390FE to 428?

[Guest]

Hello all,

I've been told that a 390 can be bored/stroked to be a 428 as it's the same block; is this true?

Thanks,


David Randall
British Columbia

[Guest]

That's the way to go. After all that's what ford did. Just don't go to crazy. And don't forget the car ain't no toyota. Good luck
(3:55 gears behind that would be a sweet ride)

[scumdog]

Hello all,

I've been told that a 390 can be bored/stroked to be a 428 as it's the same block; is this true?

Thanks,


David Randall
British Columbia

Google FE Ford motors and you'll stumble across a site dedicated to FE engines - you'll get all the info from that site.

[Hawkrod]

No, a 390 can't be bored to a 428. That does not stop people from doing all the time though! Blocks are not generic. The wall thickness of a casting is specific. A 390 will have a wider space between the cylinders in the water jacket than a 428 does and a 427 has them even closer together because of the big bore. In some heavy duty applications Ford did use a 428 core and bored it for a 390 but they are few and far between. The problem is you can bore an engine and put it together but what happens is the cylinder wall actually becomes so thin that it distorts under pressure and leaks or deforms or worse fractures or splits (very common for moron engine rebuilders). You always need to do a sonic test before you consider boring a block to see if it is worth the effort. Core shift makes some standard bore blocks useless. You can get a rough idea if a block is even worth sonic testing for a big bore by using what has become a standard (created and documented by Dave Shoe on FordFE.com) and that is the drill bit test. For more detail go to WWW.FordFE.Com and use the search function for "drill bit test". You will find all you ever did not want to know about how so many people believe you can just bore a 390 to anything you want. You will also find out how to actually check to see if what you have is what you need to be messing with. Hawkrod

[Guest]

O Thank you hawkrod. from this moron builder

[Guest]

An easy conversion for the 390 is a 428 crank and becomes a 410.Has to be externaly balanced.
Great read Hawkrod