Building my 360/390 for towing

[1971ford]

1969 F100 360/390 with c6, 3.25 gears, 31" tires. (I'll have another thread for suspension/drivetrain for towing)
The '69 needs to be able to tow my '71 f250 race truck on a trailer back from desert races, down and possibly up the mountains. I'm not sure how much the truck weighs but its fully caged with a 429, 2 spares, etc. Maybe 5500? Then there would be boxes of spare parts on the trailer, and maybe some fuel dump cans. I'll be looking for a light weight trailer.
The race truck CAN drive to the races on its own actually, so really the towing would only be down the mountains coming back from the races if the race truck were to break. But i still would like to be able to tow it up the mountains if needed for some reason.

What i currently have...
360 block out of my '69. It is .020 over and will be a little more since rust formed in the cylinders
Edelbrock streetmaster aluminum intake
1958 352 EDC bare heads (could/should i swap over all my stock 360 head parts over?)
390 crank

So basically, what would you do with my 390 for what i need?
What head parts, what carb, what cam, pistons, headers (probably the cheap hedmans), and the other goodies.
Not including machine work i'd like to stay under $1000 so i can drive this thing sometime this year, because really im waiting on this dang engine build.

[JEF199]

If it were me....I'd do a basic rebuild on the 360 w/ stock heads. Get the compression a hair above 9 to 1 any towing or rv cam. Sell the intake on ebay and get a stock 4v intake/carb setup off a old 352/390.  Use the rest of the money for suspension and BRAKES.

[FLATBEDFORD]

Drivetrain, not engine here, but for that kinda weight, I'd want at least 3.55 and preferably 4.10 gears. That's gonna be a lot of trailer for 1/2 ton truck.

[ok68crewcab]

Drivetrain, not engine here, but for that kinda weight, I'd want at least 3.55 and preferably 4.10 gears. That's gonna be a lot of trailer for 1/2 ton truck.

I agree,  the 3.25 won't be the best for towing.

[FLATBEDFORD]

Drivetrain, not engine here, but for that kinda weight, I'd want at least 3.55 and preferably 4.10 gears. That's gonna be a lot of trailer for 1/2 ton truck.

I didn't realize that you posted this in engine, drivetrain, and suspension. It seems the problem is that you want to use a 1/2 ton truck to do 3/4 or 1 ton work. Maybe find yourself a nice F250?

[70_F100]

It seems the problem is that you want to use a 1/2 ton truck to do 3/4 or 1 ton work. Maybe find yourself a nice F250?

I was going to say the same thing.

An F-100 just wasn't meant for towing a vehicle that heavy.

[1971ford]

yes i posted the engine related stuff here, drivetrain stuff in the drivetrain section and the suspension/brakes in the suspension/brakes section.

You guys are ruining my dreams
I understand im pushing a f100 to it's limits (and past i suppose) but I don't see too much that a f250 has that my f-100 can't have. Power isn't model related, suspension can be stiffened or i could even swap in f250 leaf packs, and the thing i'm lacking in brakes i suppose are the dual piston calipers that a f250 has. What if i did a disk brake swap in the rear as well? With all this done it seems i'd be up to par with a f250, unless i'm missing something.
I wish i could have another f250 but no room.

Well the problem is that my dad's tahoe isn't really setup for towing like my 69 isn't right now, and my brother's bronco definately isn't. And my mom's Camry might have trouble So the most capable is my '69 f100.

[ToughOldFord]

IIRC the F250 has a thicker frame.

[1971ford]

F250's do have slightly thicker frames.
I just figured that my f100 frame wouldn't bend from towing something.

[DuckRyder]

If F-250's didn't need thicker frames they wouldn't have them. (they also have much heavier duty rear ends and wheel bearings)

That said, to tow that much I'd build a pretty close to stock 390 with a mild cam (Like Crower 16915 BAJA BEAST) and go from there.

[hazelnut]

I wouldnt run headers on there but i would try to find some 9-9.5 to 1 pistons for torque because your going to be pulling alot and a mild cam,and also a large trans cooler.I would think that 3.70-411 would be close for your gears but it depends on where you drive mostly,interstate or not.If you have a trailer that you use sometimes when you go raceing ,i would find some scales and find out how much weighs loaded like your going to the races.almost any place that sells gravel has scales and im sure they would be more than happy to tell you

[1971ford]

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking on ways to make things easier and it can very well just be the truck on the trailer. We can through the spare tires, parts, and fuel in other trucks going up there. And towing will only be for the way back (downhill for the most part), and that is if it breaks at the race. I'll try to get the '71 weighed soon.
So what im getting here is...
390 crank, 9.5:1 pistons and rods, Keep it fairly stock, stock exhaust manifolds, and mild cam. So should i sell the Streetmaster intake and EDC heads i got for it? I have a factory 4 barrel 4,000 lb intake, should i run that instead of the streetmaster? What carb do you guys suggest?
As for finding 9.5:1 pistons, how do i know what compression they give? They list the compression distance but i dont know what distance i want.
This is a list of 390 FE pistons
http://www.summitracing.com/search/make ... s=Rank|Asc

[fomocoguy]

Ryan, I would find some stock 360 pistons on ebay. They are the same as 4 barrel 390 car pistons and will get you in the ballpark for the cr you are looking for. You could also do these TRW's: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/360-390- ... ccessories
They are a good price and will be perfect for your cr needs!

BTW I agree a dual plane intake would be better. Save money and use the original or sell the streetmaster and buy a performer (which is really just an aluminum version of the original). A vacuum secondary 600 would probably be plenty of carb.

[DuckRyder]

Be very careful with compression in a towing motor, power doesn't do you any good if you have to back off to stop it spark knocking. In addition, hypereutectic pistons are not at all forgiving of detonation/preignition.

[1971ford]

Thanks for the link/info.
So i will sell my Streetmaster and i'll pick up a performer. I can drop my factory one on until i find a performer.
Mmaybe i'd be better off with stock car pistons than the hypereutectic ones linked? Napa or Kragen would be able to get me those right, with my bore?
Now do i sell the EDC heads or use them with this build? I really don't know anything about heads, but i do know that these heads are completely bare, and my stock heads are still complete.
Do i run 360 car rods as well?
I'm curious, what is the reason for running stock manifolds instead of headers? I always assumed headers just helped it breathe better, and surprisingly headers seem to be 1/3 the price for a set of the $150 Hedmans.

I'll just keep posting a "build list" to keep things straight.
-The suggested cam on summitracing. Doesn't give it's specs but the part number is correct. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRO-16915/
-Stock or performer intake
-360 car pistons from Napa/Kragen
-Holley 600/vacuum secondaries http://www.holley.com/0-1850C.asp
-New/stock exhaust manifolds - $335 on summit. $454 in NPD catalog. Ouch.
-Stock or '68 352 EDC heads??