Mods
390 replaced the tired old 352, 4 speed with overdrive from a 70s Grenada (I think?) Replaced the cruise o matic. Trying to squeeze all the mpg I can from this tank on the highway. The jump from first to second is pretty steep, but with the 3x2 intake Im putting together ought to feed er the onions enough to compensate.
Also had to make my own custom adapter plate for the trans mount, rather than cutting and welding the entire cross member (who has time for that?)
Lengthened my driveshaft myself (its more balanced than the factory one I had on my 86 ram)
Huge front sway bar, working on using the old front sway bar to fit in the rear.
Electric fuel pump (used a spare Bosch pump I had from my long gone 2002 super duty RIP)
Giant wix fuel filter, new feed line, used the existing fuel line as a return, holley pressure regulator, with a filter/vapor separator from an omni to eliminate vapor lock.
Also had to make my own custom adapter plate for the trans mount, rather than cutting and welding the entire cross member (who has time for that?)
Lengthened my driveshaft myself (its more balanced than the factory one I had on my 86 ram)
Huge front sway bar, working on using the old front sway bar to fit in the rear.
Electric fuel pump (used a spare Bosch pump I had from my long gone 2002 super duty RIP)
Giant wix fuel filter, new feed line, used the existing fuel line as a return, holley pressure regulator, with a filter/vapor separator from an omni to eliminate vapor lock.
Build story
Bought the car in 2008 as my first car, it ran fine with 67000 original miles. My pops and I got it going, redid all the brakes (lines included), he taught me how to do body work (hes been a welder for over 30 years, so you can tell where I tried)
After I bought the car I learned my uncle had an almost identical one back in the day, sadly he passed away before we could finish. He told me I was going to drive him to his funeral in it, I replied "but it doesn;t have exhaust yet!" He just smiled and said "perfect"
So I named the car Robin after him.
It was ready to roll before school started that year, and man was it a badass ride for a kid in grade 11.
The old automatic died, had it rebuilt, died again a few years later and by then I had as much blow by as exhaust so what better reason to rip it apart?
I swapped a junkyard 390 in it last year, learned the HARD way about the importance of proper pushrod length... those old fords only had adjustable rockers with the high performance solid lifter engines. Oops. It lasted long enough for me to be able to drive it from my parents house (thanks mom and dad) to my house. Something it hadnt been able to do in at least 5 years.
So once again Im ripping out this 390 to toss in an actual COMPLETE GOOD RUNNING 390 just so I can drive it this year. This will let me rebuild the 390 to 1962 high output specs (hard to find 406 blocks)
The main theme in my build is something someone might have done 20+ years ago, using parts that work that are an upgrade from factory to suit my needs.
Im working on a build series for my YouTube channel, but life has me at a standstill in terms of video editing unfortunately. Hopefully Ill be able to continue in the near future!
A roller cam and adjustable rockers would be a pretty sweet addition *winkwinknudgenudge*
After I bought the car I learned my uncle had an almost identical one back in the day, sadly he passed away before we could finish. He told me I was going to drive him to his funeral in it, I replied "but it doesn;t have exhaust yet!" He just smiled and said "perfect"
So I named the car Robin after him.
It was ready to roll before school started that year, and man was it a badass ride for a kid in grade 11.
The old automatic died, had it rebuilt, died again a few years later and by then I had as much blow by as exhaust so what better reason to rip it apart?
I swapped a junkyard 390 in it last year, learned the HARD way about the importance of proper pushrod length... those old fords only had adjustable rockers with the high performance solid lifter engines. Oops. It lasted long enough for me to be able to drive it from my parents house (thanks mom and dad) to my house. Something it hadnt been able to do in at least 5 years.
So once again Im ripping out this 390 to toss in an actual COMPLETE GOOD RUNNING 390 just so I can drive it this year. This will let me rebuild the 390 to 1962 high output specs (hard to find 406 blocks)
The main theme in my build is something someone might have done 20+ years ago, using parts that work that are an upgrade from factory to suit my needs.
Im working on a build series for my YouTube channel, but life has me at a standstill in terms of video editing unfortunately. Hopefully Ill be able to continue in the near future!
A roller cam and adjustable rockers would be a pretty sweet addition *winkwinknudgenudge*