Allright, so i decided to post up some pictures from swapping the 390 into my '85 F-150. It was alot of work, but not nearly as much as it could have been. The engine also sits in there and looks like it could have rolled off of the showroom floor with it.

The fit was a little tight right at the firewall and I had to notch the frame for the oil filter, but it's in there

This is the clip peeled off and the unsuspecting 300 sitting there, wondering what's about to happen
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606076.jpg

Old bellhousing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606079.jpg

New
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606080.jpg

This is where the right perch wound up. It's about 2" rear from stock, the leading edge of the perch lines up with the trailing edge of the crossmember
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606082.jpg

And here is the motor sitting in the frame.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606091.jpg

Before I installed the motor I modified the motor mounts. I've never had luck with bonded rubber mounts, so I through drilled them and bolted them together. The lower bolt looks goofy because it isn't the one that's going to be in there and it isn't tight. I was letting the motor settle out before tightening them all up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606093.jpg

This is all I have of pictures so far. Expect updates either right before or right after the weekend, I just haven't had a chance to get pictures of the motor with the radiator, clip and oil pan installed.

Justin

 

Wow,you have been busy. Pics look good. Nice job!

 

Everything above happened in a day this past Sunday. everything else is together and it's running, but i keep forgetting my camera with the truck. Haven't road tested it yet as I'm replacing the front clip as well (it's taking more time than the engine swap ), so the body isn't quite together.

Also when all is said and done the engine swap and clip replace should come in under $250


Justin

 

Now that's what I call bargain shopping. lol,,, Good deal!

 

What were your frame brackets off of for the motor mounts to bolt to? I have been doing a 390 swap into a 90 pickup for a while now and used the frame brackets off of a 75 that the 390 came out of but my motor sits down in my frame a little more than yours by the looks of it. And my motor mount brackets look totally different than what yours do. I'm just curious because with my motor in my truck i would have to cut a huge hole in my frame to even be able to fit an oil filter on the motor. I was just planning on putting a remote mount oil filter on mine. But i'm curious what your brackets came off of?

 

right bracket is a stock 80-96 300 perch that i welded 4 tabs to to mount to the rear of the crossmember and the right frame rail. The left bracket was the right bracket from a 78 bronco that I sectioned out and welded back together that bolts to the rear of the crossmember.

I let the transmission position the motor and had to notch the frame about 3/4" to get oil filter clearance on the front and inside edges of the big hole in the crossmember right above the front differential. I welded a piece of 1"x1"x.25 angle iron in there to get any lost strength back.

Justin

 

good job hoxii. All the naysayers have been proven wrong. For the left bracket, may I ask why the other 300 bracket wasn't used? (Just to give evidence to my own knowing.)

 

Cool! I'm a proponent of FE's in pretty much any application. Good work!

Any indications on how the exhaust will work?

 

I couldn't use the left side 300 perch due to it's shape. it comes across the top of the frame and then wraps down infront of the crossmember, so it kinda "dishes" out. I would have had to have butchered it to make it work, so I just butchered the perch that i would have no other use for. I didn't want to destroy any of the 300 stuff until the 390 was in and running, just in case.

As for the exhaust, it worked out remarkably well on the passengers side. It's VERY tight to the frame, but all I had to do was elongate the holes on the stock 300 exhaust and then use a donut gasket for a SBC and it bolted right on.

Right now the drivers side is flex pipe and a glass pack, but I think I'm just going to drop the exhaust down and over, weld it into the stock 300 system (mine is 2.5" until after the cat), and then where it drops to 2.125 after the cat i'm going to cut it off and run 2.5 or 3" straight out the back. I'm not sure what the stock application of the motor mounts i used is (they're the ones that come with the 54-64 F-100 FE swap kit) but had I used a shorter mount or had I installed the mount the way I wanted to there would have been MAJOR motor mount and motor perch interference with the exhaust.

I got lucky with how smoothly the swap went. I never considered exhaust interference while I was building the perches. I built the passengers perch, but then decided rather than building the drivers to fit where i thought it should, i was going to put the motor in and put it where it wanted to be. That's when i realized that on the drivers side the motor mount can only go in one way to clear the exhuast since it's a centerish drop (which happened to be the exact opposite way I had it installed and was intending to build the perch around). That really saved me alot of time and headaches.

Justin

 

Oh, and for this swap a rear sump oil pan is a MUST. If you try to use a front sump, you still have about 2" between the motor mounts and perches right as the pan hits the frame.

The radiator hoses were also kinda fun since I kept the 300 radiator in there. For the upper I pieced together the lower hose for a '76 IH Scout and the upper hose for a '78 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, and for the lower I'm using the 300 upper and lower sectioned together.

Justin

 

Please tell me you're going to put headers on there at some point.

 

If i can find a set that fits. I don't see why 2.25 into a 2.5 single would be too restrictive, the motor is rarely ever going to see over 3500 RPM.

Headers are on the agenda, but probably won't be any time soon.

Justin

 

All right, so as of today the truck runs completely on it's own. No starting fluid, no nothing. Still need to make a clutch bracket, but i think it's going to be driving by lunch tomorrow

There'll be more pics tomorrow or monday, but it looks REAL nice sitting down between the fenders.

Justin

 

Hanging the body
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606096.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606097.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606098.jpg

Motor down in there
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../042606104.jpg

Justin

 

As you can see from my sig, the 80-86 is my preferred body style. However, whoever had the idea at ford to quit putting the FE's in trucks was a complete moron. IMHO that is the absolute best design V-8 motor they ever built. FE's rock. I have to admit to being jealous, I would put a 390 in my 85 Bronco in a heartbeat if I had the shop, tools, time, and money to do so. Very cool sir. If you ever plan on being close to KC, I would love to see it. I'd drive to wherever you'd be in KC to check it out. Keep us posted. (Please)