I'm looking for a donor ford truck f-100 73-76 to swap out the PS / PB / Steering column / 390 motor and tranny and possibly AC. What do I need to know about the donor other than having those things available? I've heard / read than I can swap out the newer parts fairly easily with my '66 352 automatic. Can I go through a '78 or later or am I pretty restricted to certain years? does 1/2 ton 3/4 ton matter? What all do I need to consider? I'd like to get the most out of the truck possible, but I've never done this before and I don't want to botch it....Any suggestions would help (ie any experiences / pros and cons that you'ver all encountered)
Also any suggestions on how to find a ford guy able to do this kind of work, most of you sound very mechanically inclined and ....well I hate to admit it, but I pretty mechanically challenged. Please advise, ... I'm actually a high school teacher and have even considered a little hands on experience sitting in during my lunch hour in the auto shop class with my truck as my own little project, but I think this "assignment" might be for a Senior, not a Freshmen...

 

First thing, I recommend is put your town and state in your profile. You could have a fellow truck owner living a mile away but has no way of knowing.

Every town is different and you need to ask around about machine shop and mechanic availibility.

Look for a donor that has the FE engine and type of tranny that you want to end up with. Personally I think I would go with a new aftermarket AC system just because they are much more efficient. The old York compressors took a lot of energy to run.

You are not looking for sheetmetal, unless you want to part out the truck and recover some of your investment. I have done that and my donor parts didn't cost money. Once everything is stripped a you can get rid of the carcus.

You will need a place to store the donor for 6 months to a year. Sometimes it can take that long to get rid of everything.

Does your engine need freshening? Are you planning on replacing the tranny? Make a plan that you can follow.

I think I would find a donor get the sheetmetal off rebuild the engine and tranny, paint the chassis and move your truck shetmetal over. It will take more than your average tool box to do either.

Do Not jump on the first thing that passes, make your plan and stick to it. Do Not rush time is on your side.

Good luck

John

 

Too late to edit my post, but I realize that I made reference to both methods of upgrade.

1- Swapping upgrade parts under your chassis.

2- Swapping your sheet metal over to the newer chassis.

The 2nd can give you the time to get more things complete before making the swap. Although I have not done this myself, I would go this route next time I did one.

John

 

I agree with John W, post your location, and someone is very likely close by!

The reasons for getting a '68-'79 donor truck:
1. You get ALL the parts, such as engine perches, driveshaft, pulleys, all the nitnoid things that drive you crazy getting the swap done. If you are missing a part, it can take weeks to find the right one. This is VERY important if you are chanign the basic configuration of your '66, such as replacing the FE with a 385.
2. You can see how it comes off, which makes it easy to go back on.
3. It is all bolt-up, or very nearly so. You do not have to cut, weld or fabricate very much at all. You can use some things from an '80 and later donor truck, but not very much.
4. You can sell the unused parts.

ENGINE: If you want to keep your FE engine, then yes, you need to find a '69-'76 with a 360 or 390. '76 was the last year for FE engines in the trucks. If, however, you are willing or want to change to a 300 six, or any other engine family, such as a the Windsor family (302, 351W), the 335 series (351C, 351M and the 400), or the 385 series (429/385), then you can go all the way to '79.
If you decide to change, then the donor truck wil provide all the parts you need.

POWER BRAKES: You can use the power disc brakes setup from a '73 or later. The best brake booster will be the one that has a flat bar rather than a round rod from the brake pedal to the booster.

POWER STEERING: You will need to have the correct brackets and pulleys for the engine to be used. This is the biggest and best reason to have the complete engine as a donor.
The donor PS box and pitman arm will bolt to your '66 frame and existing steering linkage. You will need the donor linkage (or replacement parts if they are worn out) when you upgrade to disc brakes.

Here is what I did to my '66 F-100, to change out from a 352/3-speed, to a 460/C6. I used a '76 F-150 for the brakes and steering (and sold the rest, by the way), an '86 F-250 for the engine, and an '83 F-350 for the transmission. The toal swap cost me about $500 by the time I paid for the donor trucks and sold the unneeded parts.

I am getting 15 MPG at 70 MPH with a nearly stock 460 in my '66 F-100. And I have power to spare.
‘86 460 bored 60 over with stock '86 heads - no porting
'77 F-250 460 engine perches and mounts
'69 straight up cam gears, Cloyes double roller with RV type cam
Edelbrock Performer (not RPM) intake and 1470 750 CFM carb on a 1" phenolic spacer
'76 Duraspark II ignition
Stock aftermarket manifolds with a 2 1/2 inch dual exhaust (plain mufflers); copper gaskets
'93 serpentine belt brackets and pulleys
'78 power steering pump, hoses
with ’93 PS pulley
'76 power steering box
’76 power steering pitman arm
’92 power steering cooler, mounted in the frame
'70 steering column
'66 radiator (re-cored)
'66 alternator
with '93 serpentine pulley and fan
'86 water pump
'86 fan clutch with '77 7-blade fan
'83 C-6 from an '83 F-350 fifth wheeler, with '77 C-6 linkage (internal shift rod and kickdown)
2.75 rear end
'83 stock rear sump oil pan, with stock oil pump, pickup tube and dipstick (includes main bearing bolt with stud to hold pickup in place)
Includes '93 A/C compressor, but A/C is not installed. (Needed for the serpentine belts.)
’76 F-150 3-inch rear brakes

The only modifications I had to make were:
Fabricate an accelerator cable bracket by combining an FE one with a 385 one.
Shorten the front driveshaft to adapt to the C-6 (with a conversion joint)
Change the C-6 internal shift linkage from a ’68 – ’79 C-6. <o></o>

 

Those are great ideas and elp a bunch, I'm updating my info right now. Banjopicker, sounds like quite the truck and it must run very well. I'll hopefully be able to get a donor soon, but I'll wait to find the right one first. Thanks again all the extra info helps