My buddy was cleaning out his property and gave me an old 86 f150 with a 4.9 six cyl in it. he had started taking things apart to swap a V8 but ran out of money. now i am rebuilding the six cyl. i have a haynes manual, but can't find any good wiring diagrams for the ignition. i have the dist. with the control modual on the side of it. i would be thankfull for any help.

 

You have the famous computer controlled carbed six cylinder. Unless you are going all the way, learning a lot about this system with it's electronic carb and all the sensors, you might be better off converting it over to the older style dist or maybe you can find an aftermarket dist system to fit. Then you could get rid of the electronic carb also.

If you are going to get it all hooked back up original, I recommend you invest in the factory diagrams. If they have them in stock, this site is the authorized factory manual and diagram supplier. Service Manuals, Owner Manuals, Wiring Diagrams, Service Bulletins - Helm Incorporated

 

thank you for your advice.... do you or does anyone out there know a good distr. swap. Im sticking with the 300 because it was only a bent pushrod.... everything els looks good. motor is out and on the bench now. putting every thing back together now. funny thing, motor was recently rebuilt before it sat for 9 years and pistons are .080 over...WOW. Hey what does that make my dispacement? anyway,,,,if anyone knows a good dist trick please let me know.

 

The cheapest source for a dist would be ebay at $55 with free shipping.
Item number: 220524675695

Dirt cheap Ignition

 

Well, after pulling everything apart on the #6 cylinder had a bad piston.... skirt broke off and gouged cyl. wall bad. since the motor was already .080 over i ditched the idea of rebuilding it and got a donor motor from a 95 f150. i have pulled the motor and it is siting in the garage. I was wondering does this year model 300 inline have the same crapy ignition set up, or do i have one that i can do the GM modual trick with. this one does not have the modual mounted on it. but also does not have the vacume on it. any advice would be great...... anything i should know about the swap? it looks straight forward..... can i use the dual exauhst manifolds with the carb intake? thanks ahead of time.

 

95 would mean the motor is full blown EFI and it dose use the same "crappy" ignition called EEC-4. everyone thinks its junk cuz its computer controlled and so many wires and sensors. well actully it is a more reliable and more power is obtained from this system then the old Duraspark ignition. you drop the distibutor in TDC start motor set timing were it needs to be and forget it. you will never have to adjust and check timing ever again. the computer sets it for all condtions the motor is in. BUT if your going for a clean no wire mess the duraspark is the way to go and it is still a darn good ignition system. let me tell you if you do go this route scan the junk yard for 83 and older ford trucks of your generation. they will have the duraspark system. now this is alot of work to do the swap but its worth it. you will need the entire wire harness all around the engine bay and into the cab. and possably the remains that connect under the brake booster and runs down the frame. just check your connectors to see if they are the same from both trucks. but you just mainly need the harness from inside the cab and what all goes to the motor. also you will notice the alternator harness will be different then yours just toss that one and your original harness will plug right into the junkyard harness. the reason for all this is that the duraspark uses a ballest ressistor it is a certin length and gauge of wire that holds excess voltage going into the coil and ignition box (box that sits on the fender well) with out it the coil and box will fry up. its located within the main harness inside the cab. you cannot cut or modify the wire or it will be useless. now you might be tempted to take the shortcut for using the GM crap products for the ignition mod but this route is not recomended. its just a ammature move just to save time and is not worth it. it would be just a headach and would make the ignition unreliable. their is nothing wrong with doing things the right way the first time. hard work for the better always pays off big time. take your time plan ahead lable everything and your truck will be running good without confusion. as for the motor use the efi exhaust manifolds they will flow way more then the 6 into 1 log maifold. their is some grinding to be done on the rear manifold for the intake to clear the manifold. do a mock up test before installing the parts and gaskets. find a 1 barrel carb from an old I-6 with no emmision BS. you cant use the feedback carb or else the motor will run like crap. or unless your bolting on a 4 barrel intake. check the head from your carb motor and efi head. chances are the efi head has smaller combustion chambers for a little more compression. port the bowls for even more dynamic compression and power. and last thing you will need a electric fuel pump since the mechanical pump is not machined out on the side of the block unless you have the machine shop cut it out but either way will work fine. for the pump you need around 8 psi. theirs many electric pump brands that pump 5-7 psi they run around 45 bucks auto zone or advanced have them instock.

hope your build goes good and you can find everything you need to get the ignition swap done correctly.

P.S. buy manuals for your year truck check ebay and amazon i say manuals cuz more then one book on your truck is best since each book shows some things and info another may not. and all the wiring schmatics will be their also. any other questions ask away i will help as much as i can. and add in pictures for more clairity. (i dont kno if thats spelled right but you kno what i mean) good luck

 

You should repost this engine swap to the Six Cylinder forum.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum52/
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My approach to this engine swap is what will be the easiest and cheapest so…
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1: Can you use the 1986 Head, it should be in good shape if the engine had been rebuilt recently
2: Use the Dual EFI exhaust manifolds for better flow.
3: Just run the feedback carb until you find something better, like an older carb.
4: Use a DS2 dist with the GM 4 pin module, until you find an 80-84 engine harness like the one shown in the photo in the bottom link below. It will plug into your trucks harness on the left inner fender. There is nothing wrong with just leaving it with the 4 pin module, I have been running the GM 4 pin module for 2 years as it works good with the newer style square coil that you currently have mounted to your engine.
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I would also take a good hard look at the fuel pump issue, others have just cut out the material on the EFI engine were the pump mounts to the block. The EFI block is cast over the hole and can be cut out.
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Some good links with photos and info.
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https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/957362-tfi-wire-diagram.html
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https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/914325-can-i-run-a-feedback-type-carter-yf-carb-with-duraspark-2-ignition.html
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https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/903468-85-86-4-9s.html
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Whatever distributor you want to use, it must have the mechanical and vacuum advance mechanisms inside it. You are I assume going to do away with any computer control. If so, you need the mechanical type dist so your timing will be controlled by the dist. Your old dist had nothing inside it because the computer controlled the timing. The fuel injected engine you just got also has nothing in it, because it has the Ford TFI system on it, and it also was controlled by the computer.

 

thanks to everyone that has helped me. I have more questions, but i want to make sure i post them in the right section.