SpicyD

Hey Guys!
I just joined this forum because I have some questions. I hope this is the place to put them.

My brother and I are looking into rebuilding an old 1969 Mustang. I'm still waiting for a good offer, and I hope that some one will post a good offer that I can snag. Regardless, my brother has a 360 FE, and with some time and money (That I don't have yet) we were hoping to turn it into a 428.

He is huge into trucks, he knows just about everything you need to know about trucks, that's his passion. But he is less confident when it comes to cars and their engines, so I figured what better way to get answers and feed back then on a huge forum!

If we were to change the 360 to a 428 (Which my brother thinks is possible with various kits) what would we need to do, and what would we need to look out for? Or is this just a dumb idea in general. Any feed back is greatly appreciated!

Here's my brothers truck build if you want to take the time to look at it. I think that it's pretty impressive, but then again I don't know much!

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/12...4-build-4.html

101btp

If you are doing a restoration on a 1969 Mustang why not go with a 460? 360 it's still big block! Ive heard of people using the internals from 390's in 360's and seems like you would have more of a limit to what you could put out with a 360 vs again a 460!

jsimmonstx

Building a 360 to 428 (that would hold together) would cost more money per HP than just getting a 351w crate motor. You can stroke a stock 351w to 418 safely, and with a forged bottom end and solid lifter cam, you can rev to about 7500. With the right heads and intake, you can get 500+ HP out of them.

On top of that, a 351w is lighter and will be easier to fit headers and such.

SpicyD

Well the main reason we were going with the 360 FE is because he already has one. He got it for free a while back and odds are hes not gonna use it. It's in great condition, it has less than 5k miles on it so if we did change pistons, we probably wouldn't have to bore it out too much. We got it from an uncle, and my brother thinks with some new parts it could be quite the monster. Sorry that I'm always saying "He thinks, my brother..." etc. I'm still learning about all of this. I feel like a middle man haha.

SpicyD

I read it back to my brother and all he said was I told you so. I was wrong about the whole "he thought this". So what would you recommend? He thinks a hydraulic roller cam would let it rev higher without floating. Does that sound right or not really?

pascal

One of the greatest advantages of going with a roller mill is that you can use modern oil without worrying about your flat tappets schitting the bed because the lack of ZDDP.
People that have classic cars use motorcycle oil because it's still rated SG.

Aside all that, Jsimmonstx summed it up pretty much...
Can't beat stroking a Windsor, it's a proven formula with best bang for the Buck.

jsimmonstx

You can't (or at least shouldn't) rev a hydraulic motor higher than 6500. The valve spring pressure won't be high enough to prevent valve float and the lifters themselves can collapse under high rpm. Solid lifter cams require higher spring pressures and the lifters can't collapse, but then you have to be concerned about the stability of the drivetrain overall (afterall, you're gonna have a rev limit at or above 7500rpm). Shaft-mounted high-quality rockers, and larger diameter pushrods wiuth thicker walls are all highly recommended.

The downside to solid lifters is that they require periodic adjustment (once every month or so on a daily driver). The upside is that you can get MUCH bigger cams and rev to the freakin moon.

My advice if this ain't a race car, is to go with a stock block with AFR 205 heads and a forged bottom end. A trickflow stage 3 hydraulic cam gives a nice choppy idle, but is very streetable. Expect about 425-450 HP out of it.

If you're more serious and have the extra money, get a Dart block (4-bolt mains, Cleveland journals, 4.125 bore) and AFR 225 heads, and a solid cam with AT LEAST .675 lift, and shaft-mounted rockers. HP will be between 500 and 600 with the right induction system. This is gonna cost you about 5k more than a 408 stroker.

If you're gonna boost it, keep the compression down at 10:1, otherwise, an11:1 motor can still use pump gas, and you'll make more power.

SpicyD

Thanks so much for all the feedback guys!

I'm still looking into everything, my plan is to figure out exactly what I want and then execute it when I have the time and money. All of the opinions are super helpful and I look forward to reading more. I'm open to any and all ideas, you guys all know way more than I do.