I am going to swap my 300 I6 for a 302. I am going to buy a 1988 2wd F-150 From an old fellw with only 45K on it. The truck has a 302 with a 5 speed standard in it(I will have pretty much all I need). My truck is an 87 4wd with a 300 I6 and a C4 automatic. (I really messed up the motor) Anyways, basically what I need to know is what I will need to take off the 88 and put in mine besides the motor and radiator. I know that I will have to change the computer, but will I have to change the fuel pumps or the fuel filter? Will I have to change the throttle body to compensate for the downshift cable? Will the exhaust Y from the 2wd fit my 4wd? The 88 has air condishoning and my does not, any problems there? Will the gearing of my truck be affected (I have a 3:55 rear) and will i have to change the torque converter? I will probibally have to chang the motor mounts, Right? Is the wiring difficult? As you can see I need some info. Please don't be afraid to post any info or comments. Thanks


87 F-150
reg. cab long box
302 soon
31" apachies
15X10 chrome blade rims
roll bar
cat back dual straight pipes
knocked out rear converter
only ford man in the family

 

I hope you are doing the swap because your 300 is just plain wore out. I've done a 300 to 302 swap before, although in older non fuel injected 70's era trucks. To me there is some appeal to haveing the 5sp instead of a C4, however, I believe that that is more than likely a Mazda transmission that may be more fragile than your C4. By the way, I was under the impression in the 80's that pickups and vans used C6 behind 6's and smallblocks if they didn't have AOD or manual. You may want to check the engine frame perches. I've no experience w/ the 80's era frames, but I know that in 70s era trucks the 6 sits on a different perch than the 302. Another thing you probably need to swap is the radiator. On my swap the six had a radiator/waterpump arrangement that was opposite of the 302. The inlet and outlet were on opposite corners of the radiator. You asked about flexplate? Are you thinking you are going to keep your C4? Manuals have a flywheel and clutch, no flexplate. If you are thinking of bolting the 302 to your automatic, you will need to get a different flexplate than your 300 has because the 302 has weight tacked onto the flexplate for engine balance that the 300 doesn't. Also since you would be using an 88 it's the newer 50oz weighting used on the 5.OL from 82 up. The reason I say I hope you are doing this because your 6 is worn out, is that for the trouble of swapping, especially when you involve the fuel injection computer issues, I don't think that the 302 is gonna seem anymore powerful than what you had. If you are going to the swap trouble, and want more power than you had (assumeing healthy engine) I'd just go to 460. I've driven a 97 F250 w/ 5.8 (351W) and even that wasn't that much more powerful to me than a 300 or a 302. In my older trucks, I have a tore down 302, a currently running 302, and a soon to be rebuilt 390. I had a 300 for awhile. The 390 was clearly more powerful feeling than all the others. I'm thinking that the 460 would do that too. If you aren't changing your gearing, the engine won't effect that. I've been useing 3.50 gears w/ my 302's there fine for street driving, I don't know what your offroad needs are? Remember that long stroke builds more low Rpm torque. And a 300 has a much longer stroke than a 302. That's low end grunt. 300=4"stroke 302=3"stroke.

Ok that's my 2cents
BBT

 

I can't use the tranny from the 88 because the truck is 2wd. I think i have a C4? I have seen a C6 and it is much longer than mine.

 

One thing you don't mention is tire size. Power to the ground changes when you start changing wheels and tires. I've never been a fan of putting huge tires on trucks. From the standpoint of wear and tear on the drive line and front end parts it's costly. Puts more torque on all your parts but, my main point is that large tires and wheels are like putting taller gears in your rear end. If this is your case, it might make more sense to change gears.
Rich

 

I have 31X 10.5 15 on 10 inch chrome steel rims for the summer. For the winter I have p235's on 8 inch chrome steel rims.

 

BBT, I am in the process of doing a 300 to 5.0 swap now and I have ran into a problem------- well, many problems but the most recent one is the starter. The 300 had a clark 4 speed overdrive I want to keep that, the 5.0 I just bought a new motorsport flywheel-- it has 157 teeth, the 300 had a 164 tooth flywheel.Is there a starter that will make up for the miss match? Or do I have to change the flywheel to 164? I was thinking maybe there is a larger diameter bendix gear?

 

 

I want to take the 302 v8 with the auto tranny out of my 88 f150 and put in a 300 straight 6 with a 5 speed. I have no idea how possible or imposable this is and was hoping someone on here could help me out. any do's or don'ts let me know, And would it be possible to put the larger 8 lug axles on in place of my 5 lug axles? please any questions or comments ask me here or if u are not registered email me at AhaShake88@gmail.com. Thank You!

 

please start your own thread. give us all the info on your current rig, why your doing the swap and what your goals are for the rig.

 

In both cases going to or from an I6 to a V8 requires engine wiring harness changes because all the devices are in different locations on the motors and also because the V8 has more cylinders so there are more injector wires. On the early trucks it may be easier to do a engine harness swap because they were mostly stand alone systems but be prepared to tie in power and ground in several places anyway. I believe there was a guy here that managed this without that work however, he just seperated the injector wiring into two banks and added the two extra connectors, this works because these early trucks are batch fired anyway. Then it was just a matter of plugging in the V8 EEC.

Otherwise the engine perches on the frame are different for these motors, the rad and exhaust is different, so there is still quite a bit of work to it. No fuel system changes are needed, I believe the throttle brackets on the 5.0's are all the same so there will be a spot to connect the trans cable on your truck... incidentally if you have a cable here that probably means you have a AOD, C6 uses a linkage if I'm not mistaken. Exhaust will fit but you need a 50oz flexplate to match your trans, you can't use the flywheel from the manual and you can't use the 0oz flexplate from the I6. TC does not have to change and 3.55 gears are OK for a 5.0.. though more gear would be better.

 

hey man. i just want a vehicle. and i have 2 trucks and want to make one realiable one . and scrap out the other one after i take all the parts and put the $ i get from scrapping it and put it into my f150 n put f250 axles engine n trans and cab on it. that my whole plan. and there lots of people on ther who may be able to help me so im jus gonna pop in here n there n see what people have to say,

 

because this isnt your thread. jacking someones thread to answer your own very different questions isnt cool. it also makes it hard for when people try and search for info and get a thread that goes to left field all of a sudden. I wasnt trying to be a *****, but actually trying to help you out.

 

Hello gents,
I wanna see if anyone has some advise or things to look out for when swapping a 300 for a 302, I have a 1985 f150 300 with an np345 and I want to swap to a 302 also carbureted engine. I believe it has a dura spark II ignition , while my current engine has a tfi iv ingnition. Any advise?

 

Unless your 300 is wore out and you have a free running later model 302, this is a swap you should avoid.

Mounts, cooling, exhaust, linkages, clutch maybe and accessories.

 

My 300 has serious blow by and now the head gasket has blown. Believe the 302 uses the same bell housing, and my current tranny did come off a 302, but you say linkages....what linkages are you referring to?
Also I believe power steering and hydraulics are about the exact same.... I worry about mounting, and wiring ofcourse cooling will be different but this engine comes with all accessories including ignition and cooling. Intake manifold carburetor alternator starter