i just bought a 65 ford f100 with 34000 original miles it was garage kept and in excellent condition i bought it from a young man he said it was his grandfathers and he didnt know much about it except his grandpa bought it when it was new and he thought it had a 270 something strait 6 but it looks alot like a 300 how can i tell them apart any advise would be great

 

If you post up the VIN and the HP off the VIN plate it will get your question answered quickly. These guys are great about that!

 

Ditto -- sounds like a nice truck. The 240 and 300 are identical in outside appearance. The block is the same, and the heads look the same too, though the combustion chamber is smaller on the 240. Given your first post, it would seem that grandpa babied the truck and the engine is original, so the VIN should set it straight. But a lot of engines got swapped through the years, because the 240/300 are so similar.

If gramps had a problem with the original engine, he might have swapped it, without that bit of info ever making it to the grandson.

In any case, there ARE definite methods of determining the engine. Best approach is pulling plug #1, loosening 2-6, and dropping a wire into #1. Turn her over with a ratchet or wrench (on the damper bolt) and measure the stroke. 3.26 more or less is a 240, 3.96 is a 300.

Sounds like you have a nice truck -- don't go hacking it up or modifying it too much till you are really sure that is what you want. There are fewer and fewer of these old trucks that someone really babied. Don't want to wake up in a couple of years and realize that you really shouldn't have tried to drop the front end or what not.

 

yea gramps really took care of this truck its teh kind of truck you keep original and baby it i believe it has the original engine in it cause i got all the records of the truck since it was brand new he always took it to the ford place to have it serviced so its been kept up well.thanks for the info guys

 

Michael, I vote 240, but need to know the fourth digit of the vin. to know what left the factory. I would be most interested in knowing what you were able to score one like for. I saw one at auction a couple of years ago go for $7200.00 that only had 39,000 miles.

John

 

clearly the son of teh original owner didnt know what he had cause i bought it for 2500.00 cash it still has brand new tires on it that he bought in 1979 or so the son says but they have dry rotted cause it sit for so long other than that the interior is in perfect condition other than the top of the seat where the sun shined the the window of the garage it was sitting in and faded the seat a little bit but its as nice as the day it rolled of the show room floor i got extremley lucky

 

ok here is the vin number f10jn674922 hopefully you will be able to tell me

 

First off, welcome aboard!

Secondly, here you go...
F10= F100
J = 240ci w/150hp motor @ 4000 rpm
N = Norfolk assembly plant
674922 = Number built in April 1965

If you wish to post up the rest of the tag info, we can do trans/axle/color and a few others...

Congrats on your find! --Mike

 

thanks man now i know so what do you think about a 240 is it a pretty good engine and all?is it bad for a engine to sit up for that long?and my god is is this truck geared low!

 

My '65 has the 240 (according to the VIN, I haven't measured the stroke yet to verify it), and from all that I've read and heard, these engines are practically bullet-proof and are capable of producing excellent torque. Check out the "Inline Six" forum for more info about these engines, although it seems that most people in that forum have the 300 instead of the 240. Still, they are basically the same engine as far as I know. The 240/300 seems to me to be a great workhorse engine for towing, hauling and general hard work.

 

I drive a 66 daily with a originial 240 and 3spd; its a awesome motor and pretty good on gas; Had a 300 in my 65 that I'm restoring; when I drove with that engine it seem the same except for the 300 is the best 6cyl work horse.
there's ton of parts availabe for repairs and maintaining your truck engine; I believe up to around 78 year model. An example what I'm trying to get at is if your heater motor goes out a 65 sometimes run for around $80 and an idential motor for say a 74 is for $38. This engine and even other parts like heater motor makes for a great low cost to maintian truck.

I wish I came across your find; it would of had a different owner. . Congrat's on your find...

Mitch

 

Congrats on the find the 240 is a great engine. I have one in my 65 and love it it gets awsome gas milage as long as i keep the speed down.

 

ye ayou have to keep your speed down in mine it is geared so low sounds like you are doing 8000 rpm at 55 lol ...but i love it i plan on putting some pics on the site as soon as i get the film back

 

Michael -- the original rear is probably a 3.50 or so -- they aimed at being able to tow and haul stuff and doing 70 for a prolonged period of time was not contemplated. Gas mileage will suffer at higher speeds, but actually the 240 revs pretty well (better than the 300, as the stroke is shorter). The 240, even the old one you have, can probably hang out at 4000 rpm indefinitely without causeing trouble.

You have a special truck it sounds like. Please be careful what changes you make to it -- respect the fact that someone's grandpa babied it all these years and never decided that a chevy 350 V8 was a better engine or some stupid maneuver like that. It probably more valuable left in original condition, if its as nice as it sounds.

Putting some larger tires on it, maybe even going back to bias ply (they stand up higher and steer easier), will help that high reving feeling, FYI. Or, once you are sure about it, swapping a different rear carrier (9" ford rears are very swapable, as you can pull out the gear "carrier" with little effort) with higher gears (lower numerically) would be an option too.

You may have some leaks in the engine -- the 240/300 has that as an achilles heel. Especially at age 40, you are going to have some drips. Unless they are bad, just leave it alone. Someday, during an overhaul, you can replace those old tired seals and gaskets, but tearing down an engine for a few drops of oil on the driveway is pretty extreme.

 

Hey mike..... can you give me a hand with my vin # i also need to know what i just bought..IF POSSIBLE .... its E1OTH698535 1965 FORD ECONOLINE