Trying to breathe some life back into my project. While the outside of my truck will remain very close to stock, I am considering a Cyote engine with an R680 trans. Has anybody ever tried this? I searched the forum and didn't find any hits.

I am never the first to try anything, so I'm sure somebody gave this a whirl. Looking for any experiences. The more I dig, the more complex it gets, but still possible.

 

What truck and configuration do you have now Jack?

 

I have a 54 that has been taken down the frame, and is ready to reassembly & paint.
Would like to get the driveline finalized before re-assembly.
Lots of flexibility!

 

Jack, do a google search for "coyote engine install ford f100'', around 17 million listed, ... honest.

 

Here was a start of a good project but don't know whatever happened to Nick or his project..
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tor-build.html

 

This may be of help to you too..

 

This was super helpful 56panelford!!!

 

The original frame cannot withstand the power from a Coyote engine without modification. At a minimum, it should be boxed with 3/16” plate.
The other option is an aftermarket chassis.
I prefer the factory frame with modifications, if you have a matching title.

 

That link to Nick's build shows in detail of a boxed original frame, I would have loved to see the truck in completion but Nick just one day stopped posting and never returned, tried several times to reach out to him with no luck..

 

The Coyote engine is a beautiful piece of equipment.
I still need to buy the Ford Racing control pack for my 2022 F-150 engine with a 10R80.
The twin overhead cams make the heads real wide. The engine looks huge but it only weighs about 445 pounds.

 

I would also like to see the truck completed. Nick did great work on it. These projects get expensive and sometimes life issues get in the way. I hope he is doing well.

I had it easier when I boxed my frame because I still have my old trailer jig that my dad and I built about 50 years ago. I moved and rebuilt it over 30 years ago. It sure makes projects like building trailers or boxing in frames much easier, even though it is now outside.

 

I helped a guy putting a coyote engine and 5 speed stick in a F1 chassis (virtually the same as a F100 chassis) a few years back. His desires were to use the beam axle front suspension and Toyota PS box, This was a street only build. There were a bunch of fit issues with the width of the heads and the shifter location that had to be addressed. Coyotes were fairly new at the time, maybe there is a lot more support for this swap today, it required a LOT of custom designed swap parts back then. The major sticking point was with the exhaust manifolds and snaking the pipes through the very limited space on the driver's side. We tried every header and OEM exhaust manifolds available at that time to solve the issues. After a year of helping him all day practically every Sat and Sunday I could no longer afford the gas costs to drive the 40 miles each way, and he thought he could finish the build himself as we finally had the engine and trans install figured out, so I left the project at that point. He never was able to finish it after that and I heard he traded the partial build for a dirt track midget racer.
Here are the issues and solutions I came up with:
1.) exhaust. There was just no room on the driver's side for any way to fit any exhaust header and down pipe around the steering and frame on the driver's side. We tried ever OEM and aftermarket sets of manifolds out there and none would fit.We ended up first starting with a Sanderson pass side header and custom made engine and transmission mounts that offset the engine as far to the passenger side as possible and still allowed minimal room for a down pipe. A one of a kind prototype header was fabricated out of plastic plumbing pipe and sent to Sanderson. They duplicated it in metal perfectly, and it fit! Biggest hurdle solved!
2.) Mounts. As mentioned a set of engine and transmission mounts had the be designed and fabricated. But also the weird shifter that mounted to the floor pan on the donor Mustang for the tranny put the shifter well under the seat. This I solved by designing another one of a kind mount that reversed the shifter location but did not change the shift pattern, and fully bolted to the transmission. This moved the stick substantially forwards clearing the front of the bench seat. He wanted to use the bench since he had 2 young kids and wanted room for both to ride with him. I had the mount machined by another friend.
3.) interior floor. All this shifting of location and size of the bell housing required a custom made floor pan. That was relatively easy to accomplish once the engine and transmission location was established.
4.) frame boxing, or lack there of... Note that since he was not going drag racing or even mounting way oversized rear tires, and with the lack of rear end weight it was decided that frame boxing was not needed on this build. The F1 and F100 frame are substantially stronger and originally built to flex rather than break, they are much stronger than the flimsy prewar buggy spring frames that required boxing. This decision gave needed room for wiring and plumbing inside the frame rails and a softer, less jarring ride on the street. YMMV

All this was documented on FTE, but for some reason the PTB decided to purge (only) this forum of all it's earlier posts and pictures without warning, so this build and all my previous instructional posts suddenly went poof into cyberspace one day. This is why I left here for several years.

 

I think you left for other reasons..

 

AXracer, you were involved in an early Coyote swap. I am sure you learned a lot from that early work.
There is so much out there today for Coyote swaps that it is mind boggling.

There is a company local to me that has been doing Coyote swaps for years. I have bought several parts from them and their quality is top notch. They use, almost exclusively, aftermarket chassis in their builds. They say that they tried factory frames, with no success. They also do not like the Crown Vic IFS. I figure they do not like the CV IFS or factory frames because they are not custom so there is too much labor in making them work. For me, I prefer factory frames with matching titles. I also really like the CV IFS, with the electric power steering. When I showed this company top mechanic, my setup, he had never seen the electric power steering. What makes the CV so nice for these conversions is that they have the Ford offset built in which makes fitting the Coyote engine much easier. In fact, that offset almost perfectly matched the Ford offset in the S-550 IRS.

I think most folks doing Coyote swaps will get them out of wrecks, like I did mine. The local company uses new Ford Coyote crate engines almost exclusively. I bought a 2022 F-150 engine that was only a few months old and I got it and the transmission for about a third of what a new Mustang Coyote and transmission would cost. An engine out of a wreck will also have the accessories. I still need to buy a $2,500 Ford racing control pack, but I am still money ahead.

There are motor mounts available and almost everything else I can think of for these conversions. All these aftermarket parts did not exist early on.

These modern engines are great, but they are not cheap.

I wish anyone doing the conversion the best of luck because they are a work of engineering excellence.

 

I went the Roadster Shop chassis route for my 1949 Mercury M-47 build. I had to mortgage my mom for it, but I feel it was the way to go. It will get a Gen 3 Coyote and Tremec 6-speed. Pics of the engine fitting attached.

Roadster Shop chassis waiting for the engine.

Gen 3 Coyote finally arrives.

Coyote engine being fit.

I believe the plan is to fit the air intake into the fender.