New member, new truck

[Dayton925]

Just picked up a 1983 f-150 4x4 long bed, single cab. It was given to me by a friend who bought it brand new, if I agreed to restore it with my son for his first vehicle. My son is 10, and I can’t wait to get this project underway! I had been eyeballing his truck for years and trying to buy it off him. A few days ago he handed me the keys! I am a California resident, so building it the way I want is going to be tricky, while keeping it smog legal. My thoughts currently are a coyote motor swap with a 6R80 transmission, combined with a solo Motorsports, stage 2 mid travel suspension set up. Also, I plan on switching the interior color from brown to black, since it needs to be redone, and painted anyway. If anybody has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, Ryan

[mat in tn]

restore it! leave the coyote in the mustang!

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome, Ryan!  Glad you joined.  

That's a neat story, and I can't wait to follow along on the build.  But I'm wondering if it is possible to make it smog legal with the mod's you are thinking about.  I think I'm with Matt - restore it, at least the engine part of it.  That way you know you can meet the requirements.

Otherwise I fear you could spend a lot of money and not be able to make it work.  Or, do you already know how to do that and meet the requirements?

[Dayton925]

That is definitely my biggest dilemma. Initially, I wanted to build out the existing 302. The problem with that, is  there is not much you can do to it while keeping it smog legal. The CARB (California resource board) compliant parts are very expensive, and don’t produce much for power. I would spend a ton of money and would end up stretching to get it in the 200hp range. It is legal to upgrade to a newer, cleaner burning motor from a similar vehicle. The coyote from an f-150 or an ecoboost would be CARB compliant. I can put a used one in for about the same price I can restore the original 302 while keeping it CARB compliant. If I lived in any other state, the 302 rebuild would be an absolute no brainer

[Dayton925]

Also, no. I don’t know how to do it yet, while keeping it smog compliant, but I’m getting there! 😂

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[Gary Lewis]

I would assume that if you are able to go with a later model engine you have to bring its whole "system" with it, meaning the ECU, transmission, catalytic converter, etc.  And that would be a major challenge.

With Bill's help (85lebaront2) I was able to effectively put a '96 CA-spec 460 with its EEC-V ECU in Big Blue, and plan to do the same with Dad's truck.  But we had wiring diagrams and understood what circuits the ECU thought to be absolutely mandatory.

So if I were to attempt that with something like the 3.5L EB that's in my '15 F150 I'd buy a complete parts truck and also lots of documentation, including the factory shop manual and EVTM.  But I'd also want to find someone(s) else that had done it before to lean on as it would be a serious undertaking and there would be a whole lot of head scratching.  However, when it was done you'd have a MUCH stronger truck.  

[Dayton925]

I’m not liking this! I really thought it was going to be able to make this work. I really appreciate all of the advice, and I feel you are all probably correct. I own a house in Idaho as well, so the other option would be to register it there, if California won’t stamp the nazi certificate on it. If I know I’m going to go that route though, I think I would rather just build a stroked 351 and call it a day.