Hello to all and great forum. Just picked up my 351 powered '96 about three months ago. I remember when the body style came out (i was 8 years old) and have wanted one ever since. When this one came up for auction where i work (heavy equipment tech.) I scored it for $350, threw in a starter, brake lines and a battery cable and I've been tooling around ever since. Currently just over 211k and still running.

Now for my two questions;

(1) Am i correct in my assumption that the 351 can be replaced for a 300 by just swapping out frame brackets or are other mounting mods required?

(2) Likewise with the dual shock spring buckets. Can they be swapped without drilling/welding anything?

Thank you for your time.
Jonathan

 

There are many things required for a typical 300 swap including frame towers and engine mounts, I6 flywheel/flexplate, I6 rad and hoses, but in your case you also need a 1996 4.9 engine wiring harness and computer and a 1996 4.9 EFI motor complete with accessory brackets, no other year will do for this particular truck. And for what.. quite a bit less HP and TQ than what you have now.

 

Thank you for the reply. I was mostly concerned if the frame towers where a direct swap of if i would have to punch holes in or modify the frame. I am very handy with an air hammer and have no problem blowing rivets out all day long. In terms of HP/TQ the 351 has 210,000 miles on it, blown exhaust manifold gaskets, tired sensors and uses 1 1/2 qts. of oil and a gallon of coolant between 5000 mile oil changes. The 6 fits my driving habits and I have a I6 fetish be it a slant 6, L22, 300, RB or Cat 3406. I havent ruled out another 351 but in full OBD2 trim it is, in my personal opinion (please do not take offense), one of the ugliest engines ever made.

 

As long as you're not in a region that requires strict emissions compliance, you could drop in an earlier engine and related harness/electronics. '92 - '95 might be a good choice, if only so you'd get the remote TFI setup as part of the bargain.

 

I won't argue with the look of these EFI ford motors but the hood is closed 99% of the time so what difference does it make. There is no welding or cutting necessary to swap in the I6 engine towers just rivets and bolts but like already stated you need quite a list of parts to keep a relatively intact and reliabale EFI system in the truck with the straight 6.. you could use an earlier version but it's gonna be more of a hack job, and you could use any year 5.8 bare longblock and not have to change anything.

 

Where are you located. If you do end up swapping for a six then I could set you up with a 96 PCM and engine wiring and everything you'd need. Also I'm interested in your engine wiring harness if your throwing it to the curb.

And yes, you can swap in the quad shock pretty easy if you don't mind cutting rivets and turning bolts.

 

Thanks for the info! I'm in the north east. Gloucester, MA to be exact. If

 

You never specified, are you looking to convert to single shock or to dual shock?

 

Thanks for the info! I'm in the north east. Gloucester, MA to be exact. I am a junk yard addict so I don't throw anything out. Anything that isn't reused will be available and you got dibs on the harness.

 

Want to go to dual shocks. I kinda have strange thoughts in mind

 

Excellent. That's good to know and your not that far away. I'm in central Maine(auburn)

That's not strange. Lol
I did it! And if your capable of swapping an engine then installing quad shock will be a breeze for you.

 

Did you ever dicide which route you were going to take? I need to find a harness soon. Lol

 

I picked up a low mile 6 and everything connected and the next day had issues with my summer car so unfortunately the Ford is on the daily driver grind right now. Sorry man if anything changes I'll let you know.

 

Ok. Just trying to track one down. Thanks