390 FE into 1985 F-150, pics

[BigCrzyRdNeck]

i was going to do the same to my 82 1 ton till i was able to get my hands on a detoit (6V91T) with a 9 speed i cant wait till summer to start.(to wet in the back yard)

[bigred2004]

You are my hero Hoxiii, I have a 1984 bronco that I paid $100 for with a locked up 302 and a c-6, my brother had a highly modified 390 laying around soooo long story short, im putting it back together next week to start my swap This is my inspiration because this swap is litterally the FIRST Ive found so far with our application. Hope to see some finalized pictures and hear more!!

[hoxiii]

Yeah, i ran into that issue too. I was looking for any pointers and no one had ever seemed to have done this, or at least hadn't documented it.

So- what do you want to hear and what do you want to see?

Update-
Truck got it's acid test this last weekend. Made a run from Rolla to St. Louis (100 miles). Had 2 little issues, but nothing too major.

First issue was I had an ahem, *slight* oil leak from my pan right at the oil pump. You shoulda seen the cloud of oil smoke that was trailing behind me . It happened to be rolling down the oil pan and dripping right on the drivers exhaust pipe where it crosses under the pan. It wasn't that major of a leak, but it sure seemed like it (especially to all of the people that wouldn't get within 100 yards of the back of my truck).

The other issue was when I got off of the highway my truck wouldn't idle unless I had the truck taching over 2,000rpm. The combination of this and the nasty cloud of oil smoke had me thinking I'd blown an intake gasket. The next day i went to check all of the plugs to see which cylinder was sucking the oil. All of the plugs were dead on with no signs of oil, so as i was putting all of the plugs back in and the distributor moved The last time i'd set the timing I'd forgotten to tighten the clamp down and the timing was so retarded the truck wouldn't idle.

Reset the timing, fixed the oil leak and now everything is great. Coming in town I got 12mpg, but that was running hilly 2 lane blacktops, stop and go, and had timing so retarded the truck wouldn't idle. I'm expecting about 15 on the way back on the interstate tomorrow with everything set right.

And the truck just flat out moves. I haven't run it at a track, but I've timed it 0-60 and it comes in right at 6 seconds, which is on pace for a 14 flat in the quarter. Not too bad for a 4x4 pickup, especially since all the motor is is a 290hp 2bbl motor with a 4bbl intake and carb.

So final specs are:
390
10.5:1
290hp 2bbl Mercury Cam
1964 Thunderbird 4bbl intake and carb spacer
Carter AFB 4bbl (setup for a 383 Mopar, happened to be dead on for my 390)
DSII

Justin

[cfrives3]

Still plannin on a KC run hoxii?

[David85]

So it is true, it is possible to make a 390 economical, nicely done hoxiii.

Hmmm, I think maybe my f150 is getting restless, I seem to remember seeing an adapter plate to bolt an FE big block to an AOD trans.........

[hoxiii]

I still have no idea about a KC run. . . the deck got done this past weekend so I don't know when i'll be to KC next.

As for the run from STL to Rolla, it was quite a bit more eventful than the trip from rolla to st. louis. On the way down I made it about 30 miles and all of a sudden water came spewing up through my floorboards. I pulled off to the side of the road expecting a blown radiator hose, cracked radiator, something major.

I look, see nothing so I slam the hood shut in frustration and i hear this "ting, ting, ting" on the ground. I look and there's a freeze plug lying on the ground The passengers side front one blew out.

Anyway, i shoved it all back up in there and limped it to the next exit where I filled it up with water and had my girlfriend bring me a couple 5 gallon buckets with lids that I could fill up in case the plug blew again.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but a bit hard on the nerves as I kept watching the temp gauge to see if it would suddenly spike or drop indicating a loss of water. Put a new plug in today, so hopefully it won't happen again.

As for economy i got 13 from st. louis to rolla, but the thing is with the 300 i lost 25% economy from st. louis to rolla vs. rolla to st. louis (stl uses oxygenated fuels, rolla doesn't), so it's still looking like i'll be able to get my 15.

And today my truck can claim it's first legitimate kill
For some reason my truck isn't liking to 2-3 or 3-2 shifts right now (next thing on the agenda to figure out). So i took off from a light hard in first, hit second, and then went to just slide it in third at about 30. Well, it doesn't want to go in.

Anyway, i'm kinda slowing down and lightly revving the motor trying to get it to pop into third so the guy next to me thinks i want to race. Right as it clicks into third gear I'm only running about 20mph and the guy in the other lane looks over at me and revs his truck up (it was a 91-96 Ford PSD).

So as it sits I can't downshift, i'm doing 20 and i'm in third gear. It wasn't looking pretty, but i decided to run it anyway since if i lost i'm driving a rusted out 6 color 85 F-150. If i win, i'm driving a rusted out 6 color F-150 with a 390

So i just mashed it and went. the truck started going and then i heard him mash it, turbo spooled, and then the truck downshifted. He ran right up on me in a hurry, but right as he caught me i was doing about 40 which is where my power band starts in third gear. From there I just walked away until i lifted at 60 (we were in a 55). It was a short race, but the truck really shone.

Justin

[David85]

I never get tired of hearing stories of powerstrokes get put in there place . Sorry to hear about the teathing problems though, I had some fun myself when I converted a ranger to diesel. Alls well that ends well though.
13-15mpg out of a 390? wow, I could settle for that, granted I'm running propane in my f150, but 12mpg is usually the best I can manage (and thats with a 33% overdrive).

[hoxiii]

I'm running no OD, 3.5 gears, and cruise at 60 on 31" tires (2200-2300 rpm). 13-15 is totally doable with a good tuneup and a properly set carb. once i get all of the teething issues sorted out i'm going to focus on really getting the carb and timing dialed in.

But for timing it only for total advance, slapping an AFB on it and setting the idle mix i'm not disappointed at all.

Justin

[hoxiii]

Exhaust update:

I ordered a set of 65-76 4x2 headers. The passengers side fits, but with the drivers side it's an impossibility. If the headers dropped an extra 2" and dumped closer to the block they would work, but they dumped right at the driveshaft and into the clutch throwout arm.

Thought it was kind of funny how the only part that should be there (the throw out arm) presented the biggest clearance issue.

If my truck had been a 4x2 or had about 6" of lift they could have been made to work.

Justin

[cfrives3]

That sucks- headers ain't cheap. I'm still watchin this post. The whole idea of an FE into an 80-86 is awesome. My offer still stands about the KC run-if you do get this way, PM me and I'll come out to see it. You on the FSB board too?

[hoxiii]

Yeah, i don't do a whole lot over on FSB. Used to, but i'm starting to again.

It really wasn't that big of a deal, i was able to return the headers since i had dry installed them.

I'm thinking about getting a set of 4x4 headers to see what they do, but i think the issue would be since 65-76 4x4's don't have a crossmember that I would have crossmember issues instead of clutch and driveshaft issues.

Justin

[cfrives3]

What if you have a set for that truck, and then cut off where it mounts to the motor and replace with FE flanges, etc. I have a set of rusted out headers off of a 352. If you find headers that will work on that truck, I'll give you these old junk ones to cut up to make your own. If you end up towards KC that would work out great. Got any exhaust shop buddies? Let me know, you can have em.

[rusty70f100]

You might review this thread for your exhaust situation:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/60...on-390-fe.html

I know long tubes are ideal, but in this application you may have to settle for shorty headers.

[hoxiii]

I'd already found those, but the $300 price tag drove me to try the $120 long tubes.

They are on the agenda, but not now. I'm jut going to have a nice complete exhaust run off of the manifolds, then once I have the money put the short tubes on since it looks like they dump right near the stock location. Shouldn't take too much in mods, just a new flange and maybe a little bit of shortening.

Justin

[rsalter66]

speedway motors has buildyour own header kits for 140$ that way ya make what ya need