Hi all,

Have a 1992 F150, 5.0. 2wd, with 180k on it. I have no compression in #7, imagine that, and deciding on what to do with the truck. She's a beauty with no rust or damage at all and I hate to sell it cause it's a family truck since day one.

I am either looking at doing the heads or complete engine. Unsure of which yet and it does depend on money.

Would like opinions on whether to pull out and send to a machine shop, buy something online, or go with used. As normal, times are tough and money is a limiting factor, but I don't want to spend 10k on a used vehicle either.

I am in Richmond, VA and any experience with local machine shops would be appreciated as well...

Thanks in advance,
Rick

 

what do you use the truck for... the 5.0 was never really meant to be a truck motor since it likes higher revs and doesn't have the greatest torque for a v8.

Head's cost a lot of money... probably the most expensive part of a rebuild would be the heads... Speaking from experiance!

That being said you might want to check out http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites or crazedlist.org : search craigslist like a madman (way better for searching state wide) for a engine... The 302's are common but depending on what you use it for you might consider a 300 I6 or a 351w for more or less power with similar mpgs 12-17 mpgs on all small block ford engine...

300's and 351w's can be found pretty cheap in running condition and just swap with your 302. It would be the best and cheapest option. 351w's are the easiest swap for more power with very very little truck modification to the exhaust and the 300 I6 is the best longest lasting small block engine (a little more modification needed to swap).

Here's a good looking one... just take the carb intake off and put your efi setup on it and you'll be good to roll again http://richmond.craigslist.org/pts/2462302789.html

 

If it just has a bad valve it won't be much to just do a valve job on the heads , E 7 heads are easy to come by and cheap.....Lew

 

true one valve being bad wouldn't be that much to keep the ening you have... but if you have low compression anywhere else a fresh short block rebuild for $400 wouldn't be bad at all! Maybe it's just me but if the own can prove a rebuild by giving a shop name or paper work I'd be tempted at this point to swap in that 302 I posted above so your lower end has less wear and more miles to go before more problems... have a valve done by a shop can run $200 pretty easily...

 

The truck would mainly be used as a daily driver on the backroads/highway. It would also be used for light hauling and towing a jon boat with trailer. Nothing of really any great weight or consequence at this point in time, just your usual homeowner type stuff. It is part of my duo of high mileage daily drivers...the other being a gas guzzling 4wd SUV.

Realistically, I'd probably put less than 10k on the truck in a year, but do want a truck I can hope in and travel with for camping. I'd probably make one or two 1,200 mile roundtrips a year...

Also, FYI called a recommended local machine shop and just the cleaning, machining, etc. on the heads would run $300 not including valves and springs...

Thanks for the input...going to look at my options as far what is best cost wise. From what I am gathering though, it is acceptable to do just the heads however I choose to replace them...but I am interested in total motor swaps if cost effective as for the nstueve pointed out above, but probably not going the total rebuild route for cost effectiveness.

Thanks,
Rick

 

I would do the heads if you don't have a lot of blow-by. My engine has a lot of blow-by and I know it because there is a lot of oily residue in the air cleaner from the crankcase vent line, and it is leaking all over the wheelwell.

 

No, I wouldn't say that I have a lot of blow by...I do get some oil in the filter element in front of the air filter and when I first changed it, who knows when it was last changed, there was residual oil on the air filter itself.

Oh and when I had a compression check done...everything came in around 150 for all cylinders except #7.

Thanks,
Rick