Hey all,
I'm off at school, so won't be able to do any of the work 'till late may but I'd like to get some opinions before deciding on what I want to do with my girl this summer. I am wanting a more "drive-able" truck, and turn it into my daily driver(as my daily driver is approaching 210k miles and running into alot of problems).

A little background- Right now my truck has 64xxx miles on it, has a 4.10 or 4.11 dana 60 with a 4 speed and granny gear, headers and 2.5" dual exhaust dumped behind the axle, currently running a stock 2 barrel carb/intake combo. I just finished up all the interior work and body work the past couple years and am planing on doing more mechanical work this summer. I currently have an edelbrock 390 streetmaster alm. intake and a holly 600 cfm 4 barrel(probably going to have to go through it as it's been sitting for some time) sitting in the basement. I'm running aprox. 32" tires and am a little under 2k rpms at 45.

Basically i'm thinking of two options because i don't like revving it over 2500 for a long period of time, going down to 3.73 or 3.55s gears, and adding the 4 barrel carb/intake combo OR rebuild the engine with a little more beef to the bottom end and a slightly larger cam, and the intake/new carb. What would you guys recommend for more of a daily driver? Or any other suggestions?
Let me know what you guys are running and how it is working out, I'm just trying to get an idea of what i should do to have a better truck for driving on a daily basis...I hardly use the lower gears.
Thanks,
Nathan

 

Is it a 100 or 250? 4x4? Start by taking those tires off there and putting something normal on it. See what rearend it came with. you will gain some drivability by going with higher gears Does the truck engine need rebuilt or not? Have you checked compression? Making noises or smoking? If not, leave it alone and do a proper tune up and drive it.

 

I'm pretty sure I drive my bump more than anyone else here. 20,000 miles a year or more.

Best thing to do making one a daily driver, is an overdrive transmission. If you have an FE engine, you're kind of screwed in this department. Takes a lot of money to get overdrive behind an FE no matter what. Your 4.10 gears will be fine if you have overdrive. And if you have an F250, you can easily run 32" or 33" tall highway tires with 17" wheels.

If you're lookin at rebuilding the engine anyway, has the thought of an engine swap crossed your mind? First thing that comes to my mind is a EFI 5.8L engine from a mid 90s truck. Or heck, even a 460 if you want to! The main reason being, those engines are the standard "small-block" Windsor and "Big Block" bell housing patterns. You can get many different transmissions for either one. And, EFI is nice to have for best drivability and Fuel economy. But an older carbed version of either engine would be fine too. And if staying with carbed engines, what about a 400? They make respectable power done right



Make the cab comfortable. Put in new weather stripping and window felt if you need to. It's cheap and makes a big difference. Add some insulation to the floor/roof/doors. Cutting down on heat/noise coming in helps keep your ears and feet happy.

 

Thanks for the replies!
I already got some insulators/sound dampeners under the carpet, in the doors and under the headliner. It' a 250 2wd and I will probably keep the tires on it, as I'm not too concerned with the gas mileage. I drive it about 1k miles a month in the summer, and am hoping to drive it about that a month next winter aswell. I don't think I'd swap to a different engine as that' kind of out of my price range, and would render my truck useless for quite some time. It doesn' "need" a rebuild, sounds good-no knocks or weird sounds, and doesn' blow any smoke. The reason I'm considering an engine is because I plan on having this truck the rest of my life and would like to know I got a trusty engine. I don't need to do any work(besides a fuel pump replacement) and I do like the 390 as much of a gas guzzler/pain in the *** it is.
I know you say over drive is the best choice, but would gears do anything significant to keep the rpms lower at cruising speed? Don' do any pulling, and maybe that could reduce the stress cause by higher rpms. I also have a 3.73 carrier so wouldn' be too costly to swap the gears out.
Nathan

 

You can swap the gears out to a 3.54, and then get some 33" tall highway tires. That would get the RPM down lower.

 

 

#1 3.54 gears. That is the most bang for the least buck. The 4-bbl will actually get you better mileage....or ditch the 4-bbl and go plug-and-play EFI for only a few hundred dollars more. Pertronix electronic ignition is good for a few MPG.
Personally I love the FE...it's got that Cobra Jet pedigree and is old-school cool. Just knowing I could make it a 427 puts a smile on my face. They make a big block tranny adapter...although that route can cost $$$. The way I see it, I get bad fuel mileage...but my truck cost $1900. A new F-150 is like $40-50k. Think about how far you could drive on $35,000 in gas!!! I'll never buy that much gas in my life, so I can live with the mileage. Heck...I pull up at a gas station next to a new F-150 and people walk up to me to check out MY truck. With the poor fuel mileage that just means I get to go to the station twice as much and get all the more attention!

 

Right on, I think I'll go with lower(numerically) gears and put the 4 barrel on there this summer. Thanks for all the opinions!
She should be pretty protected from the Chicago winters-frame/underbody got 2 coats of por15.

Nathan

 

I've heard some people like por15. I've had disappointing results with it but that could be me. I watched your youtube and saw you did a lot of painting. If you ever bare sand it again, I recommend using a 2 component acid etching primer followed by a 2 component primer/sealer for rust protection.

I've found I can extend the life of a modern car by 5 to maybe even 10 years in the rust belt with regular motor oil sprayed on the chassis and under body panels. All doors, hood, tail gate etc seams get WD-40. If I won't be driving a few days or roads will be salt free a few days, I'll rinse the salt off from top to bottom including the chassis/suspension even when temps are down to 0F. But in the end, rust takes over. Not trying to squash your plans, just saw you plan to keep it for life and wanted to offer caution. My '65 has never seen salt and no plans to either.

 

Thanks for the tip/heads up...I will definitely be washing it regularly throughout the winter months, as ell as summer. And about the bare metal, I used a couple of coats of some self etching primer, then couple coats of primer.
What rust preventive undercarriage paints would you reccomend? And how long did/does it last? I figure in a few years I'll probably have to go back and wirewheel/paint it again.

As to the plan to keep it the rest of my life... I'll also go back through and restore her back closer to a show car(Still will get quite a few miles in the summer months) and won't Get any more salt. But I definitely want to make it easier on myself later and prevent as much rust as possible.

Nathan

 

Sounds like you had the right idea for paint. It's been 10 years since I've painted anything for serious rust prevention so the product names have likely changed. My first place to check for serious paint is an autobody paint store. My experience with autopaint stores is I have to speak with one of their employees and have them put together a package of primer system and topcoat.

Some places offer rubberized undercoat which makes me nervous. These products seem to peel just enough to make perfect traps for salt, mud, water (i.e. perfect salt baths to accelerate rust). That's why I prefer high quality primers, topcoat, and then I spray everything underneath (except exhaust) with motor oil once/year. I'm starting to shift away from oil to fluid film though. It's messy but does slow rust way down.

For places inside doors and tight corners in the hood just about have to spray a water displacer (like WD40). It prevents rust but does not trap mounds of dirt and is easy to wash away. Every single edge, seam, and hinge gets a coat and it works best if done before rust starts.

 

Hello Nate,
I like to use this stuff https://nhoilundercoating.com/ I use it on my daily and all the family cars. Up here in the north east the road treatment in the winter is brutal !! I also got a kit on amazon from fluid film . I used that stuff up and I liked the set up with the spray gun and wands. Now I prefer the N.H. stuff better. The N.H. oil has no odor to it like the fluid film. Fluid film smells like a wet sheep for a couple weeks after application. (its lanolin based) Also the N.H. oil in the back to black has a dye in it that covers/ masks the surface rust. When it cures out it has a nice mate black finish to it. Although I do not run my 68 SWB ranger during the winter salt months, I treated the whole truck with it. I am pleased with the results. The truck is a driver and did have some surface rust on the floor pans and undercarriage now it looks all black and sealed up! I would recommend this type of treatment to any one who drives in the rust belt during winter. Also I have mixed some amount of waste oil with both products with good results now for about 5 years. Hope this helps out some , JIM....