Just like the title says, Im looking to put my 534 project engine in a mid 50's f-100. Got the truck from a friend for free, and the price indicates that it needs work. But first, I need to fit the big big-block in it. Has anyone else done this conversion? I know a LOT of chassis stiffening is going to be involved, for the power Im going to produce. The rear end is going to be a 'bagged 4-link, with the front still to be settled. Any suggestions for a frontend? I also need body panels, is there a source for new ones or am I going to have to go junkyard-diving? Thanks in advance

 

What did the 534 start out as? I've seen 460,454,440,4/72detriot, and even a 426Hemi stuffed in these trucks. If it will fit under the tin, or fiberglass, it'll work. Just depends on your fabrication skills and wallet thickness. Rich.

 

It started out as a 534 sd engine out of an 850 super duty. It(the engine) is undergoing extensive modifications, starting this summer. I know about the weight of these motors, not sure how much weight Im going to lose by the new internals, but its probably not going to be a drastic weight reduction. Ive heard that the engine bays in these trucks are huge, but would they fit a set of equal length headers w/the turbos in the bay? I havent sat in an f-100 yet, only looked at them. Is it possible to push the motor back any? anything I can do to get the weight centered in the car is going to improve handling.(yeah, right. handling with a 534?..Lol)

 

The 534, cubic inch wise is probly the biggest turd to have the ford name put on it, aftermarket parts wise, it is the biggest turd to have the ford name put on it. it was rated at 266hp @3200rpm and 481 lbft@1800rpm and weighs in the neighberhood of 1000 lbs. there are no hi po aftermarket parts for this thing currently available that I know of(unless you can fab some stuff yourself)and even though it would be cool to say you have 534 ci of engine under the hood you would feel real bad about being smoked by a 302. The internals are way to heavy to get any high rpm out of em. Power to weight is were its at and you would have to make alot of power just to make up for the extra mass of the engine. I really dont think the half ton parts are up to the task of holding that thing up. I hate to sound so negative, but if you can do it you will probly have the only one around and that would be cool. I dont have much room to talk power wise as Im running a flatheadm LOL, goodluck anyway.

 

I already knew all the specs on the motor, thanks.lol. And this is the motor thats going into this truck, for the sole reason that "I feel like it". This is not going to be a stock motor by any means when its done, it will have more than enough power to get up and go. I can fab pretty much everything in this project, so labor is no problem.

 

Thats cool I would like to see some pics when your done, You should not have any problems lowering the front end. Just wondering what all are you planning to do to this thing? you mentioned turbo's are yoou fabing your own intake?

 

Sounds like a cool idea, might look for a F350 frame and save on the massive amount of reinforcing. Let us know how it comes along.

 

Are you sure a 534 will take the rpm's. I drove one back in my earlier years and seems to me they peaked out like 3700 rpms. Now torque that is another subject. Sounds like a interesting project

 

It will fit! There is tons of room under the hoods of these old trucks. With that kind of weight and torque I would definatley beef things up a bit. I would definately start with boxing the frame.

I stuffed a 500 Caddy engine in my 49. I boxed the frame back to about the middle of the cab. I still get some pretty good twist when I stand on it though (the Caddy make a ton of torque also). I'm running stock suspension on my truck. I added power steering and power disc brakes and a 9" rearend.

I think it sounds like a cool project. Don't get discouraged by the naysayers, its your truck, have fun with it.

Bobby

 

Thanks for the info. That was a good idea, using the f-350 fram as a starting point. Never thought of that. As far as the rpms, the internals of this motor are going to be far from stock, so they will handle the rpms well. And yes, the motor is to be twin turbo'ed, and Im making my own intake/exhaust. Is there any room to push the engine back without having the interior be cramped? I want to have room for the equal lengths and the turbos under the hood. Not to mention that the farther I can get the engine back, the better the handling(yeah, right) will be. a 9" rearend is on my list, and there are going to be discs front and rear. Power steering is also a definite must. Another concern is the weight on the frontend. Should I reinforce the stock frontend, or swap it for another?

 

I think anybody should build their truck however they want. The only problem I see, is that there isn't going to be too many (if any) people here that will be able to give specific answers your questions as I haven't heard of anybody using the engine you are going to use, let alone twin turboed and full length headers. I would say a good portion of us aren't even familiar with that engine.

Full length headers with any engine is usually trouble some in these effies, unless you manage to have luck in building your own. If you want independent suspension and power steering, you are going to need a fairly heavy duty one as that engine is probably going to be fairly heavy. You might have to redo the firewall in your cab to make the engine fit, and quite possibly need to build a tunnel. I really don't know. I thought my 400 was a tight squeeze and have considered 460's a squeeze as well.....but this is based on me using a Volare front clip. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

 

You might be able to make the engine fit but it will stick 1 foot out of the hood. The engine is about 10" taller than a 460 and weighs 1250 lbs.

 

As I remember those engines came stock with governors - somewhere around 3200 RPM they would choke back. That is one reason they have the reputation of being a low rev engine.

I don't think you will have room to move the engine back without cutting into the cab firewall. I wonder if you really need to worry about this? Does the engine have a front mount and two side mounts on the bell housing? or two side mounts and a rear tranny mount?

You will, of course, want to build up the stock suspension, but I would not be overly concerned about the weight. Remember that these trucks were built to haul weight in the bed, and transfer some of that weight to the front axle. In addition the big boys came with an industrial size transmission - a lot of the weight was added there. The one I drove had a 13-speed roadranger.

Your stock steering might get a bit stiff, though.

The other thing is (as I remember) that they are an extremely wide engine - much wider than today's 460. If you want to run long-tube headers you are likely going to have to do away with or modify the inner fenders. I would look at running the exhaust on the outside of the frame rails - perhaps even building a laker side-pipe set up with the collector behind the front wheel and outside the frame.

I see by your profile you live in California - if you live north of the grapevine you might join us in the Northern California Chapter of FTE - several of our members have heavy-duty fabrication experience and work daily on industrial engines. Just clink on the join link in my signature.

 

Thanks. I dont want to run full length headers, I want to run equal length headers, which dont necessarily have to be long. Yes, the engine is very wide. I was thinking of running side exit exhaust, outside the frame as Im not going to have much room under the truck for it. As of now, Im not sure what tranny I should run. I have the one that came stock on it, but I want to see if I can adapt a different one. And I will definitely keep you updated on the progress.

 

Update, baloney! You got to do a gallery to show these guys what an engine looks like!

Some of us can't read so well, but do like to look at pictures!