I was wondering if anyone has installed a newer engine in a 1972 F100. Mine has a 360 cid with three on the tree. It is not very fast becsuae of the gear ratios but a very good work horse. I am interested in what engine should I install and what problems you I may run in to. I have never taken an older vehicle and installed a newer engine with fuel injection. I am sure this is not a big deal just not sure because the newer engines seem to have a lot of electronics on them.

thanks,
rtw

 

it would be alot easyer to pute aftermarket injection on your fe you can get all the power you want from your 360.it would be about the same price to build the fe as it would be to swap in a newer engine but if you are gonna swap i would go with a 351 windsor out of a 94 or newer truck they have a taller plentum and get a little bettet mixture.

 

To each thier own. I'd change to a newer 390 - LOT of power options. Going from an "FE" will need the bellhousing, mounts, etc. changed as well. The "FE Big Block" Forum has a lot of info.

 

Buy a remanufactured 390 with a warranty, give them your 360 and pay the difference on the core charge. As George said, going to anything besides another FE engine will require many other changes. A fresh 390 and a set of highway gears should give you all the cruising speed and good power you would ever need. You could convert the 390 to EFI, but you would never save enough in fuel cost to justify the EFI install. A good Motorcraft or Holley carb will work just fine....

 

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. I realize that an aftermarket fuel injection would note save in the gas milegae but they are more relaiable than the carburators. I was actually thinking of a installing a newer engine that had factory EFI already on it. I am not sure what I had to do for a computer system to control the air/fuel misture.

thanks,
rtw

 

Do you have access to a newer fe with injection for less than a long block?
assuming that yours is dieing. like for little or nothing and the Donner truck or car for the wiring and computer?

 

Installing the newer engine is also going to require changing the transmission or installing some sort of adapter to mate the newer engine to the old FE drive train.... What engine are you considering? There are aftermarket wiring harnesses and ECU's available for many engines.... If you're getting a take out engine from a salvage yard, then get the wiring harness with it and then a schematic for that particular engine and wire it in to your truck.....

As for injection being more reliable...Not sure I would agree. I do know that when my carb needs work I don't need a bunch of high dollar analyzers and code readers to fix it..... EFI and Carbs are just alike in one way..... If they are not properly maintained they are guaranteed to break down.

 

To all who responded,

Thanks again for your input on this. The 360 engine appears to leaking oil in several places. The value covers, the timing chain cover both of which are not a big deal; however, the oil pan and possible the rear main seal will be a lot more work. Most likely the engine will need to come out for the last two. The carb needs rebuilding again, less than 3 years since last rebuild. Oh yeh, the exhaust system needs replacing as well, I can't seem to keep a donut from leaking. For the drive train everthing else on the truck is original. The enigne has about 60k miles. Seem to me that if I had to pull the engine, it would be a good time to upgrade with a newer engine with factory EFI. The other option I considered was to stick a new standard 360 in it. This I can get from AutoZone for about $1500. Rebuild the carb, add headers and a new exhaust system and I should be good to for a while. Which do path would be the least painful.

thanks,
rtw

 

From my experience. Autozone builds the most inferior long block with the cheapests parts. Where as Napa is among the top in Quality. Ya get what ya pay for.

 

RTW, We don't know what your budget limits, or experience level are. Since you said EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) you will have to have the computer to control it. You can go all the way to the current modular engine/tranny combo if those levels are high enough.

The FEs generally don't leak from the rear main, but the intake manifold does and the rear gets blamed.

You didn't say that your engine was knocking or that you had tested the compression of each cylinder to find issues there.

A well worn FE can still have plenty of umpth, so maybe you should look at tuning it up. Short of a 460 you aren't gonna get more power from a newer engine over what you get from the FE. IMHO

Your oil leaks can easily be fixed with new gasket materials. Your exhaust is probably loose under the truck and you are depending on the donut joint to do more than it can deliver. That along with the carb are all external items to deal with.

I would recommend that you start looking at a donor for your upgrade depending on the direction that you want to go in. Take your time you will come out ahead.

John

 

Are you just replacing the engine because it's leaking? It would be cheaper and not too difficult to just fix the leaks. Of course, if the engine is not performing as it should, that's another story.

 

Adding opinion - I'd go w/ Flowmaster headers and a 2 1/2" pipe w/ a 670 Avenger carb on top. The bit-larger pipe will add slightly to the top end but still keep the bottom end torque and the carb will not be overpowering. - Will be good for a 390 too.
The carb can be tuned for daily use AND open up at a higher RPM when you mash the go pedal.

 

if your donut seal wont keep a seal, it may be because it has leaked for a long enough time period to let the exhaust gasses actually cut a path into the exhaust manifold seal surface. this is easily fixed by taking the manifold into a machine shop and have them machine the seal surface, have them true up the head mating surface on the manifold too.
when removing the bolts in the exhaust manifold use a oxygen/fuel torch to carefully heat up the bolts to a dull red and sometimes the cyl head metal around the bolt threads to loosen the rust so that they will not break off when removing them. I have never broken a bolt this way, but broken plenty at the wrecking yard salvaging used heads. if you heat them properly they should come out with little force, a 4 inch long wrench will be plenty as these bolts are likely weak from years of corrosion and heat cycles. you might get lucky and have brass bolts, in which case they will come out easier, dont use torch on these directly as brass has a lower melting temperature.

 

now for your engine, check the engine out carefully first. make sure the oil leaks are indeed where you think they are. fe's have a bad rep for leaking at the seal surfaces of the intake because of the cork gasket needing to be replaced with a silicone bead, and also the intake/head surface where the valve covers seal up. the rear main cap can leak from between cap and the block, as this seal is not the crank seal but a seperate one that seals the main cap to the block seperately. that seal seeps comonly if not taken care with silicone sealant on the rebuild. its a square hole, so how else would you seal it?
put a 4 speed top loader tanny in it and I am sure you will see a big differance. a better gear selection will benefit you. these 4 speeds used in these trucks thru 1979 or so are practicaly indestructable so finding a good one should be easy. watch for sloppy input shafts and leaky yoke seals.
the problem with the truck 360 in my opinion is that usually they have a rotten camshaft and or low compression compared to there bigger brother the 390. but dont let that fool you, they still will out pull a newer motor. they have far better heads in stock form among other advantages I wont get into.
these engines run for so long and usually dont smoke from rings, but end up with head problems due to very high mileage well over 100,000. I have a 360 I tore down from a 68 truck that has the original ford gaskets and bearings and pistons. the bearings are worn down into the copper, the whole bearing is copper color! the odometer had 87,000 miles on it so I only assume 187,000 on the motor. yes it still ran when I pulled it apart, it had valve troubles though.

 

On FE engines, Ford sold a rear main seal kit, which consisted of two crankshaft rear main bearing cap seals, and two moulded split lip rear main seals. The parts could be purchased separatly.

Building a 390 from your 360, and adding a 4 barrel carb and upgraded electronic ignition, and some decent headers will gain far more HP for far less money, then the next option.

Buying another engine, the condition of which will be unknown, and swapping out the 360, replacing the transmission, and all the labor, wiring and other unforseen expenses will prolly set you back a minimum of $5,500.00 and will run even more with all the headaches of trying to get everything to work. JMO, it's just not worth all that money and effort for little gain.


I took a 156,000 mile 352, built it into a 390, adding a RV cam, 4 barrel and an electronic ignition and dual exhausts. This has worked out very well, and with the trucks original T-85 overdrive, gets me over 20 MPG hwy miles (best so far is 28). Around town..around 10-12.