Hi!

I was wondering if you all could point me towards some great straight 6 builds. I've finally had a chance to drive my f-2 and love it! However the 90 HP and unsycronized 4 speed with granny gears, while fun, might not be the best for me in LA traffic. I want to make this thing a daily driver while keeping it as stock as possible. I thought Id look into building the engine. Bore, Stroke, whatever people are doing with that engine and put a more modern trans behind it. I don't want to build a race car so a truck trans is fine but something that will shift a bit better than what is in it.

Who has some ideas!

Thanks,
Adam

 

not sure about the engine upgrades but maybe a T-5 trans swap and maybe swapping out a rear end from a later f250 with better gears to make it more drivable in the traffic?
I forget which years F-250 would be the easiest swap?

google t-5 swaps there is tons of info on them.
you will need parts of your 4 speed trans so dont get rid of it.

 

Not nearly as much performance stuff is available for the 6 as there is for the 8. I haven't looked super deep into rodding the 6, but hear that classicinliners and fordsix are 2 good sites (same backend company though). Being you have the bigger truck there should be some options like NP435, T18, T19, etc as well as the T-5 (most all the little f-1 guys do a t-5, and yeah that's what I did to get out of the spur gear hell).

I spent a ton of time pulling specs on the options for F-1...
here's some quick facts I can tell ya. F-1's have a "small" crossmember, F2+ have a "big" or hoop crossmember - you have a lot easier road to tow than most of us.

One member here put a T19 behind a french flathead in an F-1, he did as I did an cut the x-member. (HD74)

Havi has put a T18 or T19 or somethin in that family into an F-2, don't know that he ever drove it though he tore it apart and went a different route.

Here's the chart and please if you find any additional info PM me and I'll add it to the chart. (remember it is targeted at F-1, but you can certainly use the info to move forward).... and just to be sure you have a T8 or T9, not a T98 with the synchros completely shot (so it feels like an unsynchro)?

Ford F1 series Transmissions swap

Before you run out and grab a ford 9" rear end, do some committing to what trans so that you don't end up in the wrong ratio and have to rework & rebuy things twice.

 

Bryan,
I had never looked at your transmission chart. That does represent a ton of work and is quite a resource! Back in the late 70's, I changed out Willard's transmission from the stock light duty to the heavy duty 3 speed and do not remember having to change anything else. Is my memory correct?

 

my understanding is that the LD / HD is all dependent on year - if you got a HD from 53 or before then it should have been a straight swap, if it was after 53 then you end up with some additional complications on the crossmember (I think jmadsen and mtflat were the ones that helped me figure that out).


And numberdummy - every tech problem always seems to have a big big help from him at some point.

 

Back on the PO's request for hot rodding a 6. I think you will find that the 6 is a great motor, enough torque to have fun in - you don't really need to hop it up. Problem is the rear end and transmission currently behind it make it feel like a dog. There's a lot of decisions to make here depending on what your wants and budget allow. Are you set on major motor changes - supercharger, etc or is it just "get me out of spur gear hell" that's your real want?

 

Thanks Brian,

I guess I first want get out of Spur gear hell. Youre right the engine is strong and seem to run quite well so maybe it doesn't need all that much. Whats a good route for transmission and axle changes. Just re gear the rear maybe?

 

ok lets start off confirming what you have to start with... timken - look like this?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...end-stock.html

if so, as 38coupe says, you could just re-gear down from the 4.86 to 4.11 (chuck of chucks truck is the man to contact). Doesn't get ya in the butter zone for ratio, but it may be cheaper route and get you a lot further along... depending on the trans, the ratio might be perfect.

otherwise a Dana 60 is a good candidate - several folks here mention that (understand I am F1 and F7/F8 only - the middle size trucks are out of my knowledge)....
here's some threads:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...250-350-a.html
(ignore the brake stuff and look for the makes / models of donor axles)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...axle-swap.html