I'd really like to put a 300 in my 4wd '79 Super Cab. It currently has a 460; with the C6. I'd also like to swap the C6 for a T19. What do y'all think of this? Any advice?

Nick

 

Make sure you got 4.10's!! I have a 300/NP435/NP205/4.10's in my 79 F250 4x4, it didn't like 33's. I went down to 9.75x16.5's,,, a tad over 31 or so. However, I AM in the place that has a few, ummm hills!! So the lower geared the better for me up here.
Definitely look into cams, I need to look up the grind I had in my 300 in my 66 I rebuilt, it was REALLY good, from 1100 to 5500 it pulled like mad and got 16 mpg if I stayed around 55-60.

 

I say go for it! The 300 won't have the power of the 460, but it's a much better daily driver motor. It's a lot cheaper to feed 300 CI vs 460! Offenhauser makes 4-barrel intakes for the 6 and combined with a set of late model two piece exhaust manifolds those motors really wake up.

The t19 is a great trans, swapping one in is easy. If you can change a clutch you can swap it in. All of the clutch/brake pedals and linkage are a direct bolt in, just make sure you get them from a 78/79. The earlier petal set is different, it'll still work, but the 78/79 steering column won't fit against them quite right. The only major hurdle is drive shafts, the front will need to be shorter and the back needs to be longer. A driveshaft shop can cut down your current front shaft for cheap, but it's usually cheaper to find the correct rear shaft than to have it stretched.

If I were you I would try and find an engine/trans/transfer case combo at the wrecking yards, it would save you a lot of trouble. If you can't find a 4x4 t19, an NP435 is also a great trans and they're everywhere.

Sam

 

I'm looking to make this truck my daily driver for the long haul. I was looking for a 70's ford 4x4 with a 300 and a 4 speed; my wife and I decided that if i was going to do this it needed also needed to be practical for when we had kids, Super cab was the answer! So I began my 4 month quest. The front Axle has 4.09 and the rear 4.10. What the heck is up with that?
I'll start looking for a full donor driveline. Thanks for the heads up on the pedals I was wondering about that. Is there a particular year block that is better than the others? I have an old '92 300 at my dad's house in MI, it is bolted to a cracked mazda 5OD.

 

Most ratios are off a little. It is fine as long as it's close. As far as the 300, stock they are no speed demon, but make a nice driver. I've been driving my crew with a for several years now, and the truck before that had one as well.

 

I miss my 300! I had one in my '92 and my '86. I had the T19 in the '86. Super easy to work on and super reliable! I'm not looking to set any land speed records, just get from A-B using smaller amounts of fuel. I wish I had kept that whole drivetrain! Sold the truck to my buddy when I got married, then he got married and his wife didn't like seeing the road through the floor so he scraped it for $400 I wish I would have bought it back! I always told him I wanted the motor and tranny but I was in Florida and couldn't get up there to pull it before he needed to scrap it.


Nick

 

Ted, out of curiosity, what kind of mileage does the Crew get with a 300? Is it auto or 4 speed?

 

4 spd untuned it gets about 11. The truck under my user name got 14 with a 2150 headers cam etc

 

The front axle gear ratio is always slightly taller then the rear axle gear ratio. It has to be or it will bind up and the truck will be unable to be driven.

 

My truck has taller rear gears than the back. Is this going to cause issues? What is it that binds up? I always thought they had to be the same ratio only to reduce tire wear in 4wd. Unless they were really uneven which would cause severe strain on the transfer case and cause it to fail.

Nick

 

Correct me if im wrong guys but arent front diffs supposed to have a slightly higher (ratio not number) ratio so it pulls a little bit when youre driving? If your rear had a higher ratio wouldnt it send all over the place?

 

I went from a 390 to a 300, c6, 3.31 gears, on a f250. I punched up the hp on the 300 to equal the 390, and now I get 50% better mpg.

I would port the head a bit, clean up the bowls and the short radius, smooth the runners too. Just doing that is a great difference maker. You can use that late model block you mentioned and carb it or keep the computer. If you carb it you'll have to grind/cut open the fuel pump housing. The bolt holes are there, but the opening is not. Or, use an electric fuel pump. I'd change to a solid metal set of timing gears from Cloyes, new v.springs for a cam, and have the dist. recurved.

A daily driver? 4.10's are pretty low. I would use 3.74's or 3.50's, with a ZF 5 speed, a manual over drive trans. That trans came on some ford trucks.

 

Ok,, all the front and rear ratio stuff is bogus, just having a large tire pressure difference front to rear or side to side, can cause a change in ratio, the front isn't going to pull harder, and the rear isn't going to push, unless your locked! Most gear ratio differences are just do to manufacturing differences, your front rotates one way, your rear the other,,, if that makes sense, you know what I mean, the pinion gear and ring gear mesh differently, from front to rear, you cant just take a front gear set and put in it the rear or vice/versa.

 

That really depends on the tire size. If you start getting above 33" tires then 4.10's are pretty easy to live with even with out OD. And if he did go with a 5spd sticking with 4.10's would make it a lot more enjoyable to drive then 3.50's. I've had a few F250's with a ZF and 3.55's.

 

I agree. Changing tire size is similar to changing gear ratios. I was speaking about oem tire sizes.

I now have a dana 3.31 rear, with oem tires. I dropped from a 3.74 rear. My truck hauls/tows fine, but I do notice the difference. Tire size, trans, rear ratio, and cam should all be taken into account with your build/truck. Each variable effects your cruise rpm/power, etc.