Hey guys,
I have an opinion question about 390's. Im restoring a 69 Mach 1 and im not sure what motor to use. The other day i found a complete stock 390 motor for very cheap. Though im not sure if this is the best choice or not. so if anyone could tell me about the 390 in comparison to a 351W that would be awesome, or just any opinions on the decision would be great. Thanks.

It would be a lot cheaper to build the 351W for your mach1.I have a big block in mine and I came across many more smallblock parts at a better price than bigblock parts.I went with the bigblock only because my 69 is a factory S code.

Well pard , it is 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other.If your lookin for just brute power, I say go with the FE, it is very easy to get 390 HP with just a few mods, flip side of the coin is that if your lookin to stay "stock" for collection purposes, find out what came in your Stang and replace it, not saying anything against the 351, I have had a few of them and they were good mills, but no match for and FE period.

Mike Rodriguez
1968 Mecury Montclair Fastback
1976 F-350 4x4
"FE is the only one for me"

While yours might not be an original 390 Mach, they sure are cool. In the 70's my 1st car was (still have it) a 429 Torino and although it is cool, I many times wish I had listened to my dad. He wanted me to sell it and buy the 390/4-speed Mach 1 for sell down the street. It was going for $2800, and there was no way I was going to round up such a super high price (haa haa) back then. Anyway, I saw that car driving around from time to time and it was one sweet looking Mach. Wish I had bought it...

Wayne K.

'66 Fairlane (soon to be 416 & 4-speed)
&
429 Torino