1) The 351w is slightly heavier, as it is taller and wider, however, it won't wear the suspension hardly any more than the current motor. They did put 351w's in f150's with the same suspension.
2) In my area, during winter usually, craigslist is full of vehicles that nose dived into the ditch or slid into poles and stuff. Definitely a prime time to find vehicles like that. A local salvage yard also gives me a call whenever they get in a running ford to see if I want the motor or anything for scrap weight price.
3) The bolt pattern for the 351w and 302 on the tranny (and I'm pretty sure the motor mounts) are the same so it physically bolts right up. I know that the trucks a little older than yours you could just simply swap the motors and plug in everything and run it since the 302 computer WILL run the 351 but not to its full potential. I'm highly unfamiliar with the computer controlled transmissions though so that part I don't know about.
4) I believe in 1995 they put the roller cam 351w in, which beat the older motors, I'm not sure which year they started MAF, but that might have been 95 also, I'm sure somebody else knows that for sure. But by 1996 for sure.

It might not be as fun, but it'd sure be easy! If nothing else, start putting on flame decals for 5 horsepower a piece, and glue on hood scoops for 20hp!

 

There's a reason all them race cars got stickers all over 'em. Stickers make it go faster! Also just cut out and lower the floor below the gad pedal so you can push it farther!

 

HAHAHA! I've never heard that one!

 

Well then bygolly son, you don't know racin'! Weldin' up the doors and climbin in threw the windas does sumthin fer ya too. It's real technical. Ya also gotta rip out all tha inertiar. All bare medal inside with every gauge you can possibly git yer hands on. The more gauge you got the better she'll run. And ya gotta replace that thar ignition switch with toggle switches and a push-start. She'll fly like the wind with a push-start! You just might not be the one driving it when she does!

 

The amount of hick in this thread has just risen 100%. Lol. But whatcha said right thur sure did make sense, uh huh. I'll make sure to get all the gauges I can, especially a boost gauge, and a blinker fluid gauge. And I gotta remember to change the air in my tires from winter air to summer air. Oh and I gotta order a left handed metric crescent wrench from china so I can loosen all my lug nuts a half turn for extra speed.

 

Welp, I is through-bread redneck. I used to help my buddy Luke (yes that's his real name) work on his demo cars and his truck and those were the running jokes about working on cars. I was helping him put a cherry bomb on his suburban and when we got done he was revving it in his driveway (it was pretty loud) and his GF comes out to complain. He says" We fixed it babe!" She says "What was broken?" "It was too quiet. We fixed it!"

 

If your truck if MAF like my 95,the 5.0 computer will run the 5.8 just fine,so no computer change is needed because you would still be using the same tranny. this is a swap I will be doing one of these years when I have everything else taken care of. LOL

 

Lol, my last girlfriend thought my truck was awesome simply because it was loud. She lived with her ma and step dad still and neither of them liked it when I'd leave after midnight...had open headers for a while, I'm sure they don't miss that lol. I put a cherry bomb on her car 3 times just for the hell of it, and her step dad kept getting mad and putting the original muffler back on, until I welded in the cherry bomb of course.
Demo cars are always a good time though, I never have enough time to put one together myself, but I've helped my uncles put them together. Most of them reflect the hick references perfectly. They usually start the day by deploying the airbags by driving the cars into a tree. (Not very fast of course).

 

Back on track for a second, Even with keeping the cats the truck will benefit from either an X or Y pipe installed with it..

Matt

 

Exactly.. you guys are making this swap look more complicated than it is, the OP has the ideal truck to drop a 5.8 into and that is about the best way to achieve the TQ goals he is looking for. There are only 2 ways to get 400ft/lbs TQ from a 5.0 at low rpms, put a 347 stroker kit in it or a supercharger on it. That's it.. everything else you do will have the opposite effect and actually decrease low rpm grunt. But even with that a rear axle gear change is also manditory, Ford should be taken out behind the shed and beaten black and blue for installing any gear ratio higher(numerically lower) than 3.73 in a 5.0 truck, because 5 liters simply doesn't produce useable truck power below 2500rpm and I don't care if it's got variable valve timing and 3 or 4 valve heads they're all the same.. gutless until the revs come up.
Now back to the 5.8 swap for a moment, you will need a complete 5.8 EFI motor for the swap and a specific flexpalte, and the '94+ engines were better equipped from the factory so that's what you should look for. You're also going to be adding longtube headers and a single 2.5" exhaust or duals if you like but keep the pipe size small, so the exhaust differences don't matter, and if you get a newer motor add 1.7 rockers but with an earlier one a cam change will be necesssary. That will get you damn close to that 400ft/lb mark and most of that will be available from idle up.. no other engine changes necessary and as already mentioned that's with the existing computer and wiring harness. The motor will also make more HP and burn more fuel while towing but you gotta pay to play, and play you will because this combo will put a big grin on your face every time you drive it. I have done this swap in my own truck and the 5.8 kicks the 5.0s **** badly in every way, it's flat out amazing the hills it would climb on the highway(eastern Canada is similar to the Smokies) without even dropping out of OD!! And unloaded and without a trailer it still got fantastic highway milage.. I saw 17+ regularly at 70mph on mostly flat ground, so there isn't much of a downside to this.

 

Now, this is coming out of left field here but I'm going to make a pretty radical suggestion. With swapping to a 351 and 4.10:1 gears you're on par with an F250/350 as far as pulling(obviously you can't put the same amount of weight in the bed as the heavier trucks). Is there room in you life for two trucks? What I'm getting at is maybe leave grandpa's beloved F150 alone and use it for lighter tasks and spend $2000-3000 for an F250 or 350 for the heavy stuff. The way the truck is setup now would make for a nice daily driver.

 

Haha, it looks like this thread really opened up after I went to bed last night.

Based on GNR22 and Burnout's suggestions, I did some research into the ZF5 tranny, and it does look like an awesome upgrade. I'm guessing since it's manual I would no longer need to worry about the ECU? The first and second gear ratios appear to be:

Close Ratio
1st Gear: 4.14
2nd Gear: 2.37

Wide Ratio
1st Gear: 5.72
2nd Gear: 2.94

source: http://www.mackstrans.com/Z

Coupled with a 4.10 rear, that is enough to meet my current requirements easily in second gear without any engine modifications. I didn't realize the 4R70W was so handicapped in first gear. This definitely makes it seem like a worthwhile upgrade regardless of the necessary changes, sentiment can only go so far after all. It looks like all these are mounted to 4x4?

So now I'm looking at a 351w drop-in, replacement zf5 tranny, 4x4 conversion (with higher final ratio of course), and an exhaust upgrade, lol. With the exception of the bed, wheels, and suspension I'd be replacing everything that makes a truck a truck. Didn't I start out with something like replacing the camshaft or top-end kit?

It's almost enough to make me seriously consider burnout's suggestion of just getting a second truck. That's not realistic as the garage is already full and I've gotta start getting rid of cars. I had four already and my wife had one of her own when we got married. I live in the burbs and the driveway is already packed as it is lol.

Also, thanks Conanski, it looks like I can still expect some pretty good highway efficiency if I go through with the upgrade. I think the 5.8L makes around 340 ft-lb of torque without any further modifications. If I were to upgrade the backend, I wouldn't necessarily need to do anything to the engine other than make it work.

Ah decisions, decisions. The way I currently see things is that there are three potential paths to get what I need. In my mind, the 302 upgrade idea has kind of lost favor at this point.

1) Drop in a stock 351w engine from 1996 or later and replace rear axle to 4.10 (3.73 is probably enough but you guys have convinced me I want more, hehe). This will give me everything I need and still maintain reasonable fuel efficiency. I just need to keep an eye out for a good donor vehicle.

2) Replace 4R70W auto with a ZF5 manual and go for the 4x4 conversion with a higher final drive ratio. In this scenario I would keep the current engine and rely entirely on drivetrain improvements. This would also require a donor vehicle.

3) Do everything. My current thinking is that it will be easier to find a cheap donor that will allow me to do an engine replacement, or a tranny replacement, but likely not both. I'm guessing this is a reasonable expectation? However, if I get lucky and find the right deal, it might be possible to do both with a suitable donor.

I would then part the truck or install other components from my truck and resell it as Burnout originally suggested. Unfortunately I'm not finding any deals in my area at the moment (checking craiglist). I guess the scrapyards are next on the agenda.

 

300/6 anyone? If it's low end torque you're looking for, it don't get much better.

 

The 300 I6 is a stump puller for sure and I'm a big fan, but it wraps out early and doesn't have much top-end. The 351 makes more power and torque in a much broader powerband and can be upgraded and built to make more power than anyone would want in a practical-use truck.

 

If you do get a ZF5 it has to be one that was mated to a 300, 302, or 351. The big blocks and diesels have different bolt patterns and IIRC the ZF5's bellhousing is part of the case. Now the tailshaft can be swapped to set it up for a 2wd or 4wd but it's easier to get one that has the right tailshaft already. So if you're going to do the 4x4 swap doing it at the same time would be a good idea.

If it were me and I wanted to swap everything you were considering but couldn't do it all at the same time I would do the rear diff first (might as well throw in a limited slip or a locker if it's an open diff while you're in there) then later the engine swap and finally the trans and 4wd at the same time. At this rate we'll probably have you doing a frame-off restoration

If I understand correctly you currently have six cars. Here's what you do to get a second truck instead of tearing up grandpa's truck. Sell 3 or 4 of your current ones. likely the wife will want to pay bills or fix up the house or whatever, try to subtly steer her towards landscaping without her realizing it was your idea. Maybe start watching a lot of DIY network before selling the cars and plant the idea in her head. When you clear the driveway she'll say "now we can afford that ______ I've been thinking about for the ____ yard!" and YOU say: "Yeah, but it'll take FOREVER to haul all that stuff in my truck. If only I had an F350. Ya know, I could take a few grand and buy another truck instead of doing all that work to my truck now which will be WAAAAAAAYYYY cheaper (it won't be but she doesn't know that) AND if I get a crew cab then they'll be room for kids/pets/entire series of Sex in the City on DVD/shoes when we go on trips. Plus I'd be able to load it up with everything we need for that patio/rock wall/shoe closet/wine cellar that I can bang it out in a weekend!" (it'll take at least a month but she doesn't know that). And if you're lucky, she'll let you keep both trucks in the divorce!