Just curious as to what engines can be thrown into a pickup. I'm running a 351w and am going to go to a 302, I know they're pretty much the same but it should help a tad. And I heard the 300 isn't much different either but what would be the best thing to swap in to help on gas.

 

well im not from this forum i have a 300 sucks just as much gas as ur truck prolly and 2 of my friends have 302s and they suck the same amount of gas
i dont know if this helps but
just some info

 

What year truck,engine,trans,rear end?

 

Thats pretty much what I've heard, that there all pretty much the same. I dont haul or anything it just gets me from point a to point b lol and my wheelbase is being shortened up to 105 if that plays a role in anything.

 

well right now its an 82 351w c6 trans and 9inch rear end dont kno gears tho, but its going on an 86 chassis to shorten it up with the 302.

 

Well if you're looking for gas mileage I would say a 300 six would be good but if you want to keep your 351W get a overdrive transmission,check the rear gears you have that will also decide your gas mileage too.

I have a 85 F150 with a factory 302 EFI set up with a AOD trans mission a 8.8 rear end with 3.55 gear with a few more minor mods I hope to knock down better than 20mpg.

My truck is a Longbed with a Aluminum shell. You can also get a EFI for the 300 6

 

If it were me, I would put a cummins 4bt in your truck. If you find a frito lay or bread truck with a Ford chassis, with the cummins repower engine in it, it will bolt in to these frames. The frame of the Ford box van chassis is the same up front, and they put 300 sixes in them. Cummins had a program where they made a kit to swap in the 4bt in place of the 300 six. So those trucks have factory adapters for the cummins to 300 six motor mount perches, and an adapter to the Ford small block bellhousing.

If your truck has a v8 now, you would have to go to the junkyard and get the frame perches from a 300 six truck and bolt them in.

This engine is the little brother to the cummins in the Dodge pickups. It's turbo charged, and you can get over 20 mpg if you have the right gearing in the rearend. You can see another post I have in here, where even though diesel fuel is more expensive, if you get better miles per gallon, you wil be money ahead.

Beware though this swap will probably cost you at least $2500. So it would take a few years to make this up, but if you are engine swapping anyway.....

 

You probably have 3.50 in the rear end. I have the same style truck and thats what I have for gears. YOu want to get good gas mileage find a small car no offense but these trucks aint the greatest on gas no matter what you have in them. They are real trucks with real metal and that hurts the fuel economy.

 

Personally, I wouldn't waste the time, effort or money swapping the motor.

You can get just about equal gas mileage out of all three I would suspect. Just make sure that your 351 is well tuned, and keep your foot out of the throttle.

The 351 gives you the best of both worlds, decent gas mileage (go lightly on the skinny pedal) and power when you need it.

Good (new) plug wires, a hotter coil with some autolite spark plugs gapped to about .055 -.060, and bump your timing up as much as you can without pinging.

I've heard that combo alone is worth a couple of miles to the gallon and makes it a whole lot more fun to drive.

 

The ways things seem to be going without a limit in sight, I am starting to think we might be forced to revert to mules and wagons.

-Jim