Alright I'm just checking with ya'll on something. I have a 1994 ford f-150 regular cab short bed automatic two wheel drive with a 4.9L I6 and i was gonna ask what would be the easiest thing to stick in there in the 4.9's place? Thanks!

 

Another 4.9.

 

I would have to agree with Conanski, another 4.9 would be easiest. It'll outlast a 5.0 or a 5.8, which would be your next "easiest" options. Having owned one for 6 years now, I know they aren't the fastest engines in the world, but they have plenty of power for pulling, and if you need more, you can always regear it to 3.55, 3.73, or even 4.10's. That engine will happily pull more than the truck can physically handle. trust me, my frame cracked hauling stone for my driveway.

EDIT:
the 5.0 will gain you a better sound, an aftermarket support, and the tiniest bit of top end power. the 5.8 will gain you power throughout, but it's a lot harder fuel and the rest of your truck. I know the 5.8L manuals got the same transmission as the f-250's, and that doesn't exactly bolt right in, but I believe the automatics were the same all around. If you're really devoted to this idea, have a quick search, there are plenty of threads for it. The 4.9's just get a bad rap because they seem anemic with the factory 2.73 or 3.08 gears that went into a lot of them, and even with those, they'll pull a lot better than many people realize.

Whatever you go with, best of luck to you!

 

Assuming you do not want another 4.9L or else you wouldn't have asked, I recommend the 460. It's not the easiest, but it's not much harder than a 302 or 351W, and you will get way more power and about the same mileage (as the other V8 choices) for your trouble. Ask the man that owns one!

 

Yeah you asked for easiest, if you had asked for best sounding or most powerful the answer would be different.

Either one of the small block V8s will bolt to the existing transmission but there is a list of other things necessary to make it work.. frame towers, engine mounts, flexplate, rad and hoses, engine wiring harness, PCM, and exhaust Y pipe. And it's dumb easy to get close to double the I6's HP output from either of these motors and even the 5.0 will make quite a bit more TQ than the I6.. it' just won't be at 1500rpm. In a small light truck like this the 5.0 can get the same milage as the I6 and the 5.8 not much worse, and both of these will make the truck a whole lot more fun to drive.

Putting a big block in this truck is a complete powertrain swap, it will not bolt to the existing trans and it will break the rear end pretty quickly so you need all of that from an HD truck along with all the stuff already mentioned for a V8 swap. This motor will never get more than about 15mpg at most.. probably closer to 12mpg on average, but it'll be one hotrod to drive.. when you can get traction.

 

V8 swap may sound overwhelming but reality is, its as easy as easy gets. The hard part is finding parts, if parts aren't common in your area but the internet will fix that.

I wouldn't hesitate to run the 8.8 behind a 460. Couple simple things can be done if there's fear of implosion.

 

This has not happened to mine. The 8.8 is pretty dang stout.