engine life expectancy

[happymech]

Hello all this is my first post. I am an aircraft mechanic for 20years and its been a little over that, that I sold my 1970 truck.

I am in the market for a truck mid 60's to mid 70, and I am curious to life expectancy (miles before rebuild) of the 360 engine and other engines in this time frame.

I know that it allot depend on use extra but if they typically don't make it to 150k I want to budget monies for a rebuild.

Thanks Michael

[jzjames]

I think the 300 inline-6 is the best. Power, torque, tough engine. Mine probably has 300,000 miles on it. Better mpg than 352 360.
Lots of pluses for this engine.

[sargentrs]

My original 1970 302 had 280k+ and was still going strong when I pulled it out for my project build. I drove it daily an 80 mile round trip to work for 7 years without a hiccup and only did the basic fluids, filters and tune up maintenance.

[Roscoe Clyde]

I got well over 250K on my 300 before it sharted burning some oil. I dropped in a rebuilt new one and I currently a little over 100K with no major issues.

Roscoe Clyde

[happymech]

Thanks I know the 300 run forever, just have no experience with 360/390 just did know if 150 is living on borrower time.

[dstuart]

Just a few weeks ago, I took my 352 flywheel to the machine shop to have it resurfaced. The owner, who’s been in the business a long time, said, “I don’t see many FE engines anymore. Those are some great engines. You should get at least 200,000 miles out of it before you need to do any real work on it.” FYI—he also said that the FE (352/360/390) is a bit more expensive to rebuild than the average V8—about $2500. That’s a south Texas price. He didn’t say why, just the way it is for FEs.

Hope this helps.

[farmallmta]

200,000 plus miles is very do-able. BUT, the way the truck is set up with engine, transmission, rear end, how it's maintained, how heavily it's loaded and lugged down, how it's driven, where it's driven all come into play.

Here are some general guidelines with respect to engine wear and longevity I read years ago while reading about the Mobil Fuel Economy runs:

10 miles down a gentle grade is equal to about 7 miles up or down a steep grade
10 miles with a 4:56:1 differential is equal to 7.6 miles with a 3.54:1 differential
10 miles with a manual transmission in good shape is equal to 9.2 miles with a C6 in good shape
10 miles at 75 mph is equivalent to 8.9 miles at 4.5 mph
10 miles in clean air with an effective air filter is equivalent to 6 miles in dirty air with a dirty or no air filter
10 miles with dirty oil is equivalent to 4.5 miles with dirty oil and poor quality filter
10 miles with a quality rebuild with quality parts and assembly is equivalent to 6 miles with a poor rebuild with poor quality parts and assembly
10 miles with constant cycling of accelerate/decelerate is equivalent to 8 miles of steady throttle
and last but not least...
10 miles with a mad wife is equivalent to forever

[markguiver]

I've seen 352,360,390 FE's go well over 200,000 back in the 60's and 70's as long as the were well maintained. I had a 73 Highboy with a 360 that I worked hard, but I maintained it well, that had 160,000 when I sold it. Other than tune-ups and oil changes the only thing I ever had to replace on the motor was the fuel pump. If you find a truck you like and don't know it's history, you should probably keep some money in the budget for some repairs IMO. Have fun with your search.
Mark.

[hfdco4]

I have had several FEs Great engines and long life. I would just budget for a rebuild as these trucks are all 47 plus years old now. Simply put they should be gone through just to reseal them at a minimum. Now the big thing is an upgrade to the heads on these trucks. They need to be modified with hardened exhaust seats due to our unleaded gas now.