Found a wrecked F-350 motorhome with only 32K. Just toying with the idea of putting the engine and tranny in my 60SWB. I have a couple of questions.

1. Will it fit?
2. How hard will it be to hook of the electronic ignition?
3. What will the performance be like? (I heard they are good towing motors, which may not give the off the line performance that I would want)?

Any other thoughts?
Thank you
Steve

 

I would imagine there's a lot of reasons you don't see those engines swapped in older vehicles. I think they are good engines but size and complexity are probably the big issues. You will need a lot more than just electronic ignition. You will need the whole computer control system which probably also controls the transmission. Power output is roughly the same as a 460 on seat of the pants feel. Gas mileage probably a little better

 

1. Yes, there's plenty of room. You will have to make up mounts and crossmembers but I have seen it featured at least once in some truck magazine. It would be a LOT of work but definitely unique and functional.

2. You will need everything off the motorhome. Engine, transmission, PCM, and wiring harness. I'm also assuming this MH is old enough that there is no CAN bus. I don't know when, or even if, that technology started on those chassis but it would complicate the issue tremendously. If you have the wiring harness, it is a matter of connecting everything up and blending power connections into your '60. Virtually nothing on your '60 will "blend" so you will have to wire that part up yourself.

3. Performance: off the line, my 8,000 lb. Excursion at 239,000 miles will still spin both rear tires through the Limited Slip Differential. It should be more than enough for your 3,500 lb. truck. The torque curve is virtually flat from 2200-4500 RPM then the horsepower takes over for the last 500. It's done around 5000. It's not a high performance engine but it has torque unlike any gasoline engine I've ever driven. I own 2 of them: the aforementioned Excursion and an E-450 motorhome.

I researched this swap for my own truck (58 F-100) but never found a parts vehicle, never got started, and decided to go in a different direction.

Lou Manglass