[Pete Munroe]

Which blocks are you referring to, for what style car, and are you ultimately interested in a car biased to good handling or outright dragster acceleration?

Are you referring to 351", stroked to ~390...or a FE 390?

A few months there was string about block weights with data from the Ford Motorsports catalogue comparing aluminum, stock block, SVO iron blocks, tall and low decks...good place to look.

My opinion, if you are doing a 427" replica, do the 390"...it LOOKS right...just like a 427" or 428" from the topside.

If you are doing a 289" car go for the 302"... about 30 lbs lighter than the 351"...the 351 is about 90? pounds lighter the the FE...the small blocks, 302 or 351 look correct for a 289 car and should handle better than an FE due to less wieght on the front end.

My 289 FIA car has a 289" stroked to 347"...I wanted to skew the car to handling rather than all out power, and I still can't use all the power on a road course anyway...much to learn if you aren't a racer already!

A lot of the guys do opt for the stroked 351's, LOTS of power, less weight than an FE...but for a "purist"...hey, 427" cars came with FE big blocks, not small blocks.

It gonna be your car...figure out what you want it to "be", get the engine you decide YOU want/need, and have fun.

Keep reading and asking till you are comfortable with your own answer to the question.

Check out the FE topic for FE 390 info.

Pete