I just purchased a 1960 F100. My older brother had one in the mid 70's and I loved that truck. It has a 300 6cy and 3 speed transmission (63000 miles). It runs "well", but I have different plans for her.

I purchased a 1998 Crown Vic (wrecked Police car and no it wasnt my falt ). The Crown has moderate rear end damage. Motor, rear end and trans are in great condition.

My plan is to swap everything I can from the Crown Vic to the pick up. Am I crazy or does this sound like it may work. Any idea's would help. Thanks, Idaho

 

It sounds like an quite an ambitious project. That's the 4.6 engine isn't it? Just remember that you will have to transfer the computer and all the wiring and sensors that go with it. Although I'm sure Ron Francis has an aftermarket wiring kit available for it, expect to pay in excess of $800. Since I know nothing about computer driven engines, I would be tempted to change it over to a carburetor (assuming someone makes an aftermarket intake for it) and eliminate the computer. I think you would also have to modify your gas tank to install an electric fuel pump for the fuel delivery too. The transmission is probably shifted by computer also. It will be a big job, but if you are up to it, I think it would be an interesting swap. I'd be lost...too many wires!

 

Hey Idaho,
Does that thing have the old 223 six (intake and exhaust on drivers side) or a newer 300 (intake and exhaust on passenger's side) engine?
If it has a 300 swapped in what sort of motor and transmission mounts does it use? Pictures by any chance? This is a swap I am contemplating....
Thanks,
Brett
'59 F100 w/223

 

If you have the know-how, that sounds like an awesome conversion! How many miles did the donor cop car have on it, or do you know? It'd be a LOT easier to convert the 4.6 to carbureted, but if you CAN, keeping the electronics associated with the 4.6, its tranny and the electronic fuel senders would open up a lot of modern creature comforts (alarm with remote start, interior and exterior lighting, A/C, etc) that would make your '60 real unique.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Daryl
'59 Styleside

 

This sounds like a great project! The crown vic motor is a good canidate for a street rod and for a truck. You are going to have to fab up some motor and tranny mounts of your own. The entire ECU and all the sensors will be a pain to swap but once you get going it should be alot of fun. The oil pan I'm not sure will work if your using a stock front end. The 4.6 has a number of applications so the a pan shouldn't be a prob. You might want to talk with a street rod shop about what all is required to swap and so forth. The 4.6 could be carbureted but would need a custom intake and you'd be better off with a 302 thats the whole idea behind a 4.6 is the fuel injection. Anyway hope any of this helps and should be a one-of-kind swap, keep us informed I want to see how this goes.

 

hey there IDAHO

I personally don't think this is going to be as hard as one thinks it is... I am a crown vic guy ( 11 on the road, 3 soon to be 4 in the attic), and do ALL my own work. when i strip a car, I pull everything out, all the wiring, glass, and misc pieces.. and would strongly suggest the same for you. the harnes's are pretty well marked and all the plugs are keyed, so they will only go on the correct sensor. I would suggest you get a EVTM (electrical/vacumn troubleshooting manual) it is well worth the price and has very good schematics in it.

The only hard part might be the instrument cluster, but if you can figuire a way to use the crown vic cluster in your truck, you got it whipped.

personnally, i used a crown vic harness in my 50 Panel, including the fuse boxes. I did not use the motor or tranny though, but I may yet... (jon, does this sound familar....)

make sure you get the LCM ( lighting control module), as this pretty much is the "go between" the PCM, and the speedo,

another good source of info is www.CrownVic.net

if i can give you any help email me

Robert

 

Thanks for all the info!!

My though was to exchange the front clip in hopes to by-pass manufacturing new motor mounts (I may be dreaming). I'm sure I will have to manufacture transmission mounts and modify the drive shaft.

DS59F100, the donor car has about 73000 miles and I wanted to keep the onboard computer system because of the fuel injection feature. However, I dont own one of the fancy machines that hook up tp the cumputer and lists the problems. Back in the day, if you had a spare wire hanging loss and your lights worked and electrical system charged, you could cut the sucker off and everything was fine. Those days are over now and the wireing may be a challenge.

I realy think I will need to try and convert to carboration. I can afford a new intake manifold easier than a diagnostic machine (thats if I can find one that works).

I have explained to my wife that its cheaper to throw a $$ at this truck than it is to go down town and purchase a 2004 F250 extended cap with a payment of $585.00 a month (she actually believed me).

I will try and post a few pic and share how this project is progressing. I will have more questions I'm sure.

Thanks again for your insight. Idaho

 

I also think that this swap is an excellent idea, but there is one little issue that you guys are missing. It is impossible to carburate a 4.6 without an on-site machine shop and an engineering degree and shame on you guys for telling him he could. The 4.6/5.4 and it's engine management system were designed in the reverse order from the 5.0 and the 5.8. 302's and 351W's were pounding asphalt with points-fired ignitions and Holley carbs back in the 60's. They were retrofitted to operate with fuel injection when it was developed. Consequntly, it isn't that difficult to go back. When the time came for a new and modern engine design, the EEC-V/OBDII injection system was brand new and the engine was designed from the ground up to be used with it. NOBODY that I am aware of makes an intake manifold for it for a carburetor. I suppose that it is possible to scratch-build one, but this leads us to another little problem. 4.6's don't have a distributor. They never did. With EEC V, they didn't need one. So after you've invested countless hours is retrofitting a carb onto the 4.6, you now have to figure out how to drive a distributorless ignition system without a computer. My suggestion is to buy a good set of wiring diagrams and shop manuals for the Crown Vic and install the entire package as it was in the car. An OBDII scanner is only $150, and you won't need it unless you run into trouble. That's still chump change when you figure the monumental costs associated with an attempt to add parts to an engine that was never intended to have them. Good luck!

 

Blue,
Thanks for the tip. I had one person tell me I couldnt change from EFI to a carborater but I thought I would ask anyway.

Do you think the front nose clip from the Crown will "marry up" to the truck. If so I may take your advise and buy the wire manuals and stay with the computer wiring harness.

I'm not into the Crown Vic for very much money and could recoup it if needed. Is there a better car or parts I should be looking at to make the exchange?

Thanks again, Idaho

 

Hey Idaho I don't know what your fabrication skills are but you may want to consider grafting the frames to get all the nice things the CV had to offer in the front end dept. Being a cop car did it have antilock brakes? Too bad you can't just hack the body off leaving the firewall attatched to the frame then drop the truck body on it. You'd end up with a 98 CV cop car that looks like a 60 f100 cool.

 

Hey rage' I forgot about the distributor My 97' f-150 doesn't have one either. That would be a prob. If you really want fuel injection go with the motor. The front you would have to measure to check for width. I don't have a crown vic in the driveway to measure but I do have a 60' so you would have to go out and do some measuring and look at it and see how you might come about doing this. Since the wiring is intact you should be fine when swaping Just make sure you have a chiltons or shop manual to look for just incase. Hope this helps and maybe somebody will know more about the front end. Does the engine start now and run?

 

I don't know how the front ends are constructed on the CV but if they are lke the T-birds the front end suspension saddle and engine mounts are all one and can drop straight out the bottom and it requires removing eight major bolts as well as the tranny cross member and you can get the entire front section of the drive line in one shot. If you have a standard frame you will have to bring everything out the top. For what it is worth i beieve transferring everything across will be a great swap and it will be cheaper than buying a new truck. Good luck.

P.S. I'm putting the entire drive line of a T-bird Super Coupe in my 50 panel and it too will have the comforts of the newer vehicles.

 

Wel I'll need to run and measure it looks like. Mr4speed the CV starts and runs great (now). I guess if I complete the swap and that fact changes, I guess I 've done something wrong.

One nice feature with this CV's on board computer is it does not have the 98 mph cut off (police vehicles exempt). The down side is it does have an feature that cuts power to the motor if the back end breaks loss on snow, rain or ice (or rappid excelaration ). It does have an over ride button located in the glove box, but each time you turn the car off and re-start it, you have to push the button again. Oh well.

Thanks again, Idaho

 

There was recently a thread on crownvic.net regarding disabling the traction control using a switch. It was a popular topic with the winter weather most folks are dealing with.

Some of you may recall last fall that I needed to get rid of my '97 Mazda truck to make room for our second child. I bought a '96 Crown Vic Police Interceptor at the local municipal auction. It's served me quite well, so far. This is an interesting thread. In a few years when I'm done with my stock restoration I plan to use my parts truck frame for a hot rod. It's already been hacked to make room for a 351 Cleveland. Maybe my Bluesmobile will be a rustbucket by then and I won't have any qualms about cutting it up.

 

Idaho, one more thing you may need to consider is if your truck will need an emissions inspection with the newer motor. I'm guessing that the truck is too old to require it as is, but that may change if it has a newer motor. Might want to ask the DMV or a local garage or speedshop before throwing time and money into this, especially if you go the carb route. BTW, this swap does sound pretty cool...