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1969 Ford F250 (360 V8) What carburetor works best?

50K views 34 replies 21 participants last post by  Totalled 
#1 ·
Hello,

I recently purchased a 1969 Ford F250 4x4 and was told before I got to the truck that it had a 390 V8, but upon reading the air cleaner housing, which said 360, I determined the seller was misinformed, which is a side issue. The motor runs, but not with a lot of power and it feels like the timing is off. The carburetor also leaks fuel. I would like to change out the carburetor and then have the timing on the motor tuned in, but I do not know what carburetor works best for this truck. I'm not worried about cost too much. I'd really just like a well performing carburetor to get the thing running right and fed properly. I do intend to do some off roading in it from time to time, so that is something I need to take into consideration. Any suggestions or recommendations will be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hello MJ, I was prepared for it when I went to look at the truck. Still pisses me off a bit, but the body and in cab are in great condition. The guy claims it was rebuilt and bored .30 over, but he had no papers and I have no way of verifying it, that I know of. Either way, it's a bit choppy, but it runs. I'm happy enough.
 
#6 ·
Okay, I gotcha. As usual, being young and not as well educated in these matters as I'd like, my inclination was to go for a four barrel, with higher cfm than you guys have suggested. I do recall my uncle telling me that oversizing a carburetor can actually lose you power, so I appreciate what I'm being told here. That said, in your opinions, for a stock 360 (possibley bored .30 over) I should not go with anything larger than a two barrel, with no more than 400 cfm? There's no benefit to going bigger, right?
 
#7 ·
was told before I got to the truck that it had a 390 V8, but upon reading the air cleaner housing, which said 360, I determined the seller was misinformed
Good chance it is a 360 but a sticker on the air cleaner doesn't mean it's not a 390. The difference between a 360 and a 390 is the stroke so to determine what you have you need to measure the stroke.

Remove a spark plug and with the coil wire off rotate the engine by hand until the that piston is at the top of it's stroke. Take a small wire or welding rod etc. and put it in the spark plug hole until it touches the piston then make a reference mark on it. Make sure there's at least 6 inches sticking out and rotate the engine until the piston is at the bottom of it's stroke, make another reference mark. Now measure the distance between the marks, 3.5" and it's 360, 3.75" and it's a 390.

Don't bad mouth the seller until you verify what it really is, 40 year old stickers don't count for squat.
 
#25 ·
For crying out loud, dude! :shaking: With all due respect my man, not only would that be a horrible way to make that determination, why? The FE big-blocks have their serial numbers stamped on the block underneath the mounting bracket for the coil. That takes a half-inch wrench, and 30 seconds. Hehe. The bore is different on the 360ci as well, it's not just a crank, by the way. Your way => what if it IS a 360, but with a 390 crank? What if it has after-market pistons? What if the cylinder-head has been decked, once, twice...I mean c'mon. That's a HORRIBLE idea. Any number of things would skew your, ahem, cough, 'measurement'.

I was researching dropping the fuel tank out of my 2x Custom Cab same year, and stumbled across this thread; and registered just to make this comment. I would avoid EVER putting anything, let alone filthy, probably flux-covered, welding-stock into your combustion chamber. Hello! Finely machined moving parts. Boy howdy! Exposing your combustion chamber to atmosphere should always be a last-resort, or part of some necessity.

I whole-heartedly agree with you on the point you make about assumptions, though, FourByFord. That's the first thing I thought after reading the OP, is why on Earth would it matter one iota what the 'sticker' said on the air-cleaner assembly? No need to go calling folks liars without proof.

Just grab the serial number, for Pete's sake, and then utilize any one of a bagillion online sources, or the front of any twenty dollar junky motor-manual for that guy, and it will tell you precisely what power-plant you have.

And what's with the 360 hate? I have one, so I can criticize with impunity, but from the 292 clear through to the 400, that's a gas-sucking turd of a big-block, anyway you cut it. After you put a 390, or a 360, either one in front of a C-6, what does it matter anyway? That Rock Crusher is only going to steal about a third of your bhp and torque! I'd challenge anyone to make the distinction based on post-install performance, and in front of that tranny, between a 390 and 360, both of which were massively anemic compared the the 402/396 running in their contemporaneous GM counter-parts.

Seriously, if you wanna go off-road in an old Ford, hunt yourself down a 300ci six. Easily the best utility motor to ever come out of Ford. And your 360 is awesome trading fodder

Oh, and Holley makes a replacement carb for that, I'm running it my 360, and like it so far. The accelerator pump is a bit under-performing for the task, so I'm not getting awesome off-idle response, but it sure improved fuel economy. Being a little puny off-idle is good off-road anyway, because it won't unhook you so easily.

I don't mean to e-yell at you 4XFord, but that is a cockamamie idea if I've EVER heard one. Quite clever, but much better just to pull the coil, and read the serial number.

Too funny. And how old is this thread? Hehe.
 
#8 ·
Hello 4XFORD, thank you for the direction. I will do this and verify what I have. Point taken on bad mouthing the seller. The guy also failed to mention a small leak in the fuel tank selector valve, which I'm having to deal with right now. Ahhh, but it's the small things, right? LOL! No biggie, I'll fix em'. I really appreciate the help here. Back to the carburetor issue, I do intend to do some 4wheeling and I've been looking at the Holly Truck Avenger. Any thoughts? The idea of going simpler and therefore less expensive is appealing, but I would like a good performing carburetor that I don't end up grumbling about later. If that makes since. Please let me know.
 
#10 ·
If you feel like swapping the intake, you can't go wrong with a 600 holley and performer intake. If you leave it stock, a 1.21 venturi 2100 series ford 2 barrel will be plenty. If it still has points, convert it to duraspark ignition or drop in a pertronix electronic kit.
 
#14 ·
If it still has points, convert it to duraspark ignition or drop in a pertronix electronic kit.
Excellent advice.

Carb: That's why you really need to find out what the engine is. If it's a 390 with 9:1 compression and a RV cam then a Performer manifold and Truck Avenger would do nicely and a 2150 2bbl would work fine but leave you under carbed. If it's a stock 360 with 8:1 compression, stock cam and retarded timing then the Performer/Avenger would be too much and the 2150 would be perfect.
 
#15 ·
If it has the factory retarded timing, you can bring it to life by putting in an earlier timing set or a Cloyes gear and chain set to straight up. My 74 had a fuel filter on the front of the factory carb. When it got clogged up it ran like crap. I used to carry a couple spares. Early Ford point distributors were notorious for the points going out of adjustment. Eletronic ignition is your friend here (as stated earlier). I would consider rebuilding your stock carb (if it is). They are not very difficult to rebuild. I think your money would be better spent there and on an eletronic ignition system, especially if you find it is a 360.
 
#16 ·
#17 ·
I'm suprised no one has mentioned a 500 holley.. A motorcraft 2bbl is a nice unit, but IMHO, the 500 holley usualy makes better power..
 
#18 ·
Used to have an old 70 LTD with a 390 2V. Had 198,000 miles on the clock when I got it.

It ran strong, it ran hard. Smooth power up to 120. Definitely couldn't fault that 2 barrel.

And the points ignition was faultless too. Maybe just got lucky. But never had to touch it.

The only thing I did to that motor was replace the timing chain set, as the nylon on the cam gear had broken off and was sitting in the bottom of the oil pan.

Good car, wish I'd kept the motor after my sister wrecked it.:mad3:
 
#22 · (Edited)
Lets help him get it running right first before fuel injection. Even if you don't install headers a nice 2.5 dual exhaust system with turbo mufflers works well. Something else just came to mind also, find a later model clutch fan and put on the engine. As I remember they had a solid hub fan that ran all the time. Those things are noisy.
 
#23 ·
I've toyed with a lot of carburetors. If it's going to go offroad, motorcraft 2150 is the only way to go. Definitely do your research prior to spending money, but even if it is a 390 I'd still go with a motorcraft.

If you have fuel injection thoughts, don't waste your time and money, go here http://www.gotpropane.com/p4.html I converted my '74 Bronco, it's never ran better, I don't think it has burped or stumbled once ever since the conversion. Even when it's on its side. :eek:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Nothing wrong with propane at all, but he's gonna need more than stock truck engine compression to make it run well. Propane loves 11.0:1+ compression.
 
#27 ·
A cylinder is not a vag.. Exposing it to the atmosphere or sticking a wire or even a welding rod in there isn't going to suddenly make it not run...
Ever think what happens if the engine sucks down some muddy water? unless you hydrolock it and bend a con rod, it's not like you're going to have to rip it apart and rebuild it just because there was something other than air/fuel mixture in the cylinders.
That is the best way of determining stroke short of dissasembling the engine and measuring.

If the engine has been rebuilt, the serial number isn't going to tell anything, the block is the same between a 360 and 390, just different stroke, it's basicly a 390 with a 352 crank. Just the same as a a 240 and 300, or a 429 and 460, same bore, different stroke.

As for reccomending a 300 for off road use, a 300 is a good reliable engine, but power is lackluster at best, and by the time you build one that makes good power, you've thrown it's good low end torque that makes it so well liked out the window. If you're crawling with eleventybillion to one gears, it'll work just fine, but if you need something that actually has some wheel speed, it's a poor choice.
The reason for such little love for the FE's is their poor stock performance along with the relatively steep price of parts for them. Don't get me wrong, a good FE can make good power, but if you're starting with a 360, by the time it is making good power you could have done a 460 swap and have somke real power under the hood.
 
#28 ·
for those who dont know, i built a 351M for teh super cheap and it made 351hp/470tq, ran like fuel injection and loved a 150 shot of nitrous on it. never gave me issues, and was torque on demand having my peak torque at 3200 rpm.
 
#30 ·
so..... before anyone says anything? has anyone had a carb done by a professional who KNOWS WHAT THEIR DOING?

truck avengers do what they advertise and more, when rebuilt and tweaked by someone who does it day in and day out.


anyone who has run in my truck or seen it runs can attest to decent carb work.

2150's are good, i agree, but modern tech beats it overall
 
#32 ·
Man, first let me say. Joining this site is like pulling teeth. I wonder if the creators know how many users they are losing because of it. Total pita.
Having said that, a couple caviats I noticed. The aftermarket points conversions ( all of them ) suck bananas. The performance increase is marginal at best and they routinely fail, especially if you've upgraded your charging system. Points work just as well and are much easier to repair when they fail. A good blaster coil, 8mm wound wires and you'll run fine. Correctly installed points last for several thousand miles. The other thing to remember is this engine was built when gasoline was real. Not corn fed. It will run better on any grade that's devoid of ethanol. I haul a 35' 5th wheel with a CJ attached to the back all the time. My 360 performs flawlessly in front of a 4 speed manual and 410 rears.
 
#33 · (Edited)
All pistons in the same engine series (example FE-332,352,360,390,406,410,427,428) move the same amount (up and down). The crankshaft can have more or less stroke, but the difference is taken care of with the connecting rods (center of big end to center of small end)and/or pistons having different lengths (pistons=pin center to top surface).
That wire idea:shaking: won't work.


Edit- If it's a real problem, pull a head and measure the bore and/or drop the o-pan and measure the stroke of the crankshaft. (hint-if you measure the crank from the center of a main to the center of a rod, you have to multiply by 2 (measurement x 2). That will give you the stroke.
 
#34 ·
66cc that is the stupidest post every, you don't know shit about fe engines. The rods are all the same length, are interchangeable between all fe motors. The difference in stroke of the crankshafts is made up buy the compression hight of the piston. Puting a wire in the spark plug hole is a fine way to find out stroke. Go back to the Chevy forms you don't know shit about fords.
 
#35 ·
Actually, There are two con rod lengths. The 332, 352, 360, and 361 Edsel received the long rod at 6.540 inches. So did the 330-ci FT truck engine. The short rod is 6.488 inches center to center. Most FE engines received the short rod: 390, 406, 427, and 428.

You can measure stroke though the spark plug to determine crank stroke... Won't give you final displacement without the bore size though.

Rod length and piston pin height don't cancel out the throw each crank has... :shaking: :rolleyes:

And fuck the D.A.N. for necroing a 5 year old thread... :flipoff2:
 
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