Swap to Ford 390fe

[Jessie J.]

The old engine swapping rule is, 'You can put anything in anything with a cutting torch and big enough hammer. (and might add 'and a LOT of money')
So I'm not going to say a Ford 390 FE in Studebaker is impossible, but because of this line of engines architecture, it is perhaps the most difficult engine swap choice one can make.
All of the FE series engines, unlike most popular swap engines, have deep engine block skirts, and their oil pumps located at the very front of the crankcase, right where the main front cross-member and steering linkage is located in most Studebaker's.
There are rear sump truck oil pans for the FE series, but there is still need to provide clearance for that bulky oil pump.
Solutions? You can mount the engine high enough to clear the frame and suspension ...but it will likely stand above the hood line and be a handling nightmare.
Or you can break out your hot wrench or other favored cutting tool and remove and relocate the engine firewall, giving room to shove the engine rearward. (I have done this on three vehicles)
Or you can whack off the frame rails and weld on a compatible front clip and suspension.
Another possible option would be to totally eliminate the FE original oil pump and replace it with a 'dry sump' oil scavenging system. ... but that 'deep skirt' block construction would still give an engine height that would tower over a Studebaker V-8.

The easiest and cheapest way to deal with this would be sell or trade the Ford 390 for an engine design more easily accommodated by the Studebaker's chassis, or find a suitable Ford to put the 390 in.

Bang for the buck, and best assurance for a satisfactory final result is to fix, rebuild, or replace the present 302 in your Studebaker with another healthier 302 (or 351W) or install a 283-400 small block Chevy.
But as you are already all set up and running with a SBF, that is obviously going to be the easiest route.

[Noxnabaker]

To search for spareparts in swedish the word would be "reservdelar", reserv = spare & delar = parts, then the word "US Ford" in front might be of use & "classic" too.
There's loads of US carpart shops in Sweden, the oldest (goes back to early/mid 60's) would be Hansen Racing & Rogers Custom (these 2 I have special softnes for due to my own history & such), but there's more such as Norrlandscustom, P-G Larsson & such... Good Luck!

[Jeffry Cassel]

My son says FE means "freakin' enormous" Really cannot understand why you'd want to put one in a Hawk. Have a 63 1/2 Galaxie 390 4spd. It is NOT awesome. My Avanti and my 289 slt mod Hawk were probably both quicker.

[Alan]

You are right Jeff. I had a 61 T-Bird 2 seat convertible with a 390. Took it out to San Fernando Raceway and it ran 17.23 et. at 83 mph. My 53K with a 232 was at 16.10 and my Avanti R1 was running 15.25 et.

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The Bird is behind the black K.

[bensherb]

I have that same pic! Only my T bird was a '64 and my T was a '26. I 'll have to try and track it down.

[Noxnabaker]

Forgot the most "Mustang-specialists" in Sweden; VP-autoparts, Dalhem & there used to be - might still be - Gekås too.

(& for the rest: seems everyone think putting a sb Chevy in is the easiest swap, I've done sb MoPar = dead easy too & I've never done any engineswap at all before that.)

[Jessie J.]

Forgot the most "Mustang-specialists" in Sweden; VP-autoparts, Dalhem & there used to be - might still be - Gekås too.

(& for the rest: seems everyone think putting a sb Chevy in is the easiest swap, I've done sb MoPar = dead easy too & I've never done any engineswap at all before that.)

Have enjoyed reading your mopar engine swap exploit on the Racing Studebaker's Forum, and would have suggested a small block mopar if Sumo was not already set up with an installed and running small block Ford.
Have a 360 & Torque Flite, plus a complete 4 speed o/d set up sitting in the bed of my M-5, that I'll now never get around to using. Also have a 390 inch dual quad Caddy, a 500 Caddy, and 4 Studebaker full-flow V-8s.
The dreams are there ....but have never found the time.

[kxet]

Didn't Ford FE engine win LeMans and power the Cobra. They were the 427 version of the "anchor". In their trucks they run long lives.

[Jessie J.]

Owned a '67 Cougar GT 390 4 speed, and a '70 Cougar Eliminator 428 SCJ Drag-Pak 4 speed 4:30 rear. Neither were "anchors", but even a huge Hemi, a 455 Olds, or any of a dozen other HP engines would fit into a Studebaker much easier than the Ford Fe.

[Hallabutt]

Too bad that the original Studebaker parts are not readily available in Europe. Sad to say that whole engines and trans are going begging here. I would bet that about half of the long time Studebaker owners, on this side of the pond, have at least one V8 engine stashed, that will probably never be used. On the left coast of the US, some of the Aussies and Kiwis have done a, seemingly, good job of filling their need for parts, by sharing space in large shipping containers. Are Studebakers so scarce, or is it too expensive, because of EU tariffs to make it unfeasible to do the same over there?

[Noxnabaker]

Interesting thought indeed Hallabutt! I don't have a clue of where all Studebaker spareparts from dealers & garages went, Hansen Racing started importing race parts for Studebaker & other US cars in the early 60's because Calle Hansen was a Studebaker guy himself, but where the stock stuff went sure is an interesting question that I'm gonna ask in the Swedish club...
Thanx for the idea!

[swvalcon]

Just look up Gm performance engines - LS and have them ship you one. Way more power, A ton less weight, and no where near as big.

[kxet]

I'm sure the price would be high, shipping to Germany.

[Noxnabaker]

By the way; when it comes to Studebaker parts in Holland there's a good place for it: "Laakmolen bv" / oldcarparts.nl in Waddinxveen on Kerkstraat 19-21, I've bought stuff there, good prices too!
The man is old & don't speak the best English but it works, here's the phone#:
0031653136656.

[jpepper]

Hello ,

I have a Studebaker gt hawk 1964, I bought the gt already with a 302 and c4.now the 302 has a blow by.
here is my question: did anybody swap to 390fe with fmx ?( got a nice offer)
already,read that the fmx was an additional option for the gt.
As I am located in Germany I need some details concerning, the subframe,oilpan,and steering...if there too close to 390fe...

Many thx....greetings from berlin

The problem with a Ford V8 is the oil pump is in the front of the engine. This requires the front of the oil pan to be fairly deep. Even on a SB 302 you can use a rear sump pan but the front is still deeper than other brands. A 289/302 Ford will fit because the engine is not real tall and can be mounted high enough to clear the bellcrank. Not so with a FE engine. 4X4 truck pans have a center sump but it is not back far enough and the front of the pan is fairly deep. It interferes with the steering bellcrank. The best swap options are a GM engine or a Chrysler "A" engine. Older Chrysler poly and Hemi V8 engines will fit as well.