What is it? 352 360 390?

[brushwolf]

I got an FE 2V motor that was just pulled from a 63 Galaxie wagon. Was told it was 352 by recent buyer of car (he is installing 5.0). He also said motor was kind of tired, but did not smoke or make any noise. He drove up from TX to MN with it recently, but knew nothing of engine's prior history. Intake and head numbers indicate they are probably 1963 and heads have been rebuilt with guides & 1 new valve. Heads are C1AE and intake C2AE, probably right for a '63. However, I pulled heads and the pistons say .030 (no dish, though they have valve reliefs) and the bore is 4.08" which is a +.030 360 or 390. Stroke measures 3.5", so then must be a 360. Can not find any casting numbers on block, though quite clean. There are vertical ribs about 3/8" wide on both sides of block about 1/2 way up. What really bugs me is that I can find no FE engine listed that shows at least a 0.140 (not 0.0140...) below deck piston height. I have Monroe BBF book and lowest setting piston of all the FE's is about 0.10. Could someone have used 390 piston in a 360 block and using 360 rods and that is why engine is a slug - cuz compression too low with 390 pin height pulling piston way down in bore. I have had lot of Ford motors apart but never saw piston so deep in hole... Anyone got a 360 apart and know what deck clearance is on it ? Not sure if my book is right on this.. What is this thing? Anyone know what 70's era PU motors had for deck clearance? Thanks, Mike H

[MagicRat]

I think you have an early to mid 1970's 391 truck block. The ribs on the side were used because Fords block tooling was starting to wear out. These ribs never appeared on car blocks because the FE was pased out of auto use by that time.
All the FE cranks interchange. As the stroke is 3.5" the crank is a 360. My book shows a 390 has a 3.78 stroke, which is spot on for your .14 below deck height.
Swap in a 390 crank and you will have a great short block.
I am not sure about the heads, but any standard 332, 352 360 390 and 428 head will do, as they all were very similar. If you have 2.04 intakes and 1.57 " exhaust valves, they will do.
I would think the early '60's heads you have (given the part number) is better than the '70's low comp heads that engine had originally.
My guess is that someone mixed and matched parts without knowing what they were doing.

[Mercracer]

Those ribs are found on the truck 360/390 blocks. It is common in the late 60's / early 70's 360/390 blocks to have no casting number. There will still be a casting date viewed from the bottom of the block near the front edge. Definitely keep those early heads as the ports are of a much better design than the smaller port emissions designed heads of later years.
You need both 390 rods and a crank for the proper piston deck height in a 390 stroked engine.