Folks, the 359 c.i. Ford engine was used in the F600's for sure in '66 and I think it was used from '64-78. I am considering purchase of one of these rigs so equipped and there seems so little info avail. anywhere once one ventures outside the realm of the light duty trucks (regardless of name/badging).

Any source would be helpful (I recall there is a book of Ford engines that exists somewhere, but I think it only covers pass. cars/light trucks) but if you all had any ideas of where I could go for info, I'd appreciate it.

I guess one question would be in terms of life expectancy of these engines relative to their light duty counterparts. One other specific question is what are these things fed with (mid grade unleaded or...?)? A third question is valves and unleaded fuel. The light duty engines didn't have hardened seats. What about this one (a '66)? I'm guessing that some of them came with sodium cooled exh. valves. This one, though? I don't know. All I do know is that if I get the thing, it'll be on the highway quite a bit for the first two months of its tenure with me. It's a 4-spd trans., single speed axle. Will it do 70mph (16ft. box) assuming it's healthy? I have a '64 F250 with a 292 4-spd. that will do 70, but the engine is crankin' with those 4:56's in the rear. I'd be a fool to ask about fuel mileage, but I'd guess the gasoline would run through there like it's suffering from a massive leak (is 8mpg's optimistic or realistic?).

Beyond that, if you had a couple of minutes to share your knowledge of the engine in a post here, I'd appreciate it. I have no idea where to begin looking for parts for these things. Ok, plugs are pretty standard fare and the air cleaner is oil bath, so that takes care of that. Outside of that, I'm lost. Likewise, if there was any F600 info avail (I recall there was a 50 year look at Ford history in a book as well, but that's it), I'd appreciate passing that info along, too.

Thx.

 

Folks, the 359 c.i. gasoline MD truck ('64-68 if not to '78) engine...parts availability. Anything?? I'll take any info. I can't be the only one in creation that now owns (as of this afternoon) one of these things. I surely hope not or I'm in big trouble.