Thread: Rebuilding My 390

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Talk to Joe, the heads are the key.

ok, i went down friday and talked to Joe Mondello about doing my heads, hes going to be porting the heads (the most exotic part being smoothing out the rocker stud) putting hardened valve seats in with Stainless steel valves, he may also open up the chambers after i decide what pistons to get. He said he'd put them on the flow bench and pick out a cam for me also thats going to make the kinda power im looking for, so thanks for the help guys and pointing me to that shop, i found out mondello performance only deals with olds heads while mondello tech school will do anything you want, but thanks again

Steven

PS- Techinspector- did you know that mondello's shop is going to be moving to Tennesse(forgive the spelling)?

Steven, I can tell you one thing, after living in California, he won't like Tennessee.

Originally posted by FFR428
Your engine is listed at 335HP in stock trim as is and the heads are 71.2-74.2 cc's. You might want to upgrade the oilpan if your going with a HV oil pump. Or at least use a windage tray and an extra qt of oil. Under hard launches the HV pump can suck the pan dry leaving the bottom end sucking wind. I learned that the hard way long ago. I agree about the heads also. Figure you will spend at least $1100 with rebuild and port work complete. Being that you want to run headers and such it sounds like the "original and correct" theme is not in play. I'd just keep all the original parts bagged and tagged. It's hard to find correct date code parts and should you ever have to sell the car this will only enhance the deal. If I had a dollar for every car I swore I'd never sell.... On the cam I like something with a little more on the top end 6-6.5 rpms but I always run solids. If you do decide to go with the Crane power max cam you might want to upgrade to at least the stock adjustable rockers and pushrods. The non adjustables are durable and will live under .550 lift but not over this. On the block machine work make sure you use a shop that knows the FE block. Hopefully the block is std-.030 leaving you some room. If the block is under .030 sonic checking is really not needed and some will go to .040 without a sonic no problem. Core shift is the culprit here and always a risk after .030 on badly shifted blocks and you just never know. G.

Got a question on that oil pan deal. Is it nessasary to use a larger oil pan with all HV oil pumps, or only if you plan on launching at full tilt? I just bought a HV pump for my engine, but had planned to use my stock pan....

Why did you buy a HV pump instead of a stock pump? The stock pump in my 390 daily driver works just fine with a stock pan, 60 lbs on start-up, 40-45 cruise.

I bought it cause it is what the only parts store in SouthEast Alaska had. I didn't have a lot of options, and the price was right.
$30.00 is hard to beat over $80.00 for the OEM

$25.99 at summit. Anyway, I'm sure others have run a HV pump with a standard pan with no problems on a street motor where the revs would be limited. If you plan to race the motor, you may be well advised to convert to a higher capacity pan and oil galley passage mods.

460, what FE engine do you have and what vehicle is it in? You should be fine as Tech said. If you have a truck you can get a FT oilpan. They hold 10 qts and can be had kinda cheap. If in a car you can get the Milodine CJ replacement pan for $99. This with a windage tray and a couple more qts of erl will do ya. You can also restrict the flow to the rockers to avoid pooling if needed. Easy to do. G.

I don't have an FE, but a 460 in my F-250 4X4. It was just a general question, but Tech has eased my mind. Thanks guys

haha, last time i went back east i couldnt wait to come back to the sunny central coast , is anyone here going to be in Paso for the Cruz night tonight??

Also, will a stock 390 pan work if i install a baffle and run a stock pump vs a high volume? the only guy i know with a racing motor he built is running 60wt oil @ 120psi, so im kinda in the dark on how a oil system will live up under "spirited driving"

Steven

Stock pan and pump is good. Do you mean add a slosh baffle or are you talking windage tray?

On the subject of core shift, a quick way to detect it is to look at any holes that are drilled in cast-in bosses. If they all look to be centered, the block is probably OK for boring out bigger than one that shows them to be off. Low tech, but cheap!