Coyote-Powered 1979 Ford F-150 Is One Cool Modernized Hauler

This Coyote-powered 1979 Ford F-150 isn’t some high-dollar restomod, and that makes it cool in our book.

Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8 has become an incredibly popular engine swap candidate for a number of reasons. For starters, the Coyote has massive power potential, which it couples with modern reliability. Secondly, these motors are pretty much everywhere now, having been used in the Ford F-150 and Mustang for quite a few years at this point. Thus, it’s no surprise to see more and more vintage Blue Oval pickups popping up with the newer 5.0 under the hood, such as this Coyote-powered 1979 Ford F-150 up for grabs at Bring a Trailer.

This Coyote-powered 1979 Ford F-150 is by no means some high-dollar show truck, however, as it does sport some chips and dings on the outside. The previous owner did replace a good bit of trim, including the grille, wheel well moldings, and headlights buckets. The pickup rolls on a set of old-school 17-inch polished US Mags wheels, which are wrapped with 285/70 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A tires for a classic look.

The same goes for the interior, which hasn’t been modernized in some crazy way. The previous owner did go to the trouble of adding some sound deadener to make quiet the cabin, while a Vintage Air air conditioning system, an Alpine/Pioneer stereo system, and a Dakota Digital VHX gauge cluster, for obvious reasons. Otherwise, this basic black cabin isn’t what anyone would call crazy, and that’s a good thing.

What powers this pickup is a totally different story, however – 5.0-liter Coyote V8 lifted from a 2015 Mustang, along with an aluminum radiator, Ford Performance control pack, and a Painless wiring harness. The newer V8 is mated to a six-speed 6R80 automatic transmission, as well as a two-speed transfer case taken from a 2017 Super Duty pickup.

What makes this 1979 F-150 even cooler is that its build was documented in the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums, but even if it didn’t have home-field advantage on its side, we’d still think that this particular build is something truly cool and worth a deeper dive.

Photos: Bring a Trailer

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.