im about to pull my motor and tranny.
would it be easier to remove the grill, im swapping radiators too and pull it all?
or drop the tranny and pull the motor out of the engine bay?

keep in mind i have a tractor and a cherry picker.

 

I took the radiator support out on my truck. Made it way easier to get the engine out.
Not a required step, but the engine only had to go up about 1.5 feet for the oil pan to clear the bumper. By doing it this way, I didn't even take the hood off.

If you have a 4wd, and it is raised up much over stock hieght, the engine will have to go up rather high to go over the rad support. This may be more than some cherry pickers can handle.

 

its not lifted at all, just 33" tires. plus i have a tractor lol, like backhoe with a bucket on the front.

im putting a new radiator in, so i think that might be easier any way. did you remove any of the fenders? were they still supported i guess im asking.

 

Does this tell you anything? It's how the truck currently sits.



One pro tip, don't remove the nuts from the motor mounts until the cherry picker is attached to the engine, or this can happen.....



With the rad support out, and the front bumper still in place, this is as gigh as the engine had to go to come out over the bumper.




The core support does not have to come off, but it sure makes it easier. In my case, it had to off for the new engine to go in.
The 300 will barely fit between the cowl and rad support, and I am going back with an engine that is about 2" longer, I6 Cummins 6BT. It won't fit between the cowl and top of the rad support......

 

I should add this, the front of the fenders are not supported, and can be flexed some, so be gentle when working around them. At this point, they are only attached to the truck at the front of the cab, top and bottom.

 

ahh okay dang gonna be fun! i get to pull it and tranny and clean the engine bay, re-wire and prep to be reinstalled that next weekend!

i love what your doing with the cummins.
id go the 4bt route with a nasty set of twins, but ive always wanted the oddball stuff, hence why i built a 300 lol

 

Yeah, the 300 is great engine. Mine gave me 16 years of trouble free service, but it developed a mid-level rattle last fall. I've not driven the truck much since then, and the rattle slowly got worse. It still ran though. I drove it into the shop thursday evening. I could have fired it up at 4 pm yesterday, and moved it. By 8 pm, it was free from the engine/trans/driveshaft. Could have been done sooner, but after the engine tilted like that, while I was standing under (truck was on the lift), I took a break to restart my heart, and then let it settle back down.

I have always wanted a diesel powered pickup. Sadly, the only good factory diesel engine was used in a dodge. The Ford/IH IDI is a solid engine, but it's a massive beast that leaves little room to work on it, and slow as heck due to no turbo. The 6BT is right at the same weight, and leaves WAY more room around it. (except at the front)

A 4BT was on my radar, but every one of them I found, was priced at $2500 and higher. I have less than that invested in the 6BT, NV4500 5 speed, and a brand new clutch kit with flywheel.

A 4BT is only 50-75LBS heavier than a 300, but the way they mount places a lot more strain on the bellhousing and trans. They are also rather prone to vibration, as are all 4 cyl engines. The 6BT is only about 150LBS heavier than a 4BT, and like most I6 engines, vibration is not an issue. Plus, they mount to same location on the frame as the 4BT, so the engine is more balanced, placing far less strain on the trans and all the bolts holding it together with the engine.

A 4BT is a direct bolt-in swap from a 300, particularly if you find one from a Ford chassis "step-van" that was retrofitted from the 300, and it is looking like the 6BT is nearly as simple.
There are guys reporting 25-30 MPG with a 4BT in 4wd F250/350 trucks, and in the low 30's in 2wd F150's. I figure I should be able to meet at least 25 MPG with the 6BT in a 2wd F150. Granted, I'm not hopping up the 6BT, like way too many guys do, with both the 4BT and 6BT....... My engine is even an early non-intercooled version. Stroke of luck there, since most 6BT swaps require a "manifold flip" to position the turbo higher. Mine came with the higher mounted turbo, factory. Also, since the truck has dealer installed A/C, there's way more room around the HVAC box, as all the A/C stuff is inside the dash......

 

ive followed your thread, you got a steal on that 6bt and parts.
yeah there is a massive fleet of the 4bt step vans around here, and they were all the 300 six trucks before that so itd be easy. i could have had one for about 2k the other month but decided not to since i already had this motor.

i didnt realize how much heavier the 6bt was then the 4bt, i thought it was alot more then that.
id have to hop it up a little, i have a little car when i dont work/play.

i knew a guy with a mild set of compounds on his 4bt in a f350 that he worked very hard, i think it was around 330hp? dont quote me on that though. either way he saw 28mpg with a full load of hay bales, so i was rather impressed with that.

 

I've got cars for when I want to play, and a ~300HP/425TQ 390 powered truck should I get the urge to go fast in a truck.

Back in 97, when I bought the 80, I wanted to convert from C6 auto to 5 speed. The C6 kept on working, until it just didn't all of a sudden. I couldn't afford to do the 5 speed swap at that time, so I had the trans rebuilt (by the same guy I now work for).
I never gave up on the hope of doing a 5 speed swap, and almost did it a few years back. But, that 5 speed was bolted to a 7.3L IDI......
It's finally getting the 5 speed, and keeping the low RPM/high torque of an inline 6, just not a gasser.

4BT is about 750LBS, 6BT is about 900LBS. Both of these are "dry" weights. Not sure about a 300, but it comes in around 650-675 fully dressed with accessories. And, the 6BT is only about 2" longer than a 300, which is counteracted in my case by the NV4500 being about 1.5 " shorter than a C6........

 

ha i feel ya.
i blew my first cylinder rings, and figured well im deploying here in a few months so if it doesnt live that long, ive got my other truck..8k later she still drives nd pulls fine, doesnt shift for crap because my t/o bearing is going and or gone by now in my t18.

i was fine with the t18 til i got stationed in sc, where the interstate is 70mph for the slow people..i could do about 75 to not be splattered by a tractor trailor

here i am deployed looking at shops to build it and decided the hell with it, itll cost me that much to rebuild my trans? might as well get that sweet five speed and go alittle crazy on my build. so im weeks away from final stages of my motor and then swapping it all