Hello, I have a '78 F150 that has a very tired 240 in it and I'd really rather replace it than rebuild such a small engine. Ideally I would love to put a 300 in it but I don't know if I can find one. If I happen to find a good deal on a 302 then I'm willing to go that route which raises some questions.

Things I know I'll need:
Mounts
new exhaust
Redo the wiring and plumbing
New clutch setup

Things I'm not sure about:
Do I need a 302 specifically meant for a manual transmission or do they all have a pilot bushing hole? Also will I need a new flywheel or will the 6cyl work? Do I need a new starter? Is there anything else I'm not thinking of?

 

Your '78 should be a 300 as OEM. The 240 went away in '74. 300s should be as hard to find as sand at the beach. You may have to go through it but...back to the fact that if your motor is OEM, it's a 300, not a 240.

As for swapping a 302, it will bolt to your bell housing. It will have a pilot hole in the crank. You will need to figure out the flywheel and clutch, but other than that, it's a bolt up to the trans. Mounts, linkages, exhaust, cooling etc will be the more trying part of the swap.

Keep in mind that unless you get a later Explorer or Mustang "302", you are gaining nothing over the 300. Stock 302s from about '72 until the mid '80s Mustang and much later explorer, and EFI motors, are all low compression low power motors. Some as low as 135HP.

 

Thanks for the good information but I promise you it is a 240, I found that out the hard way when I replaced the motor mounts last spring. I was aware of the the cease of production for the 240 so it took me by surprise a little. It's an old farm truck so I'm sure they just found whatever they could when the original engine died.

I'm not really sure where to look for a 300, we have no junk yards in the area that handle older vehicles and Craigslist is littered with too much irrelevant crap when you search for 300 inline 6

Could a late model fuel injected 300 work if I swapped the intake and carb onto it? Would I have to swap the distributor too? What years interchange on the 300?

 

An EFI 300 will accept a carb intake manifold. You can use the EFI exhaust manifolds as well. This applies to aftermarket 4bbl manifolds, I am not sure about stock 1bbl manifolds. You may have to do some grinding to make it clear, but it will work. I think you would need an older distributor to make things simple as well. Your existing one may work.

As far as interchange, afaik the problem areas are the computer controlled carb and TFI ignitions from the early '80s to EFI, and then the EFI motors needing an ECU or having to be converted to carb.

So say you got an '85 motor from air cleaner to pan. That is going to have a computer controlled carb and miles of vacuum hoses. IMO you would strip all that off and use your existing carb if in good condition, as well as your existing distributor.

Also, lots of info in the six forum. Check out this epic thread regarding the Duraspark distributor:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16754114