I am new to trucks in general, and need some advice about a problem with the 360 V8 in a 1970 F250.

The body is in pretty good shape, after sitting tarped in someone's back yard for a few years. We cleaned out all the dead bugs, changed the oil, put in a new battery and turned the key. It runs, sort of. Knocking, hesitating, generally stubborn if you know what I mean. When it goes it pulls like a champ, though. Whatever we do, I know a clean gas tank is high on our shopping list.

We're trying to figure out which will be simpler (cheaper): repair the engine, versus replacement. Now, the big question.

If we replace, is it possible to put a small to medium size straight six in without replacing the whole drivetrain? Is there any benefit to a swap, like a large increase in fuel economy, or should we just stay with the 360?

 

Putting the 6 in there, you'd need motor mount towers from another truck of the same run of years, a bellhousing, clutch fork, clutch, etc, and you'd need to do something about the cooling fan sitting close enough (or too close) to the radiator. Even the radiator might be different.

The easiest might be to find a good running FE engine, a 360, a 390, or 410/428, or even go backwards a little bit and go for a 352. Visit the FE engine forum and ask about what's going on with the 360 - lots of great guys there will certainly help iron out the bugs. If it's knocking though, well, might be internal damage (bearings and/or oil pump) that need to be looked at. Or, rebuild the 360 into a 390 and get a boost in power for little extra $'s.

Depends on what you're going to do with the truck.

Is it 4x4?

 

Thank You for the info. It's a 4X2.

We have managed to get a Ford-certified mechanic to take a look at it, and he says some of the lifters collapsed while the thing was parked. Also, the timing is off and the distributor rotor was misaligned. It's so bad we've been driving what amounts to a V6, because cylinders 4 and 8 were not firing.

Otherwise, he was impressed by the overall condition of the beast. Hoses, fanbelt, plugwires are all pretty cracked and brittle, but we knew that stuff would need replacing going in.

 

In reality, you dont need the frame stands/perches. They just move forward to the other set of holes. The fuel economy is usually 2-8 mpg better than a 360, depending on how bad the 360 was. You can get surprising(not too great) mpg with highway gears, higher compression, and the timing fine tuned. Other than the regular stuff like a good carb, intake, and exhaust.
My nephew did just that with his 72. It had a 360/ C6, now it has a hopped up 300/ C6. It moves the truck good, and gets 17mpg on the hiway.

 

Thank you!

I think our budget may restrict us to getting all we can out of the 360, since it looks like it's a keeper. The pointers for getting the most out of it are greatly appreciated.

It looks like the 6 is out, at this point.

Kind of fun, having some serious iron around again. Reminds me of helping maintain my dad's 68 Galaxy 500 when I was kid!

 

That's very good info