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Last year I bought a 1979 f350 4x4. It was sold with the “original” engine in the truck. The previous owner had another 400 that was suposedly from a 1976 truck. After doing a ton of research I belive that the engine that is in the truck is not the original engine. Its a block that was cast in early 77 with 79 heads and an aftermarket intake with a edelbrock 650cfm carb. The other thing that is wierd is that when I went to look for the build date of the engine (when it was fully assembled) the only thing I could find was a capital “A” instead of the normal build date. Does anybody know what this means? The engine was supposedly rebuilt. The reason I am making this post is so that hopefully I can find the person who purchased the original engine for my truck. The engine was in Pennsylvania and was probably sold on craigslist. I even have a picture of it. It had the original 2v carb and manifold with the mount for cruise control on it. Which my truck had. The engine was completely untouched and stock. I will attach the picture of the engine below. I really need to find this engine because I am trying to make the truck as original as possible. I am pretty sure that this truck is a 1 of 1 truck with its options. I need to get a Marti report to prove it. Thanks for reading this any help is appreciated.
Are you looking at casting numbers? Or actual date numbers? A "D7TE...." number is a casting number. It just means the casting revision was done in 1977. It could have been cast in '77 or any subsequent year until another revision was issued.
Ford does not put VIN on engines, so you will never be 100% certain you have the "original" engine in that truck.
I was looking at the casting number, casting date and the build/ assembly date. It is a D7TE, with a casting date of 7B14 which should mean that it was cast the 14th of February in 1977. What I find odd is that the build/ assembly date of the engine is just an “A”. Normally it would have a year, month and day. Here are pictures of the casting number and date, and the build/ assembly date.
I know there is no way to 100% prove that the engine is the original one for the truck. However the engine that i am trying to locate was with the previous owner and was available for sale, but at the time I thought that the engine that was in it was the original one. The previous owner thought the same. The picture of the engine on the first post is the engine that I belive is the original engine. There are a few reasons why I belive that. The truck had cruise control from factory and the bracket for the module to connect to it is still on the 2v carb. The cruise control also changed in 79 with that bracket there. Earlier cruise control set ups did not have that bracket. The previous owner also had a 1976 f350 2wd custom that he used as a parts truck.
I am going to try to restore it to oem condition with a few mods. The truck is definetly something special. Its a lariat f350 4x4 with the trailer special package as well. It had cruise control as well.
OK so you find the original, or at least one with the correct dates and cc bracket etc. Then what?
Your profile shows you are 18, so I am thinking this is a first truck?
I caution you against shoveling money into a project, especially to replace a running engine just for the sake of build date matching.
YOU care. That's one. Others?
The previous owner? Any help there? If it was sold on CL, I think you should come to grips with "lost and gone forever", lest you be hoodwinked into buying back some boat anchor that only looks like the original motor.
It is also completely possible that he swapped the intake and carb off of the original engine and put on the holley intake and edelbrock carb to get a little bit more power out of it. It is possible that the engine that is in it is original but it does not make sense that a block that was cast in 77 is in a 79 truck. Yes it is my first truck, but it is a project that I am not really in a rush to complete. I may not find the engine but I was hoping maybe by a slim chance that maybe whoever purchased it may see this post by chance and was able to contact me. The previous owner worked on the truck back in the mid 2000s and he did not remember specifics of what he did to the truck. He claimed to have not touched the drivetrain except for the transfercase. He said he replaced it because the old one was shot. Im really looking for the awnser to what the “A” build date means. And also if it would make sense to have a block that was cast in 77 in a 79 truck.
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