I have an '82 F150 with the 300 I6 and really wanna clean up the engine and bay. I've had (mostly) V8's most of my life, but this is my first 4.9. I was planning on building up a mild 289 for the truck, but after viewing several articles and pics on this engine I decided to keep it in the truck especially since it was rebuilt approx. 33k miles ago.

As I continue to look here and @ other sources for this engine, I thought I'd first ask a few questions concerning removing the AC pump, smog pump, brackets and hoses.
Removing the AC doesn't seem to be a problem after I get a non-AC radiator, but if I remove that smog pump, hose and the carb spacer it's connected to, will the truck still run ok if I bolt the carb directly to the intake, or do I need to replace it with another spacer, or just change out the intake?

Later on, I'm gonna install a 2bbl carb and intake, but how will the truck run if I just remove the OE spacer for now?

Btw, if anyone wants that AC unit, let me know.

Thanks

 

Might want to also ask down in the 300 forum.
First, there is no 2bl intake for the 300 so going to need an adapter of some kind. As far as removing the A.I.R. pump and egr, better check and see it's legal where you live. Or that is check and see if there's smog checks, it isn't legal anywhere. It does clean up the motor when you remove them, I just don't personally agree with doing it. The motor should run without the egr plate but you might need a spacer for throttle linkage clearance. Why would you need a non-ac radiator? The ac doesn't connect to the radiator at all and should provide better cooling to boot.

 

Go to the Ford Trucks Enthusiasts 6-cylinder forum (200, 250, 300/4.9L-6's) down below this one.

I wouldn't undo the AC. A lot of people WANT AC in these old trucks. . Especially if it's factory air and not dealer air. It's also highly illegal to undo all the AC fittings and purge the refrigerant into the open atmosphere. It has to be done professionally, with a catch tank and fittings and everything else, THEN removed. Definitely not good to just bleed it off into the air.

Read up on doing 4bbl swaps, heating the intake with water heated hose fittings, header swaps and fitment with the starters, re-curving your distributor, new throttle cables and brackets, notching the alternator bracket or cutting off the portion for the AIR pump for the headers to fit, etc.

There is really a lot of great information to be had about doing up a 300-6.

If the motor was freshly rebuilt, I personally wouldn't be undoing anything. A 4bbl swap and headers is the most I'd do, but with a 6-cylinder, you HAVE to heat the intake! PERIOD. Read up on this in the 6-cylinder form.

You can do pretty much anything you want to a 300! It just depends on how deep your budget is and how far you want to go. There isn't a lot of aftermarket support for 300-6 performance, so you have to build engines like they did them back in the day, boring out to bigger valves, porting the heads, balance jobs, single, double, or triple carburetors.

If you wanted to do something like the new trends, you could use low compression forged pistons, have a metal head-gasket made, and remote mount a supercharger or plumb up a turbocharger supercharger along with the 4bbl swap and a custom ground cam for the boost. Blowing a 300-6 is a homemade job also. There is NO aftermarket for supers or turbos for a 300.

A turbo or a supercharger can make a 300-6 a really wild beast.

 

Inspection here won't be a problem. But does the aftermarket provide a spacer, and if so, do you know a source?

I'm seeing a line from the AC pump to the top of the radiator. I could be wrong, and I'll check again, don't know what it's for, but there's definitely a line between the two. My parts catalogs also specify new radiators for my truck with or without air.

I'll check the 300 forum,..sorry guys,...new here and haven't noticed it.

Great!! How much is a factory AC setup worth to the guys that really want it? Because I definitely don't..lol. I'll have it removed with caution,..promise.

I'll re-direct this post and further questions to the proper forum,..thanks guys.

 

The Radiator with air just has a thicker core, its an upgrade over the non A/C trucks. the A/C Condensor mounts in front of the rad. I would leave everything as is and start gathering parts for a 4 barrel swap then get rid of what you need/want gone.

 

Ok, great! I guess I should have looked at it closer. Thanks

 

I would be interested in your factory AC stuff if you still have it.

Thanks
Tracy

 

dang it, you beat me to it. mine had a "shade tree add on", I took it off cause it was all cheap looking.

 

I'm willing to share. I only need it from April thru Oct. You can have it the rest of the year.

TR

 

I still have it and still don't want or need it. Make an offer and I'll get a shipping quote.

 

Shipping needs to be to 87109 (Albuquerque)

What parts are we talking about just for clarification?

Thanks
Tracy

 

The 300-6 had three types of radiators.

The Standard radiator. With or without automatic cooling lines. 13 quart / Fan guard. It's narrower by aproximately a foot than the following...

The Optional Supercooling Radiator (standard with A/C). With A/C and/or supercooling. 14 quart / fan shroud.

The aftermarket parts books lump the A/C and Supercooling together it seems. I have an original Ford book, and it clearly states, with A/C and/or supercooling option.

My truck has the supercooling radiator, without A/C and is a huge upgrade to the standard one. I would not swap it for a standard radiator.

 

My truck has that supercooling radiator without a/c or auto trans. I would not swap it either. It does not have a shroud though, only a cover across the top.

 

1985-1986 radiators are different to their 1980-1984 counterparts, as they mount different.

The principle is the same though.

 

It's been a while since I tossed that stuff out of the truck, but I'll make time Sunday evening and see what's really there.

Shipping is gonna be a killer that far, but I'll get a quote once we both have a little more info on the deal.