about my age had put Edelbrock heads and Performer RPM, Comp 270H, TRWs in a 390.  I'd been looking at similar trucks for two years and was accustomed to the 360/351M/400 smog slugs in that era truck and the 390 was a nice surprise.  Needed some tuning but ran good once sorted with the NP435 and 4.10s with 33" tires, towed some, took it offroad with 38" Intercos...fun old truck.  Engine still lives in my Marauder.

[Falcon67]

Late teens I guess - tuned up a 390 in an mid 60s T-Bird for a guy.  Spent the rest of the afternoon sipping brews and listening to Barry White.

[Heo]

Late teens a friend called me early one morning
Hey lets go to GM in Korpilombolo, They have a
Cheap -66 Galaxie i went with him and that resulted
in a long adventure including a dead cow,a serialkiller
two girls scared shitless....im sure i told that story here
before

[Tommy-T]

My dad's brother, my Uncle Jack, took delivery of a brand new stripper '60 Fairlane with a 352/360 in February 1960. That'd make me 5 months old. He and my dad took several stock trophies at San Fernando, Colton, and Fontana...unless Les Ritchie showed up with his factory-backed '60.
My dad's other brother, my Uncle Leon, had a "crate" 390/375 installed in his '56 T-Bird in late '61, by dry lakes legend Tom Beatty.
My dad bought a brand new F100 with a six cylinder in it in 1962. By early '63 it had a 390/Cruiso in it so it could pull the camper that he and my mom built in the back yard. That truck/camper made the trek from SoCal to North Carolina to visit relatives many,many times. When it got around that my dad could install FE's into early Ford trucks, seems there was always a '53 to '64 pickup hang'n 'round on the weekends so my 'ol man could hop-'em-up.

I was doomed from the beginning!

[CaptCobrajet]

Everything at our house had an FE when I was a kid.  64 Galaxie, 66 F100, 67 GTA 390 Mustang, GT500KR, and a G hull Rayson Craft boat.  I remember riding in the back seat of the boat (which faced the rear, and right beside the big High Riser.  My dad would reach back and hang on to me when he nailed it so I wouldn't fly out of the boat.  I reckon sitting on top of a 2x4 High Riser when those carbs came in must have been what hooked me.  I also remember standing up and being just tall enough to see over the dashpad in the Shelby.  It didn't take much to plant me firmly back in the seat, but that was okay, because then I got to shift gears!

We still have all of those FE rides, except the 390 GTA, but we do have it's insurance replacement that came in 1973 that looks just like the first one.

[hwoods]

1965 Ford Galaxie, 390, 4 spd, 4:11 rear, later swapped out for 427 side oiler.  Wish I still had that one

[cjshaker]

My Dad was driving flatheads up until the mid '70s, and my Mom was driving a Y-block '62 Galaxie till the mid '80s. When the Galaxie wore out, Dad switched her to a 170ci '61 Falcon. Dad was never into the performance thing, so I never drove anything with power until I got a 390 Fairlane just out of high school. I did experience a couple of Cleveland engines while in school, one in a '71 Torino, another was a '71 Boss Mustang, and BOTH of those cars RIPPED! Man they screamed! We had 460 powered station wagons (boats!!), but that 390 hooked me on FE V8 performance.

A classmate/friend of mine had a '68 Super Bee with a 383, then traded it for a '70 Cuda with a 440, both while still in high school. Those cars hooked me on big block performance, and I still like big block Mopars to this day. That Cuda was downright scary, and with 2.70 gearing it would have you begging for mercy at top speeds of around 150mph.

I think we're all lucky to have lived to the ages we are now..lol

[BattlestarGalactic]

Didn't have any real FE input til I bought my first 428 and put it in my '69 F100 in about 1990.  Going from the lame 2bbl 360 to the dual quad 428 with a toploader was a real eye opener.  When I hurt that motor a couple years later I was pushed HARD by most everyone to put a 460 in the truck.   I held my ground, took almost a year to get another 428 gathered up and put in.  Still going strong.

[Barry_R]

I bought the FE I dealt with - - no car guys in my family.  It was a black '68 Torino fastback with a 4 speed and gold stripes.  Purchased when I was 16 with newspaper boy money - under $400 if I recall.  That one got injured when I was cut off on Woodward & spun it into a curb.  Back then tearing a shock tower out was considered cause for scrapping an otherwise good car because they were not worth fixing.  Bought another turquoise one & used the best parts from both.  Never changed to a 460 because I was poor & had already paid for headers - a cam - a distributor - and could not afford to start over.

[fryedaddy]

i know my sons first fe experience.when he was 4 or 5 years old i use to take him for a ride in my comet.he would stand on the hump between the front bucket seats and hold on to the top of the seats while riding.i would catch him off guard and hit it hard.he would fly through the air and bounce off the back seat.he would holler do it again dad.they would put me under the jail if they caught me doing that today.

[plovett]

I bought a '66 Fairlane GTA with a transplanted 428CJ engine in Sparta, Mo. for $2800, around 1995.  It had Hooker headers, Holley Street Dominator intake, Holley 750 vacuum secondary carb, and a RV hydraulic flat tappet cam.  3.25 geared open rear end.

I drove it up highway 65N back to Springfield, Mo. Topped out at about 6200-6300 rpm and about 140-145 mph....with 4 wheel drums.  That was the first and that was fun. 

paulie

edit:  The GTA was white with a red interior.  Only gauges were speedo, fuel, and temp, as I remember. I'm not even sure about the temp gauge, now.  It might have had just a light.  It had that Autogage Tach with blue and white lines tied to the steering column.   Hilarious. 

[Joe-JDC]

First experience with FE was 59 Fairlane 500 with 352HP a cousin traded his 56 Mercury 312 for(both yellow and black cars), and then my Uncle's 60 Thunderbird with 352 HP.  First one I drove was new '64 Galaxie 390 4 speed, and I was hooked.  First new car in 1966 I tried to buy was 7Litre Galaxie 4 speed, but they refused to sell it to me,(in college and newlywed) and I ended up with 289 Mustang instead.  Drove my uncle's '66 Fairlane GT 4 speed in college, and had to have one.  Bought a new '69 Fairlane Cobra formal roof next, and then my '70 GT-500 which I still have. Several Fairlanes and Mustangs as used vehicles.  Joe-JDC

[Faron]

I was 19 and went to look at a 68 Mustang with a 390 for 950.00 , it was a replacement for the 67 289 car she wrecked .as soon as I saw it I knew it would be mine someday , in 1980 I traded a 1973 Pinto even up for it , the rest is history :-) , the pic is from 1979 @ Beaver Springs Drag-way , This FE Powered Mustang has raced there more years than any other , its been a hell of a ride from the first day September 1978 ( 15.30@ 93  to its best of 10.33@ 134.87  its a CA Built S code Jan 20th 1968