sbf or bbf?

Old 01-06-2011, 07:47 PM
  #1  
sds10racer
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Default sbf or bbf?

have a guy at work that has a ford pick up that has a 390 in it. one guy says it's a small block, he says big block. which is it. i'm a chevy guy, so naturaly i have no clue .
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Old 01-06-2011, 08:52 PM
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zipper06
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Big block.

Zip.
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Old 01-06-2011, 09:50 PM
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dragonmaster093
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big block fe to be exact 360,390,and either 428,429 group. had one in a 76 f250 hi boy and they are a screamer. im a gm guy but 390's are a tough motor
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Old 01-06-2011, 09:52 PM
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sds10racer
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thanks,zip thats what i always thought, but what do i know :? i've rebuilt a few and even made 360 into a 390 then a 427?(long time ago). customer couldn't make up his mind.
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Old 01-07-2011, 04:09 AM
  #5  
TheRabbit
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I've seen Ford guys argue this one for years. We have classes that say NO BIG BLOCKS allowed and this subject always comes up.

See you can have a ford 332 Big Block or (see below) you can have a Ford 400 small block. Which bytw fits right in where a 429/ 460 does.
You can just do a Ford big block search and find out all kinds of things. In the end it is just a word used to describe the engine block with a 4.0 inch (or bigger) Ford block and that's all it is.



Big Block - 332/352/360/361/390/406/410/427/428/429/Boss 429/460


General Information
The Ford big-block story centers itself around two primary engine families—the FE-series engines.



FE/FT Series
332/352/361
The “FE” (meaning “Ford Engine”—not “Ford Edsel” or “Ford Engineering”) series big-block was
introduced in 1958 as the 332ci V-8 with a 4.00-inch bore and a 3.30-inch stroke. The 332 debuted
with the larger 352ci big-block. The displacement increase was accomplished by stroking the 332 to
3.50-inches. The FE-series big-block was a hardy Y-block design that lived in many different forms
during its production life which ended in 1976. Use of the FE-series big-block in passenger cars
ended after 1971 with retirement of the 390. The 400M small-block replaced the 390 for 1972 in
passenger cars.
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Old 01-09-2011, 02:35 AM
  #6  
rodentinfest
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Originally Posted by dragonmaster093
big block fe to be exact 360,390,and either 428,429 group. had one in a 76 f250 hi boy and they are a screamer. im a gm guy but 390's are a tough motor
actually FE start @
FE engine displacements Displacement Bore Stroke
332 4.000 in (101.6 mm) 3.300 in (83.8 mm)
352 4.002 in (101.7 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
360 4.052 in (102.9 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
361 4.047 in (102.8 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
390 4.052 in (102.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
391 4.052 in (102.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
406 4.130 in (104.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
410 4.054 in (103.0 mm) 3.98 in (101 mm)
427 4.232 in (107.5 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
428 4.132 in (105.0 mm) 3.98 in (101 mm)
FE oil flow paths
FE cutaway showing deep skirted block

The FE and FT engines are Y-block designs—so called because the cylinder block casting extends below the crankshaft centerline, giving great rigidity and support to the crankshaft's bearings. In these engines, the casting extends 3.625 in (92.1 mm) below the crankshaft centerline, which is more than an inch below the bottom of the crank journals.

All FE and FT engines have a bore spacing (distance between cylinder centers) of 4.63 in (118 mm), and a deck height (distance from crank center to top of block) of 10.17 in (258 mm). The main journal (crankshaft bearing) diameter is 2.749 in (69.8 mm).

Blocks were cast in two major groups: top-oiler and side-oiler. The top-oiler block sent oil to the top center first, the side-oiler block sent oil along a passage located on the lower side of the block first.

Because the FE was never a completely static design and was constantly being improved by Ford, references to a particular version of the FE can become difficult. Generally though, most FE's can be described using the following descriptors:

1) Carburetor count, i.e. 2V (2 barrel), single 4V, dual quad (2 4V carburetors), tripower (3 2V carburetors) or weber (4 2V weber carburetors).

2) Top-oiler or Side-oiler block (though there are known instances of side-oiler blocks drilled at the factory as top-oilers; perhaps to salvage blocks with quality control issues that prevented them from being completed as side-oilers).

3) Head type: low-riser, medium-riser, high-riser, tunnelport, or SOHC. These descriptions actually refer mostly to the intakes used with the heads...a low-riser intake, designed to fit under a low hoodline was the earliest design. The high-riser intake required a bubble in the hood of cars it was installed in for clearance. While the low and medium riser heads could be used in combination with either low or medium riser intakes, the high riser head required a high-riser intake due to the increased height of the intake port. The medium riser's intake port is actually shorter in height, though wider, than the low-riser's port. The high-riser's ports are taller than either the low or medium-riser ports. Low-riser intakes have the carburetor placed relatively low so that the air-fuel mix must follow a more convoluted path to the chamber. A high-riser's intake places the carburetor approximately 6 in (152 mm) higher so the air-fuel mixture has a straighter path to the chamber. The tunnelport and SOHC heads both bolted onto FE blocks of either variety but required their own matching intakes. Within the major head groups, there were also differences in chamber designs, with small chambers, machined chambers and large chambers. The size and type of chamber affected the compression ratio, as well as the overall performance characteristics of the engine.

Just to be exact! These engines run very well with the new stroker kits and heads you can now purchase or have made.
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Old 01-09-2011, 12:54 PM
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sds10racer
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man, you guys are wealth of info for fords. found out more than i'll ever use. now if i can just remember some of it when the topic comes up when bench racing.
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Old 12-20-2020, 06:43 PM
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Default Engine combo

Help.. and please bare with me I have a 67 NOVA owned for 40 years hard to decide what engine to use it has a TCI front and rear with big tires and because of the tires I want enough HP to spin them I have been thinking of the LS swap which can put out over 450HP without out braking the bank or stick with a big block . I would appricated your comments Thank You
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