Good Morning everyone!

I am contemplating swaping the original Motor out of my 54 F-250 for a crate motor.

Does anyone have any recomendations for what kind of motor to use? I would like something that would require the least amount of modifications to the frame. I may eventually rebuild the original engin and put it back in.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Cory

 

I don't have the same frame as you, but I put a 302 in my '50 F1. I cut the old engine mounts out because I needed the room to put in the Mustang II front end. Had I staid with the original front end, I could have left the mounts in for future use.

The 302 mounts were pretty easy. Where I mounted them, nothing on the front of the engine would come close to the old mounts (if they were still there).

 

I myself have looked for crate motors. I just wanted a stock V8 nothing special and all I could find were upwards of 4-6k. I went to autozone and found a 289 longblock for 1700 so that might end up being what I do.

 

O Reilly's has a deal on used motors with a 3 year warranty. Real reasonable!
You should call and ask them about it.

 

Please keep it blue oval, any engine from a reputable rebuilder should give you lots of trouble free miles. I think NAPA also sells rebuilds, they have always been my first choice in aftermarket anything. LOL

 

A crate motor or a reman can get expensive by the time you add a distributor, carb, timing cover, oil pan, etc. that they often don't come with. That's quite an investment if you have some inkling that you might go back to the stocker someday. Consider checking with your local salvage yards. Pull-a-Part and some of the other big chains have extremely good deals on used engines. Locally, you can buy any V-8 for about $170. You could pick up a nice 5.0L out of a wreck for cheap this way. Just something to think about!

I'm not as familiar with th F-100's as I am the earlier trucks, but the transmission mount on these trucks is on the bellhousing. It's my understanding that the tranny crossmember often gets in the way of motor swaps. You might want to look into that if you might ever go back to the original powertrain.

Beyond all that, the tube type aftermarket engine crossmembers require the least modification to the frame and are the easiest to install.

 

my truck has already had a motor swap in it, right now I have a 250 with a C4 hooked up to it so all I need is the engine itself with motor mounts and I'm good to go. You can get intakes and covers and that pretty cheap unless you plan on going with chrome stuff so $1700 plus lets just say $1000 for carb, intake, covers, headers and its still about $1000 under the cheapest crate I've found so far plus I dont have to pay for shipping. For some reason here where I'm at the junk yards think motors are made out of gold so they go for anywhere from 1-2k with a 30 day exchange and thats it.

 

The problem I see with anything but a Y-block is you'll have to change both the engine and tranny mounts, unless you can adapt the new engine to the stock bellhousing. Either that or put a slushbox tranny, then you can modify the steering column, too... I'd bet you can find a decent running Y-block and drop it in for less than a third of what a swap would cost, and in 1/10th the time. They used to go 100,000 miles back in the day, with much lower oil quality, and much worse gas.

 

The origional engine I have in it ran fine. I wonder how hard it would be to do a proper rebuild. All in all, which would be the most cost effective.

It has a 3 speed tranny, column shifted. But the problem was that I couldn't go any faster then about 45 without running the engine out.

 

My recommendation is always the same, first sit down with a paper and pencil and make a list of what you want the truck to be and what you are wanting to accomplish, then do your homework on what is available to fit your criteria. What will it's primary use be?, Will you be carrying/towing a load? Auto or manual tranny (late model or original), overdrive? # of miles/year projected? Gas grade/milege desired? Performance/potential? Average max speed? rear axle ratio? Tire circumference, carburated or EFI?
By crate motor do you mean new/remanufactured short block, long block, complete and ready to run? Why a crate motor (vs remanufactured, used)?
How much money/time do you want to invest? What are your abilities/equipment/ambition level?
Companies like Edelbrock, Ford Performance Parts, and virtually every car manufacturer sells crate motors from short blocks to long blocks to ready to run. Unless you are buying a ready to run, you would be well served to also buy a donor vehicle with the same engine in it to get all the small parts you'll need to finish off the engine, and a core block if your source requires an exchange as well as transmission and other parts you can sell to recoup some of your costs. Be sure the engine you choose will be able to bolt to/be adapted to the tranny you want to use.

 

perrymidik; I have a Y-Block in my 58. I converted to a C4 from a broken Cruise Omatic. John Mummert has a Bellhousing for a Y-Block to a C-4 conversion, still able to use the rear cross member and rear engine mounts. I am also running a 9" rearend with 3.70 gears. It is not on the road yet, but it appears to be a decent combination. I have had it up on stands and it all works good with no additional modification.

Vern

 

Ax,

I've known from the time I got the Truck what I wanted to do with it. Restore it so that It can be used as a nearly daily driver (good weather only). With that in mind I've already purchased a new front end suspension for it (Mustang ) from Charlie Led a while ago. I wanted to have the better power steering, disc brakes, etc, as safety/convienence features. I also intend on swaping out the rear end since, as it is only a 3 speed, I can't get close to high way speeds.

I had intended on rebuilding the engine from the start, but the idea of a create engine was brought up by a buddy of mine when I was taking the engine out of the frame the other day (getting ready to take the frame to get blasted and painted -seperate post).

For starters, I drove the truck off the lot when I bought it. Due to poor braking response, and a loose steering system, I trailered it home. All in all, from engine to drive train, it ran well.

I don't know how hard or practical it would be to rebuild the engin I already have. Honestly, I would be thrilled to do that instead. To go to a drive in car night, like the ones they have in El Cajon and pop the hood and still have the ORIGIONAL engine would be a point of pride to me. That being said, I have never rebuilt an engine before. I am very capable, just not experienced. I'd hate to get it all back together and find out that an engine that used to run, no longer runs, and it was all my fault. LOL! But aside from those doubts, the tech from the early 50's seems pretty straight forward. If I was able to successfully re-do the heads on my 02 Dodge Ram and then tow 12k LBS from San Diego to Virginia Beach, I think the rebuild of the 54 is within my reach. I just need a really good book, and yes, I do have the shop manual.

So the bottom line is, Knowledge and possibly Parts, that I am in need of.

But that's just my 2 cents. I yield the floor to more experienced minds and hands.

Looking forward to the input!

 

I assume your truck has the OHV V-8. When you rebuild an engine you can have the machine shop do all the reassembly work as well as well as the machine work thru either the short block or long block (I'd recommend the latter) then all you need to do is bolt the accessories back on and reinstall the engine. (I'd probably put a new/remanufactured distributor on it as well.) You can buy remanufactured long blocks from major companies like Jasper, or they will rebuild your engine if they don't have one in stock.
The low top speed is due to your truck being equipped with a 3 speed with a granny gear 1st and a low ratio rear end designed for power not speed. Replace the tranny with a 3 speed out of a 54 car that had the same engine if you want to stick with near stock and the rear axle with one with a more desirable ratio in it or available for it, like something in the 3.25 - 3.70 range depending on the tranny ratios. A T-5 would be a good choice if you want a more modern full syncro tranny with OD as they are pretty available and adapters are available to bolt them up to almost any engine.

 

whats wrong with the y block ???? if it runs leave it alone . i would put and electronic ignition i.e petronix , kit in it and do away with the 94 or 97 carb whichever you got . any later y will have { 58 -? } an intake that will let you run a regular ford 2 bbl carb . put some headers and duals on it will help power and the mileage . maybe just swap in another diff with a lesser gear , or a trans swap . your gonna spend more than these alterations doing a swap , then a rebuild and putting it back in , and hades if it runs use it . my flatty is what 57 years old and ran . it's been down for a bit now as i needed to put new valvesprings in it , needed head gaskets , swapping over to electronic ignition , and a complete rewire . i wouldn't pull the flatty out for any late model powerplant period . it's got more charm and character in one head bolt than any 1000 horse monster anyday , and it's dead n=ts reliable when she is together . i managed to find a t5 for mine . saves swapping in the 8.8 i had and i can leave my dana 44 in it .

 

It's not hard, extremely practical, and if you think you would be very happy with the end result, (you did say "thrilled") then by all means, give this option serious consideration. You would be so very far ahead, both with time and money, by rebuilding your stock drivetrain, you'll wonder how you could have ever considered anything else. Doing an engine and trans swap can end up costing a lot more than you could ever imagine. One change typically necessitates about 5 others. And they all cost money.

I don't know what rear end you have in your truck, or what your current gear ratio is, but if you want to keep the 8 lug, 3/4 ton rear, consider a later model Dana 60 to swap in. They can be found with 3.50-3.73 gears, which would help with your highway speeds. Unless you go with an overdrive transmission, they all end in 1 to 1, so swaping one for another won't help you at all, in that respect.