I need some input on a 390 FE I found

[RICK LAKE]

PJ4myboo PJ witch ever block you end up with you are going to send it to YOUR machinist for his testing and check out. Agree on a machinist in your area, pay half now and the other half on completion of testing. The means checking for crack in the bottom end and sonic check the walls. Pressure test the block with a min of 100 psi of water in the water jackets for a possible weak thin wall. After HE gives the OK, then you have a motor block to build. What ever block you end up with, new cam bearings, honing, boring, machine work to have flat surfaces,(Fly cutting) will all need to be done. What heads and intake are you looking at? They also my need to be machined if .010-.20" is removed to get flat surfaces of the block. If the walls are thick, boring it out .060" over will give you some more bore for a set of larger valves in the heads. A 2.19 intake can breath well and better that a 2.09. I may sound like a bad guy but have seen enough people get the shaft buying old parts and motors and NOT having them checked out by there own machinist. If the guy is honest he should have no problem with this deal, if not you may want to walk away. If the was my motor, I would buy the block and get a stroker kit from Barry R. Go to a 4.25 crank kit. The BBC rods are better than FE rods IMO. BBC rods have a wider bearing and handle the load better. Look at Car Craft in August 2008 for the 446 build up. You follow this and have a very nice motor for a cobra than will last for many years of fun and abuse. Rick L. Ps Barry R. and Keith Craft both sell nice packages for the top end of FE motors. Heads,camshafts, intakes, and carbs. The important thing is having all the paerts work togeather and make the most torque and HP and be durable.