The 240/300 bad on gas? Some guys with late 80's trucks are getting 25 mpg and my dad's '65 M-350 gets at least 15 mpg but it has 5.13:1 gears.

 

Use the Dakota kit from Industrial Chassis, Inc regardless of engine choice. Only use the Mustang II stuff if you want it to ride like a Pinto.

 

I didn't realize dakotas were nooted for their cornering and smooth ride. MII takes the least amount of room and is the cleanest when you pop the hood, in my opinion--of course i have one. they generally require NO CUTTING.

If you are going to the trouble to put an engine in something, install something you can build upon for power and performance.

In reality, most of the heads in the 289-302-351w family aren't that great, but lots of cast iron and aluminums out their. step up to a 1.96/1.60 valve set up.

 

Option 1 - Find a junk Jaguar XJS. Grab the suspension and the V-12. It will fit and you won't have to make new motor mounts. With this arragnement, can make a technical arguement tht you stayed within the Ford family. This is one optuion I am contemplateing. I have everything except for the Fuel injection system that the dimwitt I bought it from tossed when he pulled the engine. It fits - I've already checked. Remeber, these trucks came with 6-cylinders that were just as long as the V-12. Find one that fuel injected. Setting up the 3 2bbls would be a bigger pain than setting up the fuel injection in my opinion.

Option 2 - 6.0 Power Stroke Diesel. So mcuh stronger and faster than the 7.3 Ltr. Again, use the JAG suspension and beef up the JAG springs. If you have a buddy with a tow truck or one that's an auto insurance adjuster, have them keep an eye out for a totaled 03-07 Superduty. You might be amazed at how cheaply you may be able to come across one. Soemtiems they want a fortune and sometimes they want to move them fast and cheap. You never know. Ge the whole truck if you can. It will allow you to pull everything you need on your own schedule.

Option 3 - 351 Cleveland. Pound for pound, perhaps the best small block production engine ever produced up until recently - sans the Small Block Boss engines. Even stock ones cranked out respectable numbers the first couple of years. That last couple of years they were choked into being dogs but can be made to generate a lot of power pretty easily.

There are easier options but I'm always partial to the stuff that's a little different.

The 4.2 ltr engine in my wife's 03 Jaguar S-Type is pretty hot and it's bone stock. It would also make a nice engine for your truck. If you could find one of the turbo charged versions form an S-Type "R" you'd really have something unique and one heck of a performer.

 

I went to the World of Wheels in Phoenix last week and there was a boatload of the 4cam/32 valve Lincoln/Cobra engines there

 

Love to have one in my boat!!

 

I went with the 351W/C4 combination in my '50 F-1 and it has worked out very nice. Relatively few major modifications.

 

When i am ready for an engine i will definitely be putting a 4.6L super charged cobra in my truck, but by then i will have to figure out how to make it hover!

 

How to make it hover is the fun part!

 

If you are going with a carbureted engine, I think you need to define "modern". A truly modern engine is OHC and has EFI. The only reason a 302 or 351 could be considered modern IMO is that there were later versions with EFI -- the design came out in '64. If you are going with a carb, any OHV engine from about '62-on meets your criteria -- they will all have modern features such as full-flow oil filtering, have easy parts availability, and are plentiful.

Historically hot rodders with older heavy vehicles like our trucks went straight to the 400+ cube engines -- 455 Buicks/Olds/Poncho, or Caddy power. Geared right these are just as easy on gas (when you're moving) as a small-block, and they run forever. If you're using an automatic, more reason to get a big, loafing engine. Any of these make at least 400 ft-lbs at 2500 RPM or less -- no small block can come close to that.

I'm sure there is a big "Ford in a Ford" bias here but after owning a 460 for 7 years, I couldn't recommend it. It doesn't have the anywhere near the raw torque of a 455 B-O-P or big Caddy, and I never, NEVER got more than 10 mpg no matter how I drove it.

A BB Chevy would certainly have the torque you need but wouldn't have any of the cache' that a big Olds, Buick, Pontiac, or Caddy would. The B/O/P/C motors are more expensive to mod than a BB Chevy, but you don't need to mod them. Watch BobbyT smoke the skins on his stock Caddy-powered truck with barely any throttle and you'll see what I mean. And did I mention these are cheap to come by?

OK, you can hit the flamethrowers now -- BobbyT, come to my rescue!!

 

This is awesome! I was looking for ideas and now I have a bunch. The people in this forums are the best!

 

Ive got a '71 302 in my '48 and i know that Ron Davis makes a radiator that bolts into the stock mounts and its good power and fits nice

 

My 56 has ,I believe, a 1975 360 warmed to to a 390/ a 2 barrel carb and a C-6.

Gas milage isn't too great, however it really goes.

Originally it had a 6

 

Put me down for a 347 stroker

 

The Ron Davis radiator is great. I have it in my truck and highly recommend it. Excellent quality. It's a little pricey, but well worth it (Plus mine was a birthday present ).

As far a modern engine for my truck, I would go to the dark side once again (Chevy LSx series).

hotrod48