1963 Engine Swap or rebuild? | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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1963 Engine Swap or rebuild?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg1984
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Greg1984

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1962
Has anyone swapped motors out of a 63? I found a 407 small block, but wasnt sure what would entail with fabrication.

I'd prefer to keep a big block to keep it looking original-ish, but ultimately don't care. I'm not having any problems, a bit of smoke and some leaks so a refresh would work, but my logic is if I'm pulling the motor anyways I might as well see about a rebuild. One thing lead to another and now I'm looking at crate engines.

Its a summertime cruiser, looking for reliability and street able.

So, any thoughts?

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I'm assuming that the 407 you mentioned is a 351 Windsor with the stroke increased to 4". The exterior dimensions of the 351W aren't too far off from the original 390FE but you will at a bare minimum need to fabricate new motor mounts.

Since the bell housing bolt pattern is different between the two engines you will also need to replace the transmission. Depending on which transmission is used it may also be necessary to modify the transmission crossmember and modify the length of the driveshaft.

All of the same applies if you want to swap in a big block engine from the Ford 385 family.

It can be done but will be a lot more work compared to just rebuilding the original 390.
 
SteveG_CT said:
I'm assuming that the 407 you mentioned is a 351 Windsor with the stroke increased to 4". The exterior dimensions of the 351W aren't too far off from the original 390FE but you will at a bare minimum need to fabricate new motor mounts.

Since the bell housing bolt pattern is different between the two engines you will also need to replace the transmission. Depending on which transmission is used it may also be necessary to modify the transmission crossmember and modify the length of the driveshaft.

All of the same applies if you want to swap in a big block engine from the Ford 385 family.

It can be done but will be a lot more work compared to just rebuilding the original 390.
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This is exactly the response I was looking for.

Sounds like a rebuild is in order.
 
The previous owner of my 66 was faced with a similar situation. He chose to have the bored .030 and rebuild from there. It helped that his son is a certified mechanic who rebuilt the engine. The new engine only has about 600 miles on it. I'm getting ready to change the oil but it is running very well.
 
I'd get a rebuilt from "Blue Print" engine company. You pick your horsepower and you get a 3 year warrenty. The FE was a better engine than it was given credit for.I think more horsepower will certainly surprise you buddies. Good Luck!
 
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