Ford 370

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Ford 370

Home > Discussion Forum > Bus Conversions - School

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All Messages in Thread	Author	Date
Ford 370	Bob Gustin	11-29-00
I have a 1987 Thomas with a Ford Chasis and a Ford 370 with anAllison 3 speed automatic. Milage is lousey and they seems to be no power, although the motor runs like a clock. What cn I do to increase the power and MPG???????
Re: Ford 370	Wrench	11-29-00
Bob,,You got a FORD!!!!!! LOL,LOL, First thing I would do is check the lift of the valves, by lifting the valve covers and with a dial gage take the mesurement. If lift is not at 75% of what it should be, put a high torque cam in it and do the intake/head & head/exhust porting, you will be amaze at the performances after that. If you getting 7 MPG, you're in the range. the 385 Series - 370/385/429/460 are big block & share many parts. Here a place where guy know more, and will tell you exactly which cam to put in it If you have to go there. http://216.167.77.152/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=DCForumID11&conf=DCConfID1 good luck Wrench I have a 1987 Thomas with a Ford Chasis and a Ford 370 with anAllison 3 speed automatic. Milage is lousey and they seems to be no power, although the motor runs like a clock. What cn I do to increase the power and MPG???????
Re: Ford 370	Mark O.	12-1-00
Several things, the 460 is a big block but it is not the same as the 331/361/391/429/534 big block Ford V-8's. The 460 is a car engine and will not stand the abuse expected of it if you were to exchange one in place of your 331. As every hot rodder will tell you, you can't beat cubic inches. The 331 is barely adequate on the flat and as you have found, it just doesn't have what it takes out on the road or going up hills. Are you sure you have a 3-speed Allison? If it is in a school bus, I think you more than likely have an AT 540 series Allsion with 4-speeds. The automatic will take a little of the power but it wouldn't be significant. It will take a toll in more fuel used however. Unless you are emotionally attached to your bus, it might be easier finding a bus with more ponies under the hood. Short of that, find another Ford bus with more ponies and do a tranplant. Ford put a jillion 391's into school buses so that should be relatively common. Later buses have the 6.9/7.3/Powerstroke diesel engine. The 6.9 would be a poor choice since it had some problems that were fixed in the 7.3. Stay away from the 534 unless you own stock in Chevron or Texaco. It has lots of go but it can't pass a gas station--MPG of less than 2 MPG is normal for the 534. The Ford truck engines are a little hard to find parts for anymore. On the plus side is they rarely need anything except gas and oil. Good luck and happy trails. Mark O.
My face is red	Mark O.	12-1-00
My face is red. I don't know why I thought you said 331 when it is clear you said 370. The 370 is an updated version of the 361--read that smogged. Unless you go to the 429 or 534, you won't gain all that much by going to the 391. You don't say what your fuel mileage has been. Anything better than 6 MPG is great. More common in gas school buses with automatics is around 4 MPG. If you are getting better than 5 MPG, be content in the slow lane. If you are not content to be in the slow lane, you are going to have to transplant something with more cubes and more ponies. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do. Mark O.