am planning to run an E4OD behind this 351/5.8 that i pulled from a '95 F150 (i've got the harness).

since the cab is off, i dangled the motor/tranny over the chassis last night just to start to get a sense of how i'm going to custom mount both (one of my biggest concerns as a first-timer).

looks to me like the E4OD isn't going to fit "as is" ... the pan sits atop the x-member which puts the tailcone right into the rear x-member. one approach i suppose would be to move the front x-member forward about 6" so the pan sits behind it (but that screws with my master cylinder / brake pedal location). or, cut away the middle section (and reinforce, below, elsewhere?) so the tranny sits "down" in it.

i'm curious though who else has done this swap? someone indicated the other day in another thread of mine that the E4OD isn't a great choice for this truck.

any help/insight appreciated.

(also still trying to determine how "high" the engine has to be and at what angle before i mock-up any motor mounts??).

cheers.

 

The E4OD is an OK transmission. It was Ford's heavy duty automatic in the years that it was built and I believe it was the only automatic offered in '95 behind the 351W. It's a big, long, heavy brute. There is no reason that it wouldn't work just fine in one of these old trucks, but for the duty and service that most will see, it's kinda like driving an 18-wheeler down to the liquor store to pick up a six-pack and a carton of smokes! Still, changing to a smaller gearbox will require a different computer and harness mods. You're probably better off making it fit and using it.

Getting that dude wedged into the relatively narrow confines of your older chassis will be a challenge, but with the dropped center crossmember of your F3, I wouldn't think it would be tragic. Can you post a pic or two with it setting in the chassis? That will make it much easier to suggest a solution. Regardless, you need to maintain the structure of the transmission crossmember as it plays an important part in keeping the frame rails held parallel. Perhaps the center dropped section can be cut out and lowered to let the transmission sit down?

As far as engine position goes, have a look at this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-flatty-4.html

I consider Bob's installation to be sort of the gold standard for engine position of a Ford small block in a Bonus Built truck. He got his set so that everything fits well and he still had room up front to run the mechanical fan.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Pix aren't great, and I'm just guessing on engine placement here:




So either need to drop xmember or move.

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Ahhhh, now I see where you've gotten hung up. Unless you had plans to recess the firewall - a lot!, then you need to bring the engine and transmission forward quite a bit to start with. Where you are with it right now will have the back of the engine under the dash.

Study the pictures closely on page 4 of the thread that I linked in my last post. Norvillebob has his 351 perfectly positioned and he's working with the same cab and chassis design that you are. Pick some reference points on his engine and frame and try to work yours into the same position. Once you've got the engine where it needs to be, see where that leaves you with the transmission.

 

Thank you! Rookie mistake... I was using the 2nd forward cab mount as my baseline (for firewall) instead of the 1st forward mount!

Just strung it all up again and it looks better -- will still need some mods for sure. I'll take some pix tomorrow during daylight and study those images you suggest.

 

 

That looks much better! The engine looks a little high, but it's hard to tell from the photo angle. It might just be me. The cab is a major factor in final location also. It might tell you it want something slightly different once it is back on.