I'm new here and the point of this post is to hopefully get some advice from folks a lot smarter than me about working on and upgrading old Ford trucks. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put as much information on it as I could.

Within the next week, I am hoping to pick up a 1979 F250 Supercab 2WD Camper Special. This is a true barn find, where the owner purchased it new in 1979 and it has been sitting in a shed for the last 13 years. It is a single owner vehicle. I happen to know the owner through a friendship and they would like me to have the truck.

The truck is 100% factory. It has not run in 13 years and is covered in dust. The truck came with a 400 ci engine and a four-speed manual transmission. It has no air conditioning. I live in a state where salt is not used on the roads, so the truck has essentially no rust. It needs some cleaning up and some things trim replaced, but the body is beautiful and it has a two-tone paint scheme that I love.

At this point, I have no idea what it is going to take to get the truck running again, but I figure I will have to do a full tune-up, brake job (new calipers, wheel cylinders, drums, rotors, etc), and replace a lot of components around the engine (alternator, brake master cylinder, starter, battery, etc). The truck also needs new tires. At the very minimum, I estimate it is going to take several thousand dollars to get it running again. That estimate does not include an engine rebuild or a new clutch, because I don't know if it needs it.

While it is an F-250, what I want out of the truck is something with power that will scoot down the road when I press the gas pedal, that looks good, and that sounds good while being mechanically sound. While I have never gone through this process myself, I am mechanically inclined and have worked on a lot of my vehicles in the past, including a 1971 Ford F100 that I owned 25 years ago.

This is my quandary, and I'm hoping people on this board who have gone through this process will have some advice:

-from everything I have read, that 400 ci engine is a bit of a dog from emissions requirements. To get over that sluggishness, it seems like I would have to put a new intake, 4bbl carb, and exhaust. Ideally, it seems I would have to update the cam as well.

-A close friend has a 1976 Ford F-350 2WD regular cab Camper Special that has been sitting at his house for 15 years and is dilapidated (body is all jacked up with underlying mechanics are present). That truck has a 460 ci, automatic transmission, and air conditioning. This 460 ci came standard with a four barrel carburetor.

-I would love to have an automatic transmission and air conditioning in the truck I intend to acquire. It also seems like the 460 ci is a better engine than the 400 ci, based on a lot of posts that people make.

-from my own research, it seems like I could take that powertrain and air conditioning out of the 1976 truck and it would fit fairly seamlessly into the 1979 truck. Putting the automatic transmission into the 1979 when it was a manual transmission may take some configuring.

-based on what Ive read, 1976 was the last year that Ford did not have the aggressive emissions on their large truck engines, which is a huge bonus.

As much as I would love to keep the 1979 truck 100% original and factory, I would like it to be the best that it could be. Whether I keep the 400 or go to the 460, I will probably end up having to rebuild either engine.

For the people who have a good knowledge of these older Ford trucks, would you swap out the drivetrain and air conditioning from the 1976 and put it in the 1979 truck?

If you've ever done that, is it a huge pain in the ***?

I am sure that I am missing a lot of key details and would appreciate any advice. Once I acquire the truck, I will be glad to post pictures of it on here and the journey we take.

 

You want it to get moving when you press the go pedal...put a coyote in it along with it's tranny
then you can do the crown vic front end swap

If you want to go fast and use the 460, the C6 would be way better than the 4 spd. Being that you would have both trucks and all parts, it's just a matter of swapping things over, If I'm not mistaken. Motor mounts obviously different and don't remember about tranny crossmember.

Looking forward to you posting pics of the trucks when you get them

 

Put a 460 in it and enjoy it . I've been around these pickups since was 12 and the first new rig I bought was a '79 Fi50 4wd. what makes them fun is the nostalgia, the smells, noises and rattles they had when they were new. without that they're just a POS old pickup that's inferior in every way to a new one. don't try to make them something they're not you'll fail anyway, enjoy them for what they are.

 

I appreciate the info. I want to get the title in my hands before I start celebrating by posting pics. A lot can happen before then!

 

I still wish I had the 1971 F100 I had when I was 18yo. I sold that truck for $1000. She was a beauty.