Mighty 390 update

Well, back on memorial day weekend I aquired a 390 to start project mighty 390.  I figured I would give yall an update on what s going on.  Some of you may have been wondering and some of yall may not care either way you are getting an update.   So last night on the way home I was feeling like crap but,  I needed to get down to Mills Hot Rods and see what I had got myself into.  When I first pulled the valve covers the absence of burnt or  old motor oil was a big relief.  But , the previous owner had use a heavy paraffin based oil so this was coated on the rocker arm shafts but no big deal, my sure shot and some mineral spirits will clean that right up.  Now on to the intake manifold.  Anyone that is reading this that has ever pulled an intake on an FE knows that they almost need the engine hoist just to take this part off.  So got the intake off and no broke lifters, yippee.  Man at this point I am extactic,  I got this engine for nothing and it is looking promising to this point.  Lets pull the heads shall we?  Well this is always the part that scares me on an engine.  You never know what is going to be inside there other than a piston.  Pulled the right bank and no water but .030 over pistons that look good with good crass hatching in the cylinders.  Right head same way.  Well we decided to stop there at the end because I wanted to let the oil drain all night before I pulled the pan off.  Lets just hope that the rod and main journals on the crank don’t look like the top of a 2X4.

Tattoos

I remember when I turned 18 I went and bought a can of snuff, a pouch of chaw and a lottery ticket.  It was great not worrying about getting caught with this stuff cause I was legal now.  Then I told my mom and dad, “ I am going to get a tattoo” .  Dad told me to think about it after he said hell no and mom just said hell no.  Well I waited I thought and thought about it but couldn’t find anything that fits.  So four years later I finally got my first tattoo.  When I got my first tattoo it was not out of a book or off the wall at the tattoo parlor.  It was in my head.  I walked into the parlor and told the dangerous looking but friendly guy , “I am ready to get my first tattoo” .  He asker me are you sure?  I was kind of insulted but then I got to thinking,  this guy probably gets tons of frat guys and wanna be bad ass chicks in here wanting to get tattoos that later hate them and all they can do is piss and moan trying to get thier money back.  I went back outside to my truck sat on the tail gate and really thought about it.  I went back in and said yes sir I am ready.  He said pick one out,  I said I have one in mind but you don’t have it here I need to draw it out.  So he turned me towards a guy that was not doing anything and also did not seem enthusiastic about being there this worried me but I drew it out and he perfected it.  Then he went to put it on my arm.  Im not gonna lie as soon as he sank the needles in I knew there was no turning back.  An hour later it was done.  I was proud it was a tattoo that I thought no one had  and as far as I know no one still does not have.  I have had two more put on me after that and plan to get a few more .

I told you this story because it seems thanks to MTV and the NBA tattoos have become main stream and it is really sickening.  The more and more I look around people are getting tribal tattoos.  Everyone said I need to get a tribal tattoo.  I am not nor have I ever been part of any tribe, which means I really don’t need to get a tribal tattoo.  I did my home work before I got a tattoo.  A lot of the guys I worked with at the time of me getting it were either ex cons or bikers.  I asked them all about it.  They said the one main thing, make sure it is what you want because it is there for life.  Now I don’t take tattoos to seriously to the extent where I say everyone of them has a meaning.  I mean the big one I have does but its not a really big meaning.  I got the tattoos because they were different and I liked them.  I remember my friend telling me when he was in there getting work done A guy that may have weighed 90 lbs soaking wet was getting the monster logo tattooed on his leg.  The guy said he was getting it beasue he is hard core , and by hardcore it means he drinks 4 cans a day of that junk.  While I do have to respect what he is getting he is going to regret it when the whole monster energy thing is played out which takes me back to what the guy says are you sure you are ready.  Tattoos should be timeless, not a trend setter.  Heck back in the day the only people that got tattoos were degenerates and skuzzy sailors(probably one in the same) .  So remember before you get a tattoo make it your own make it original.  Don’t do it cause everyone is doing do it because you know it is what you want to do.

Mid night ride

As I step out into the dimly lit front yard of my friends house and my attention is caught by the full moon,  it almost feels like I am sent back to the late sixties.  Because ,  I look at my car sitting on the gravel road, the dim porch light cast just enough light to shine the paint but the wheels appear black with just a little bit of shine.  The car sit’s a little low in the back as if to make a cop wonder, does he have a shine tank full in the trunk?  I start my car and hit the lights then hit random on the IPOD (then I realize I cant be in the late 60s).  The first tune,  Surf Rider.  I back down the gravel road to make the turn around and I am off.  I cruise down the gravel road till it ends on to black top,  but that shortly follows another gravel road.  I feel like I am hiding from the g-men on another run to a dry town that needs some shine.  I suddenly get a glimpse of head lights careening towards me at a high rate of speed.  G-men? Local yokel cop ? I wasn’t waiting around to find out.  I sped off into the winding curves of the back road which I have driven so many times before.  Taking some of the hair pin curves at 50 maybe 60 mph.  All I could think was, man what a rush.  As I left it in second gear and left the rpm’s assist in the braking I made the trip in no time flat.  I was suddenly flashed back to reality when I hit the main drag and saw 2011 again.

You are probably wondering why I explained this to y’all.  Well the moral is a cool car can make your imagination go free.  You cant have these same feelings in a 2011 F150 believe me it does not work.  I was on a path to find the most coolest car for me I had found it in my 67 galaxie but strayed only for a time period of about 24 hrs.  You see I didn’t think I would be happy till I was a proud owner of a late 50s early 60s ford vehicle.  Well fate saw that and stopped the car sale dead in its track.  I was approached with tire kickers and dumbassery.  After a while I knew in my heart the 67 was the car for me.  The next day I hit the craig’s list in search for a new heart and a new engine project that I have never embarked on,  The 390 FE.

In these day and times the FE has been thrown by the way side with small more inexpensive engines with more available parts sources.   But, you cant get the same end result out of a small block like you can with a big block.  Remember there is no replacement for displacement.  Plus my car weighs almost 4gs it needs some nuts under the hood that the 87 model 302 just can supply.  While on craig’s list I came across a 406 FE for sale no price which usually means you cant afford it.  Never the less I called and my accusations were correct 2500 bucks not happening.  I told the man I needed a 390 which so happens he had just pulled a running 390 out of 67 mustang.  The price 800 bucks, something in my price range.  He told me come on by take a look at it and we will make a deal.  I pull up to his shop and immediately I see a 66 ford fairlane A stock dragster which is kept company by a 34 ford powered by a 429 CID 385 series motor.  I thought to myself man this could go two ways, either this guys is gonna be really cool or a total know it all dick.  Well it was the first.  On sat the cool old guy and I sat and talked, mostly he talked of drag racing in the 60s and I listened in amazement.  So fate sent me another gift that went along in the form of not selling my car.  A 63 model factory 315 horse police motor.  Now I told him I would have to pay him out cause I was short on coke bread and he said no problem.  He stopped me on my way back to my truck and said” you bring that W motor and we will call it even”.  He didn’t need it he was a big block guy I mean he has a factory 7 liter car.  Its under my impression that he knew I really wanted that motor but he was not going to give me something for nothing.

I went back and visited cool old guy again today.  And listened to more stories of 56 ford with a 390 fork lift motor (FE was an industrial motor before an automotive motor) .  It was a great time and I plan to go back as much as I can to learn old dog tricks and listen to some bitchin stories of how it use to be. IF you want to know how cars were back in the day find a cool old dude to make you a hell of a deal on a motor and listen to his out of sight stories.