Hey, I have a '77 f150 with a 400m and 4 speed manual transmission. What I would like to have is a 351w with a 5 speed transmission. Does anyone on here know which pickup years that I can pull this combination out of that will swap into mine? I will say I do plan on rebuilding the engine and adding an Edelbrock top end package and buying a carburetor so if the vehicle has fuel injection, I plan on replacing the intake anyway.

 

Is your truck a 4wd truck? and if it is does it have a married or divorced transfer case?

 

4wd and married

 

I'd imagine an 80-90's Bronco or F-150 would have what you're looking for. Carbed and EFI. There were a couple of different 5-speeds used at the time, one being heavier duty than the other.

 

In the long run you'd be better off taking an 80's chassis /donor and fabricating cab mounts etc. and moving your body over then trying to make the drive train fit in your chassis at the end of the day.

 

If you are going to go a carb on a 351w why do you want to ditch the 400? You can bolt a 460 zf5 to the 400 and it’s output housing will bolt to your current transfer case.

 

There's alot of screwing around to make a zf5 work behind a 335 series.....

 

Part of the reason is when I look at aftermarket parts like heads and EFI systems, there is a lot more availability and they are quite a bit cheaper. But at the end of the day, it comes down to sentimental reasons. My high school pickup had the 351w in it and I want to get it close to what I had then. But I am thinking about keeping the 400. It is just a lot more expensive to get heads, intakes, etc. for it so I am exploring options.

 

What kind of problems have you seen with making the zf5 work?

 

Maybe someone has starting making parts to support...otherwise grab some popcorn and have a read....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-zf5-swap.html

 

https://www.tmeyerinc.com/product/zf...n-adapter-kit/

But, I don't know if I'd still recommend that option. My understanding is you still need the pedals and transmission crossmember out of the donor truck. Another option is an NV4500 and the Advance Adapters Adapter. That option works out cheaper for me because of local availability of NV4500s vs ZF-5s. With the adapter you keep your current bell housing and clutch/pedals as far as I know so it makes it a bit simpler. I'd think some crossmember work would probably still be needed. Of course any of these options may need new driveshafts as the transmissions are different lengths.

I think the easiest option is probably finding a parts truck with the 351w and ZF-5 and having all the parts available there. In my area, they come up sometimes for $1,500 or less which is pretty close to the price of a bare ZF-5 here. Second best option would probably be to get an NV4500 and swap it in. That's what I would like to do, but I want to keep my 400, don't mind keeping my mechanical clutch linkage, and think I can get an NV4500 for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a ZF-5 from the local junkyard. I'd say you should start watching copart for 87-97? F250s that have been rear ended.

 

well that certainly simplifies the project and the price seems pretty good too.

Is the zf5 that great of a transmission that it's worth the swap, or do people bother with it because there simply aren't many other good choices?

Poor Mr. Lewis didn't even get much better fuel mileage after his swap from what I could tell?

Anyway I am all about OD provided of course there is payback on the investment.

 

People go with the ZF-5 because it already comes ready to bolt up to the engine they have or want in their truck already and people like to keep Ford (not really, but it came on a Ford originally) parts on their truck. If you want to spend more I believe Tremec makes a nice 4x4 transmission that would work, and if you are going 2wd there are more options. I don't think the ZF-5 is the best transmission out there. I think it is a better transmission than what these old rigs came with and it is one of the few options that bolts up to the stock engines without needing the ability to fabricate custom adapters.

There is unlikely to be much payback on investment. That's the wrong way to look at vehicle modifications. I would expect a ZF-5 swap to cost somewhere around $2,000 in parts and a bunch of labor if you don't do it all yourself. The overdrive is only going to help at higher speeds when the engine is not stressed working up big hills, towing, etc. So the math is not too complicated. Figure out how much you spend on fuel now. Figure out what percentage of your time is spent in situations where overdrive would help. Take a guess at how much it would increase your mileage (1-2mpg? I have no clue, that's a WAG, but you could use info from other swappers). Multiply those all out and you have how much money you will save per amount of time. Then just compare that to the thousands of dollars spent on upgrading. That will tell you how long it takes to break even on the swap. In my math I think I was looking at something over 10 years, but I don't spend much time on the freeway.

Math:
Fuel cost per unit of time * percentage of miles spent on freeway * gas cost saved = amount saved per unit of time
transmission swap cost / amount saved per unit of time = break even time

So my example would be something like...
I pay $300 per month in fuel * 10% of my miles are freeway * 20% increase in mileage = I save $6 a month
$2000/$6 = 333 months or 27 years until I break even.

Now, my driving is unusual. I don't commute to work and I live in a small town, so almost all my driving is outside of the useful overdrive range.
If I tweak the numbers, add a commute with freeway it may pay off much quicker.
$600 per month * 50% freeway * 20% increase = $60 saved per month
$2000/$60 = 33 months or 2.7 years until break even.

Anyway, you can figure out how long and how likely a payoff or break even will be. You just need to semi-accurately estimate your costs, driving, and mileage improvement.

 

The ZF5 came factory with 460 4x4 trucks up to 1997. The 400 and 460 share the same bellhousing.

This would seem to greatly simply things.

All major things you would need to do is figure out pedals, trans cross member and shorten driveshaft.