I was kicking around the idea of putting an FI 460 in an older truck, but after thinking about it, I think I'd rather do a 351 MAF build.

From what I could gather from searching the forum, it looks like I could rob the complete wiring harness and 'puter out of a 302 MAF truck and it would be a relatively painless swap to a complete (oil pan to intake) 351 EFI motor.

The reason I mention the 302 harness is that those trucks are relatively plentiful around here in the scrapyard or Craigslist, while a MAF 351w is much harder to find. Older SD 351w motors, however, are relatively plentiful.

If I read the older posts right, I would have to make sure the trans is either non-computer controlled or use the same trans as the one I pull the harness from in the truck I build in order for the harness to work right.

I want to get a jump on the harness now while the junkyards are flush with C4C vehicles. It'll be awhile before I'm ready to start (waiting on my dirt guy to get over here and start leveling out the ground for my shop) but I'd like to get a list of stuff together so I can start picking up parts as I find them.

So right now my list consists of a complete wiring harness with ECU from a MAF 302 truck (with a manual or non-computer controlled trans) and a complete rebuildable EFI 351w. This is assuming I don't blunder into a donor 351 maf vehicle, of course.

Are my assumptions above correct and is there anything else I'll need?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

hey man wanted to wish congratulate you,best of luck, You must have read my mind, my 96 maf 5.0 5speed hit 170k over the weekend and i'm looking for a nice FI 5.8 and ZF trans to swap in soon. please keep us updated!!! jake

 

this another vehicle you got in addition to the one you just swapped a 351 into? Keep us posted on your progress

 

Thanks! I'm spreading myself a bit thin $$ wise with trying to build a building and scrounge parts for a project at the same time, but hopefully I'll have the shop up and at least the motor and harness by January. I don't get much done in the summer 'cause I'm fishing all the time, I'd like to at least be able to do an engine rebuild while it's cold out and I'm bored out of my mind.

Yeah, this would be a new project. The swap I just did was for a daily driver, I want to do a frame off on a dentside and update it with a newer maf motor. Like I said above, I need a winter hobby other than staring at the boat full of snow and wishing it was May After doing the swap in this truck I got the wrench turning bug pretty bad. Last couple of years it's been outboards but they are way to stinkin' expensive to play with. Cost me $1100 in parts when I rebuilt my old 75 horse last summer.

 

Talked to a guy about a '95 F250 with a 5.8 yesterday. It's cheeeeeeep, which is good.

I'm assuming '95 would be MAF, so that's good. Engine is high miles, but no knocks and runs good, so that's also good since I'm looking for a rebuilder.

Now for the questions - it's 2wd auto. Won't shift out of second is one of the reasons it's so cheap.

Any issues with swapping this motor/ECU/harness into a stick or older non-electronic trans 4x4 truck with regards to the ECU working with the trans/4x4?

I'm thinking worst case would be that I'd just need an ECU out of a similar truck with a stick to prevent any codes from popping due to lack of trans inputs, but just want to check before I plunk down my money and tow this beast home.

Thanks!!

 

There is no guarantee the HD trucks will be MAF.. they're actually much more more likely to be SD unless it's a Cali truck. I think you're going to have to restrict your harness/EEC search to F150's and Bronco's from around 1992 to '95.

P.S. The engine would make a good rebuild candidate though.. 94+ blocks are roller motors.

 

Thanks Paul! After doing some searching on here I thought it might be a roller motor. The guy is tied up this weekend, hopefully I can get a look at the truck Monday or Tuesday and see if it's MAF or not - or even better get him to send me a pic via cell phone this weekend. He's wanting less than $400 for it so I don't think I'm going to get hurt if I get it even if it is SD. This might be one of those rare occasions when I've found what I'm looking for on payday (laughing). Hopefully it's not sold by the time I get to look at it next week.

Even if it's not MAF, as I said earlier I think with the C4C stuff in the yards around here I should be able to scrounge up a MAF harness/ECU/other stuff relatively cheaply and easily. One of my buddies is a Mustang nut, he may even have what I'm looking for in his scrap pile

Any trans concerns with regards to the computer? If my plan works out I'd like to drop this motor (with MAF and upgrades that I'll bug you about when I get that far ) in a 70's truck with a C6 or if I get ambitious might put a ZF in the older truck.

Thanks again!