I luckily stumbled across a 428 last fall while looking for a 390 core. I"ve been trying to decide what to do with it. I was thinking of trying to find a 390 mustang and bolting it in that. My buddies have been suggesting putting it in my old 49 Merc pick up,is this swapp possible without butchering my truck? Has anyone seen an adapter kit out there?

Thanks

 

428 has a mystique similar to the 427, a high performance image. In reality the power would be not very different from a 390 that has a 428 crank (a 410).

If you wanted to retain the cache' of the 428, you'd need to put it into a 68-70 Mustang or some other Ford muscle car.

For a Muscle-truck, I never have considered a late-40's Ford truck as a candidate for huge power like a 428. That's partly a personal thing and partly just the history of that type of truck.

There are bellhousings to fit a FE into trucks that came with Y-blocks. To me, the 54-56 is a more natural application for an FE engine; it looks a little more 'at home', and it fits in the engine bay with stock parts. Some black 'Merc' valve covers, a nice Holley 4160 under a stock air cleaner, cast iron exhaust headers, and a Toploader transmission - a super sleeper. But you could do that with a 390.

 

Better to put the 428 into a Mustang and go with a lighter 302/351