I have a 1968 el camino and am in the process of selling it, I tinker with the classics and make some money on tuning them up, cleaning and washing them and then selling them. I have done this with several cars so far, and am thinking of buying a 1967 galaxie 500 fastback as my next tinker toy. The car has had a new c-6 tranny and new h-pipe exhaust put in it. The problem is that when the 390 was rebuilt they forgot to put the rod between the oil pump and the distributor so when they tried to break the engine in, they simply broke the engine. From what I understand the car is mostly rust free (OR car)and has very little actual damage (dents ect). Now, my parents think that fixing the engine will be an insurmountable task and asked me to get some advice from the site here. Their stipulation about me having cars is that I can’t put more into them then I can sell them for. (I’m 18 and still living at home using my dad’s shop)
The price of the car is $1200 (twelve hundred dollars). Can I replace the 390 with and still come out at least even on the value?
If the car is straight it’s a steal at 1200 dollars even with an engine problem.
Before considering another engine, I would pull this one, remove the pan, and start removing rod and main bearing caps. Knock on wood, maybe you’ll get lucky and find that it seized or spun a rod bearing and locked up.
If this is the case you may be able to just get a crank kit for it and throw it back together.
The car will have more value with the original 390 so I would stick with that.
(Those are good looking cars in my opinion. We had a little old lady (now deceased) who lived a couple of blocks from me and had one of these with a 390. She bought it new, seldom drove it, and it only had about 40k miles on it when she went into a nursing home.
Before I could get hold of her relatives about the car a storm came through one night and toppled a large tree on top of the separate garage. When the car was fished out the roof was almost down to the seats.) 
Oh ya, rebuild the engine! As I recall, once the pan is off, you should have room enough to investigate the damage without pulling the engine out.
“From what I understand the car is mostly rust free . . .”
Don’t buy this car, or any other car, unless you can see it and inspect it in person.
Without the oil pump rod installed, the engine had no oil pressure when it was run. So the rod/main bearings, cam bearings, cylinder walls, etc… had no lubrication. And if a rod/main bearing spun it probably scored the crankshaft. This engine is going to require a complete rebuild. Along with some machine shop time.
I use to own a 67 Galaxy 500 fastback with a 390. Great car!
Tester
This engine may be badly damaged, to the point of not being rebuildable…390 Ford blocks were once a dime a dozen but no more…Now they are treated as Gold…I would at least locate and price another engine before you buy this car. It’s a 2-door, right? What kind of shape is the paint in?
Yep, 2 door.
Fe 390’s are still a dime a doz here, for a rebuildable 4bbl out of a truck, you would be looking at… 300 bucks, and you might get a truck still around it.
Needs paint.
I know that, I would never buy the car if I didn’t see it. I am wondering if the car has good value if in decent shape.
XL with buckets and a console? But whatever, the '67 2-door fastbacks were cool cars and have good resale potential. I don’t think they ever put a 4-barrel 390 in a truck…They came with 500cfm autolite 2-barrels which work GREAT on a 302. Don’t let someone pass a 360 off on you and claim it’s a 390…360’s are slugs…
The 390 GT motor, found in '66 'Birds,'67, '68 others, at 325hp will make that Galaxie jump!
1200.00 could be a very good price but it will be hard to satisfy the second part of the equation,at least comming out even.
If this was “a steal” it should be sold by now, so something is making people think twice, unless the car is being “held” for you to decide.
You must accept the fact that it is very likely many more mistakes were made at rebuild time.
To swing the parents over to your idea (we all have had questionable ideas) actually sell the El Camino, that may be all it takes for you to get the FORD.