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1973 Restoration

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Old Dec 21, 2015 | 04:13 AM
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keaton73
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1973 Restoration

Hey guys,
I just bought a pretty clean 73 pickup for a pretty cheap price, my goal is to keep flipping trucks till i own a 53.
So i'm confused by the engine in the truck, he made sure to point out that the engine has a shelby engraving on it. I'm having trouble matching vins anywhere so i'm not really sure where i stand on that. It ran great for a few days and slowly got weaker so i think the fuel pump may need replaced. I know i need to put a new clutch in it. But other than that i'm relatively new to rebuilding a vehicle and i'm very excited about it, i will be on here a lot asking for advice in the future.

How can i find out what kind of engine i have? Sorry, to be such a ******* but i've asked a couple people and no one has helped me.

Is there anywhere i can purchase a procedure for rebuilding an engine?

Whats the go to site for parts for an old truck? it seems like no website has everything.

I'll start posting pics soon. Just need some advice.
Thanks
Keaton
 
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Old Dec 21, 2015 | 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by keaton73
Hey guys,
I just bought a pretty clean 73 pickup for a pretty cheap price, my goal is to keep flipping trucks till i own a 53.
So i'm confused by the engine in the truck, he made sure to point out that the engine has a shelby engraving on it. I'm having trouble matching vins anywhere so i'm not really sure where i stand on that. It ran great for a few days and slowly got weaker so i think the fuel pump may need replaced. I know i need to put a new clutch in it. But other than that i'm relatively new to rebuilding a vehicle and i'm very excited about it, i will be on here a lot asking for advice in the future.

How can i find out what kind of engine i have? Sorry, to be such a ******* but i've asked a couple people and no one has helped me.

Is there anywhere i can purchase a procedure for rebuilding an engine?

Whats the go to site for parts for an old truck? it seems like no website has everything.

I'll start posting pics soon. Just need some advice.
Thanks
Keaton

Welcome to the forum.

You didn't give a whole lot of info on your truck. If you could post a picture or two of the engine it would help ID the engine family.

Just going off from my memory I believe the available engines in 73 were:

240 inline 6 ( base engine )
300 inline 6
302 V8 ( Windsor family )
360 V8 ( FE family )
390 v8 ( FE family )
and possibly the 460 V8 ( 385 engine family ) .

Those are the stock engines it could be. But due to it's age who knows what a previous owner might have swapped in.


Here's an easy way to determine the engine family. Count the # of valve cover bolts. It won't tell you the exact engine size but will narrow it down to the correct engine family.

5 bolts: 332/352/360/361/390/391/406/410/427/428 (FE engine family )
6 bolts: 221/260/289/302/351W ( Windsor engine family )
7 bolts: 429/460 ( 385 engine family )
8 bolts: 351C/351M/400 ( 335 engine family ) .


You said it has Shelby engraving? Do you mean like letters on a aluminum valve cover?



You might have better luck getting more help asking this in the 73-79 truck forum here: 1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums
 
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