300 modifications
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From: Ct
300 modifications
I did a search, but couldn't find an exact answer to my questions.
I have an 85 4.9 granny 4spd reg cab long bed. I have decided that it isn't running at my desired levels and am going to take it off the insurance and do some things to it this winter. I have painted the frame, new everything power steering, new brakes and brake lines, new bearings, u-joints, ball joints etc. I plan on full exhaust I work in an exhaust shop so headers, x-pipe, flowmaster 440 probably out the back for more back pressure, intake/carb and I want to refurbish the head, port & polish and ream the valves. What would you suggest specifically for all of those things, and should I do anything with the tranny to deal with the more power? I plan on a 4in or 6in suspension lift and 33*12.50 for tires, are the stock gears short enough?
Thanks for the advice,
Sean
I have an 85 4.9 granny 4spd reg cab long bed. I have decided that it isn't running at my desired levels and am going to take it off the insurance and do some things to it this winter. I have painted the frame, new everything power steering, new brakes and brake lines, new bearings, u-joints, ball joints etc. I plan on full exhaust I work in an exhaust shop so headers, x-pipe, flowmaster 440 probably out the back for more back pressure, intake/carb and I want to refurbish the head, port & polish and ream the valves. What would you suggest specifically for all of those things, and should I do anything with the tranny to deal with the more power? I plan on a 4in or 6in suspension lift and 33*12.50 for tires, are the stock gears short enough?
Thanks for the advice,
Sean
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From: USA!!!
im playin around with a 4.9 in a 1986 short bed right now and jegs or summit racing(cant remember which) says with the offy 4bbl amuminum intake the header and the crane cam with the holley 390 cfm 4bbl carb you get about 150 extra horses or something like that, also if you are toying around with the idea of a locking diff. look around for the aussie locker or the lock right, they are supposed to be alot stronger and more reliable than a detroit or an eaton and alot cheaper for my 1986 f-150 they are only about 199.99 before shipping.
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From: Ct
Originally Posted by dvs
im playin around with a 4.9 in a 1986 short bed right now and jegs or summit racing(cant remember which) says with the offy 4bbl amuminum intake the header and the crane cam with the holley 390 cfm 4bbl carb you get about 150 extra horses or something like that, also if you are toying around with the idea of a locking diff. look around for the aussie locker or the lock right, they are supposed to be alot stronger and more reliable than a detroit or an eaton and alot cheaper for my 1986 f-150 they are only about 199.99 before shipping.
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From: USA!!!
hey, if you go to crane web sight they have a whole page you can fill out about information about your vehicle and they will tell you exactially what cam you need for your vehicle, its alot safer and cheaper to do it this way than to just ask around and play guessing games, this is the part number they suggested for my 86 150, 503901, hope that helps ya out some
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From: Greensburg,PA
I have recently done most of what you are talking about to a reman motor I bought. I used the offy dp intake, holley 390 carb, and a comp cams kit. I don't know about getting 150 horses from all or that but I can tell you that it made a big difference in engine responsiveness. It seems to have a good amount more power and torque, but I don't have any dyno numbers. I would also tell you that some people will tell you to forget the headers and get the EFI manifolds. They seem to be a popular choice. I have 3.50 gears so it is no off the line monster but am going to be installing 4.56 gears front and back. If you add bigger tires you will have to regear to have the same effective gear ratio as stock. There is a bunch of this same info in the 300 section and the tranny and driveline section of this forum. Good luck!!
Last edited by 1980FORD; Nov 13, 2007 at 08:53 PM.
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Oh yeah you can wake up those 300 sixes to do almost anything you want. Check out my gallery, you can see a prime example of a 300 in a lifted 4x4 F150... it has done pretty much anything I asked of it. 
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From: Ct
Originally Posted by Pkupman82
Oh yeah you can wake up those 300 sixes to do almost anything you want. Check out my gallery, you can see a prime example of a 300 in a lifted 4x4 F150... it has done pretty much anything I asked of it.
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From: Greensburg,PA
I have done some research on this and from what I can tell the only major modification needed is to trim one of the front "ears" (where the bolts hold them on to the head) to clear the alternator bracket. There are many people who have done this successfully using offy and clifford intakes. Of course you have to buy the maniflod pipes as the efi manifolds are a 2 piece design, but if you can obtain them from a salvage yard the swap can be done for under the $200+ for a header setup.
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From: Muskegon, MI (home)
Originally Posted by 1980FORD
I have done some research on this and from what I can tell the only major modification needed is to trim one of the front "ears" (where the bolts hold them on to the head) to clear the alternator bracket. There are many people who have done this successfully using offy and clifford intakes. Of course you have to buy the maniflod pipes as the efi manifolds are a 2 piece design, but if you can obtain them from a salvage yard the swap can be done for under the $200+ for a header setup.
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From: Greensburg,PA
I have almost the same setup, engine wise as your truck, and also have the granny gear T-18 trans and I love my truck! I wouldn't swap it for anything. I was just saying that there are people who have done the efi exhaust from a salvage yard truck for very cheap. When you got your header was it the 4wheel drive one or the two wheel drive? I am only asking because when I looked up the prices on them the one listed for a 4x4 was $400 while the 2wd one was less then $200. Is there a difference between the two? Other then the size of the tubes? I couldn't imagine what the difference would be. Looking up the stock manifolds there didn't seem to be a difference between the 2wd version and the 4x4 version. I want to put a header on my truck and get rid of the stock log, but I wasn't sure which one I should use. Figured I would wait till I did a little more research, and failing that I was going to go the EFI manifold route.