hi i have a 87 bronco with a 4.9 6 cyl in needs to be rebuilt can anyone give me tips on any high perfonmance mods i can make and where i can get the parts and what other year engines will fit thanks jerry

 

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If you're going to stay w/ the 6, I think all years will fit; it depends on if you're gonna go EFI or carb. Cruise down to the inline six forum, and search for performance mods. It's a hot topic- lots of info. I know for a carb set-up, most guys go with an Offy 4 bbl intake (JC Whitney, Summit, most perf. catalogues), about a 390 to 450 cfm carb, cam, and the later dual EFI exhaust manifolds (or headers). Usually some head porting is in order. As for EFI mods, you'll have to talk to someone younger than me!

 

Well it all comes down to 1 thing,money. I have a carb'd block and have seen guys port the heads, put cebby valves in, roller rockers, deck the head, bore the cylinders, put in a mild to wild cam, dual header, offy intake. As for efi, at least the cam and roller rockers maybe larger injectors, but then i think some computer work is needed, but im not positive.

 

The best performance mod you can do to the 4.9L/300cid is replace it with a 5.8L/351W. That is what I did when the 300 in my '83 Bronco died at 210,000 plus miles. It's never ran better!

 

I will beg to differ with you on this one. The 4.9l (300 c.i.d.) I-6 is a virtually indestructable powerplant. It was designed as a TRUCK engine. (The ONLY engine ever put in a Bronco that was) It pulls like a TRUCK engine. Arguably, for its size, it out performs BOTH of the smallblock V8 options that rolled out of the factory in the Bronco. I've seen 300's with 300 THOUSAND+ ticks on the meter with the original water pump, oil pump, and valvetrain! It will run stronger longer (measure your torque & HP from a 4.9 at 200,000 miles and do the same with a 302 or 351 and see which engines have suffered the most loss). Rebuild the 300. If you want to swap to EFI, the components are backward compatible for the most part. Since Ford outfitted the 4.9 with EFI from the factory in '87 the OEM parts are available to make the switch. Certainly check with the I-6 forum as was previously suggested as well.

 

It was actually designed as a TRACTOR/Industrial engine and converted to the Truck Line.

 

Greystreak is spot on - as usual.

Stick with the 300. Going to a 351 is not much of an upgrade.

 

What will you doing with this thing? If it's a Bronco it should be 4wd so its not a drag car anyway. The most I would do on the engine is cam and port it for what you want to do and match it to your RPM happy zone. A stock bottom end will handle these upgrades. I want the power way low but I don't do great on the highway (I'm runnin 38s). Basic mods will keep this torque monster happy for years while you add the bolt-ons for reliable power :intakes, exhaust, pullies, carbs, ignitions, injectors, chips, gearing........... money, money, and money.

Good luck.

 

I would second that, I have a 4.9 with 191,000 miles and its never let me down yet. I have pulled a few chevy's and jeep's out with my 300.

 

Sorry to have ruffled all those 300cid feathers. My 300 had 210,000 miles on it when it died; there is no denying that it is a tough engine. But I now have 96,000 on the 351HO I replaced it with and it is still running strong. Will I get 210,000 miles out of it? I don't know yet and neither do you.

Having had BOTH engines in the SAME vehicle for quite a few miles, I stand by my original statement. I am much happier with the 351.

Oh yeah, the original C6 transmission just died; 300,000, or there about, miles.

 

Is the 87 carb or EFI... if it's carb a cheap upgrade is to use an adapter and spacer plate and run a 2bbl carb on the stock manifold. then change the ignition over to a duraspark 2... that will give you all the power you need really. That's all I've done to mine and it has more than enough torque to break stuff... frequently.