I have a 1983 F250 (six cylinder, four spd.) that the body and box are shot on. I have found a fairly nice 1986F250 2wd with 460 auto. tans. I know I would likely need a different transmission/transfer case if I wanted to stay with automatic, and if I wanted to go with 4 spd. would need different bell housing and clutch. Any suggestions? My main concern is the front end.....how hard is it to switch to 4x4?

 

I am no expert, but the easiest would be to take the cab and box from the 86 and put them on the 83. If you want the 460 with the 4 speed, yes, you will need a big block bell housing, with big block engine perches, and (I think) new clutch & flywheel. I don't know if 2wd autos had the same bolt pattern for putting t-cases on. Converting to 4x4 is a lot of work, again, thats not my strong suit.

 

Swapping the bed out is easy. Swapping the cab out is certainly more work than that, but fairly straightforward - although I haven't as yet done it but have pulled most of the components to allow me to do it.

Changing to a 460 from a 6 is going to require all the things 4x484150 said. So, I vote with him - put the box and cab on the '83 4x4 and run the 6.

 

Thanks for the advice.....I like the 6 better anyway. Now I just need to decide if I want to buy the '86 and get to work.....
)

 

If you start pulling bolts on the bed, cab, or wherever, I recommend using a torch to free the nuts up. I pulled all the bed bolts without having any problems by using a MAPP gas torch and heating the nuts for ~20 seconds. Some times I'd have to go back and heat it again since it would start to seize as it cooled.

And, that works on bumper bolts as well.

 

For what it's worth, you will also have to either notch your engine xmember, replace it with the one from the 460 truck, or get a remote oil filter kit to put the 460 into the 83. I'd vote keep the 300, myself. The 460 would be worth selling or keepin for a project engine (???)