Thanks to everyone who had a hand in creating this site. It has such a wealth of information to help me with my 86 F150. My pickup is a 4x4, extended cab, with auto trans and originally had a 5.8L. The truck is from AZ so it is rust free which was high on my list when I was looking.
Somewhere along the line a previous owner replaced the 5.8 with an older 302. The owner prior to me had the 302 rebuilt by a shop and the truck seemed to run well when one of my relatives looked at it for me. After shipping to IA and I started driving it I noticed a rattling noise that seem to come from the drive train. Also noticed the oil pressure was low after it warmed up and the fan belts would squeal when it got much over 2000 rpms. While troubleshooting the belt squeal I got it to quit squealing by taking off the fan then I could hear the rattling noise when revving it up a little of 2000. I then cut open the oil filter and found bearing material.
After pulling the engine and tearing it down I found that although the rod journals had been turned down .030" the new rod bearings were .020" undersize bearings. I also found a cracks in the block at one of the water pump bolts so decided to look for another engine.
I found an 88 F150 with a 5.0 that had been used as a hunting truck but the owner couldn't get it started and didn't want to mess with it anymore and was selling it for $400. I got it running in about an hour by supplying it fresh fuel out of a gas can with an electric pump. The engine ended up having good compression and I'm happy to say its running well in my 86 with all new gaskets. To keep it simple I just transferred the carb setup that came in my pickup to the new engine.
Royce
86 F150 4x4 Extended Cab