I recently bought a sweet little 1981 Flare Side, F- 150 Ranger XTL, 4X4. I'm the 3rd owner. truck has just over 52,000 miles. Approx. 16 years ago, the orig owner and his (obvious teenaged son) swapped out the original motor and tranny. They put a "pro built" 460 with a 4 spd manual. I was told they put bout $7,000 into building the engine and tranny alone, and that it was built for its low-end torque.
Interior has been redone, nice, body repainted 16 yrs ago, but its still pretty good, considering it has basically been garaged or car ported for the majority of that time, and I was told approx. only 2,000 miles have been put on the 460 since then. ( Mostly driven from the garage to the local post office occasionally). Unfortunately, I couldnt see proof of the work done ( reciepts ) but I really dont have any reason not to believe the P.O.
The guy was asking $9,500 for the truck, and I ended up picking it up for $7,000.

A lot of work has been done to it, thats obvious. SuperTrap dual exhaust, lift, interior , big "kid" stereo, amp, etc, - Runs like a scalded ape.. Super low granny 1st gear.

My issue is I think its cool to have the big 460 in the truck, but its TOO big. Gas mileage sucks! I'd like to try to:
1: Swap my 460 and tranny with someone elses smaller motor a a 5 speed manual trans ( i.e. 300 I six cyl, or a 302, etc.) - if it was the right engine and trans, Id consider an even swap, as I know my 460 is desirable.

2: Buy a crate motor and sell the 460 later.

So what would be the best all-around engine for daily driving, ( I dont have anything heavy to pull, other than my Jumping Jack tent trainer and Yamaha Rhino.

Thanks for any feedback.

(P.S.- Anyone out there interested, I ll post a pic soon)