the FE will BOLT RIGHT IN.. they came with those engines, put a c6 with a gear vendors in it some 3:70's and a FAST bolt on EFI.. you will never regret it...
I'd go with a 302 and OD out of a older Crown Vic. You might even be able to swap in the rear end, disk brakes,....AC...all the creature comforts.
Even with a 302, a 2500 lb trailer will tow like it's barely even there, unless you get into the mountiains, then maybe step up to a 350. I've towed stuff that handled horrible and weighed more and with a Chevy 350 it still pulled fine. Hell even when my van was misfiring on three shorting plug wires (I hadn't discovered them yet because they were jumping through the plug boots) and I had to move a truck anyways, I got where I had to go with it. Heck, my buddy has an old rollback we went all over with until he wore it out that has a 350 in it and he'd go one car on and a trailer behind with another car on. That would drag us down to a crawl on steep hills, but you're talking a 7500 lb truck with a 4500 lb car and as much more towing behind -
the question i have is why would you want to work a motor that hard. expceially if its something you want to last and drive alot. thats why going with like a 390 makes more sense cause you wouldnt be working the motor barley at all and it would last longer.
I'm not sure I'd personally want to do this myself, but if you take out brand loyalty and tradition and all that completely... 5.3 LS chevy. They came in a million trucks, they are dirt cheap. you can find runners with all the parts and computer for around $650. Rebuilding them is cheap. They get decent gas milage and last forever. downside is that they are heavy for the size. A 6.0 is a popular choice for HP, but that also means they cost more. 4L80 for a transmission. I'd suggest a ford motor, but the 4.6s are just not as simple as the LS series. If a 4.6 overheats badly it will even cause the cylinders to go out of round and stuff like that. They have expensive timing sets and they are physically huge.
I still think pulling into your destination in a righteous wagon with a cool camper and that kick-ass diesel sound would put a great big smile on her face!
I have an 86 F150 that had a 351w in it and it got 11-12 mpg. After the gutless wonder chucked a rod I put the 460 in it from my 79 and it pulled down 15 mpg with 3.55 and no overdrive. Unfortunately Fords stock windsors were dogs, that is how they got such a bad reputation. I drove plenty of trucks with 302's in the 90's and they couldn't get out of their own way if you drove them off a cliff. They can be made to make great power but I guess it depends on your budget and goals. If it was my wife and not my car I would put a newer mod motor in it with efi. Lots of room for a 460.
if your not afraid of EFI, 351 from a Ford truck. already cammed for low end torque. Or how about a 5.4L from a newer F150. They tow well and get decenet mileage. Parts are available anywhere for repairs or maint.
Thanks for the responses guys. Good stuff. OK, the trailer is a single axle 19' aluminum trailer. It's a 64 avalair. I towed it across the panhandle of Texas last weekend with a 60 mph crosswind, and although it was scary, it tracked really well. It has an old load distributing hitch on it and trailer brakes as well. I looked into the 4.6/5.4 conversion , but there is a lot of interference. The 390/c6 was my first choice but the crappy fuel mileage held me off. I could use the gear vendors overdrive unit and install it later when I have more $$. See attached pics.
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=b9c119f363ceea741ca3bb78fa98b71f&board=5.0 Motor swap posts from 57 Fords Forever.
Really, a Cruise-o-matic in a 57 Furd? I am thinking you might have the Furdomatic instead. If you do, you might want to start in LO if towing a trailer with the 292 and Furdo.
I say 351w. Plenty of power for towing, and respectable mileage for daily duty. You can even do an EFI setup and there are aftermarket harnesses out there to use the EEC-IV stuff if you wanted to make everything simple. A C6 with a Gear Vendors OD unit would be ideal, as it's much stronger than an AOD. Then again, for the cost of the GV unit, you could have an AOD built to handle the extra load.
Fordomatics and cruiseomatics are 3 speed trannys, there just isnt a Detent for 2nd gear, and they start in 2nd unless you hold it in low.... They are good transmissions and they are what the FMX trannys are based off of. Big and Heavy yess, but very efficient....
I'm going to throw this one out there, Ford 400. Very good towing engine, I've hauled a lot of weight with those 400s. It beats the snot out of a 351w. Lots of low end torque. The EFI 351s seem to be doggy and gutless in comparison. For what it was the 400 didn't get bad mileage, 17 mpg in a low geared 3/4 ton truck. Pulling a load it would get slightly under 15 mpg. Keep in mind this thing burned a quart of oil every couple of hundred miles and had a rod knock to boot too.
hmm 2500#s not that heavy ..more air drag than weight i would think.what about a 351 with howell injection,,with the right air cleaner and some good wire hiding it will look correct.it wil be easy to tune &get good mileage/power.most of the injection/computer stuff(gm) is off the shelve, so parts would be easy to get while on the road.use a overdrive trans with a good radi/cooler.put a 9'' (3:55 gears)with disc brakes out back,maybe use trailer brakes as well.id for sure put disc on the front... i drove a 90ish ford f250 with a 460, 4 speed.while pulling a trailer it would pass anything but a gas station ....
How about something a little more "period" like a 430 Super Marauder with the tri - power...400 horsies....y'know ya want one!
About a 292 Ford engine? Cars like that were seen 40 years ago towing travel trailers all over the country.You gonna blast down the interstate at 75 mph and see nothing or tour the backroads and have a memorable trip?
My concern there would be packaging - from my eyeballing a couple of 'em they don't look like a great fit for a passenger car, from pan to intake they're pretty tall, and the little teeny tiny turbos are integral to the exhaust manifolds and make the package pretty wide at a point something like a '57 Fairlane's going to have steering box, linkage, etc. It's likely a very good combo if it can be replumbed to work in a tighter package (I imagine the Taurus SHO/Lincoln MK-whatever that also use the turbo 3.5 have different packaging constraints but they also have VERY tall hoodlines, they look like minivans with trunks) but I don't think it'll work out of the box. Also, at this point you'd be on the bleeding edge of trying to make its electronics package work in a retrofit application. Depending on your personal skill set you might be paying for a lot of EEC expertise to get it sorted. If I were going to spend that kind of money on a late-model engine I might just (excuse me while I put on the helmet and ballistic vest...) put a GM LSA in there. The Aussies have a blower version of the current 5-liter DOHC Ford, we don't get it here but I'm sure the parts are out there, or just maybe an '03-04 Cobra blower 4.6. The Ford 5.4 is damn near as big as a Powerstroke, not even worth thinking about. But I think I've already thrown in what I really think: 351W (or even a 393/408 stroker variant thereof) is the easy option, 390-428 FE the emotional one, in either case with at least four gears in the transmission.
I would keep it simple: 351W hooked up to an AOD. Rebuild the 351 with some decent aluminum heads, mild hydraulic roller, and single 4V. Keep the compression below 9.5:1 or so (so you don't have to run premium gas if you don't want to). You should be able to scrounge most of the parts for cheap from the Mustang forums, craigslist, or evilbay. Hook up an AOD with a nice big transmission cooler, set up some 3.55s or 3.73s in the back, and go drive it! It should get decent fuel economy on the highway, parts are available everywhere, and it'll be easy to work on should something fail. Nick
Buddy of mine had a 84 F-250 4x4 with "35 tires. Had a 4.9 300 ci straight 6 in it. Could tow anything uphill with it. They are bulletproof! I think it would look pretty cool in there too!
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