Engine Swap: 1989 FI 7.5L / OD AT into 1982 F150

[Sparky71]

Hello!  

I have a rebuilt 7.5L & OD AT combo from a 1989 Class C motor home (12K lbs GVWR) that I want to put in place of the current 300 I6 / 4 spd OD MT in my '82 F150.  I know I'll need perches, mounts, exhaust, computer, complete wiring harness, driveshaft, and many, many other things ----- but will it physically go in?!?  With AC, PS and cruise control from the Class C intact?!?  I started dismantling the Class C, but figured I'd better not get too far.  I see perches and mounts listed for 7.5L in an f150 in LMC's catalog.  Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Jim

[Rembrant]

Sparky71 wrote

----- but will it physically go in?!?  With AC, PS and cruise control from the Class C intact?!?  

I have no personal experience with this swap, but I've seen lots of Bullnose trucks with 460's in them...even in little 2wd Flareside trucks, where they were obviously swapped in there.

AC might be an issue. Does the truck with the 300/6 have factory AC? Fuzzface on here might be able to talk about the differences in the AC/non-AC trucks.

[85lebaront2]

Ok, Sparky, first question, do you have the engine computer and wiring to the engine and transmission? The transmission is an E4OD and is complete;y computer controlled. If you have that your are OK, if not I do have a couple of EEC-IV 460/E4OD boxes.

Mounts, the perches will need to be from a 1983-96/7 F250 or F350 that came with a 460 (7.5L) and the transmission cross member will need to be moved back, on my truck I had to drill new holes 7" back from the C6 that was originally in the truck. Drive shaft is actually only 3" shorter due to the transmission extension housing design. Radiator, you will need a 1983-84 radiator, I think all the V8 ones are the same, I know the later ones are.

Fuel system, here is where some real fun starts, pre-1990 trucks used a low pressure in-tank pump or pumps, a reservoir/tank selector valve and a high pressure frame mounted pump. The gauge system changed somewhere between 1987 and 1990, the exact documentation should be on the site in the reference information. Basically the early system will work with your gauges, but the later high pressure in-tank pump senders will not. The actual tanks will need to be changed as all the in-tank pump hangers are much larger where they go in.

Shift linkage, you, to do it with Ford parts, will need a column from a 1988-1991 E4OD truck, the mount to the dash changed in 1987, along with the ignition switch, but the basic column is the same. OD lockout switch was on the dash until 1992 when it was moved to the end of the shifter. Problem comes in that the entire column design changed in 1992 to a stub column.

Front springs, that beast weighs roughly 865 lbs wet, so you will need something to support the weight without bottoming the front suspension, hopefully your truck has the forged axles, not the stamped unless it is 4WD. A/C, motorhome probably did not have a Ford compressor, most use a different system, so it can be made to work if you can get hoses made. Air inlet, the 1987-96/7 EFI trucks mount the air filter on the left inner fender behind the coolant recovery/windshield washer reservoir.

If you know someone with and EFI 7.5L truck, look at the system so you can see where things go.

If you need more ideas, you can look at my (incomplete) write up of my truck (Darth Vader) and the pictures of the work. Good luck with it!

[Sparky71]

Thank you very much for the detailed response!  I have the entire chassis of the old Class C (minus the camper part --- it's now just a roofless, backless cab with a 24' flatbed, but it still runs and drives).  

Radiator, AC / firewall blower box and manifolds / headers were the obstacles I thought of.  Hadn't thought about column, shift linkage or gauges or gas tank, though.  

I think you've given me enough to keep tearing down the Class C.  It won't be as easy as I thought, but I think I'm still going to try, and I'll check out your posts as a reference.  I want to get rid of the chassis, but don't want to send a good motor & tranny to the scrap yard.  And I'm not very successful and advertising and selling anything!

Thanks again,
Jim

[Sparky71]

Rembrant,

I've seen a few, but I think most were F250 / F350.  The '82 is a non-AC truck with 300 I6, 2 WD w/4 spd OD (MT).  AC is going to be a challenge but I don't do well with the hot weather and I'd like to keep what's on the 7.5 motor.

Thanks!

[Rembrant]

By the way...

I see in your signature that your truck is a 3-on-tree? If you do end up changing the transmission (and thus the steering column) to something else, hang on to the 3-on-the-tree parts. They have been long obsolete for the Bullnose trucks, and people are searching for them from time to time (the internal components that is). I don't think they were all that common even when new, and decent condition parts for them are hard to come by these days...

[Sparky71]

Thanks much for the note about the 3-on-the-tree column, etc.  It's actually the 4sp truck I'm planning on shoving the 460 into, but that's great info to have.  

However..........

I may give up and rebuild the 300 that's in the truck, or the 302 I have in the '83 that rotted in half.  It's not beyond my capability to do this swap, but the more I get into pulling the 460, the more I think I don't have the ambition to do the work needed to finish it!  Also, keeping the Ford EFI and AC looks unrealistic when combined with what you added about the steering column; it looks like I'll need to swap almost the entire wiring harness from the donor.  And if I'm going to tear down the recipient that far, I'll wind up turning it into a frame-off resto-mod project.  I'm good at taking stuff apart (I have a '72 Chevelle and '64 Galaxie in pieces already) --- but I suck at putting anything back together!  

[Gary Lewis]

Swapping in an EFI'd 460, or any EFI'd engine for that matter, isn't easy.  I'm in the midst of planning exactly that for Big Blue, although I'm going EEC-V to get the OBD-II connection and sequential injection with mass air.  You have to determine what functions from the original implementation you are going to keep and which you are going to ditch, and that will probably require some programming of the ECU.

And then there are the fuel system issues.  You can't use what the donor had and have the fuel gauge read correctly.  You could convert to the '85/86 system for the Windsor engines, but that uses a part that is a known problem and also very expensive - if you can find it.

But converting to a carb on a 460 from EFI requires different heads, intake, and exhaust.  Or, at least an adapter to put a carb on an EFI intake.

It isn't easy and it is complex.

[Sparky71]

Thanks, again, for all the help.  Not that it will be any easier, but I may eventually pull the motor for my '64 Galaxie.  At least that is torn down further (currently frame-off and has no interior).  I think I'm going to rebuild either the stock 300 in the truck now, or the 302 I have in what's left of the '83 and swap that in.  Or just let everything sit. That's what will probably happen.  Nothing.

[ArdWrknTrk]

A carb adapter from Price Motorsports (CA-460EFI) is $125
An HEI style 429/460 ignition can be had for as low as $50 on eBay from Skip White.
A Bosch style relay to feed that distributor.

Beyond that you'd need an electric fuel pump (or earlier 460 timing case with provision for a mechanical one)
Some kind of aircleaner for the retrofitted carb.

I think you will need to swap the radiator and cobble together a 3" exhaust system from the existing headpipes that fits under your pickup.

It's not impossible or too daunting if you are willing to use off the shelf aftermarket parts.
If you want factory efi..... not so easy.  

[Gary Lewis]

Well said, Jim.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

I seem to have ignored the E4OD    

And the fact that he has a column mounted shifter.

But I'm willing to bet that someone would be more than glad to swap it for a healthy C6.
A T-19 or even a Zf.

A manual would necessitate a hydraulic clutch conversion though.

Where a C6 only needs a vacuum source and a kickdown.

Does B&M or Lokar still make a floor shifter for C6?

[ArdWrknTrk]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Does B&M or Lokar still make a floor shifter for C6?

Yup

Various manufacturers.
$90-190


Hard to believe this stuff is still widely available in 2018.

[Gary Lewis]

Yeah, I overlooked the E4OD as well.  And, since it requires a computer to control it, just going with a carb adapter isn't enough.  A Baumann Quick2, their cheapest controller, is $455 the cost start mounting.

As you said, a manual needs the hydraulic clutch conversion, and I'd recommend the firewall stiffener when doing it, so there's more money.  Which makes a big block C6 the easiest and cheapest solution - initially.  But, over the long haul you'll pay some of that back with the poorer MPG due to the lack of an OD and the slipping torque converter.

[Whisler]

When I put the carbed 351 in my '89 F250, I replaced the Mazda 5 speed with a C-6 (already with the engine) because of my 75 year knees. Don't regret it one bit. I used a Hurst Pro-Matic 2 floor shifter and it works just fine.