Gonna start on the F-100 pretty soon... It's gonna be my parts hauler/tow vehicle so this turd ain't cuttin it... Since I need to tow with it, I'm thinkin' I should "fag" it out with a 350... Here's the victim..
go get yourself an F-150 donor with a 302 and AOD, or a 300 I6 with a 5 speed...I vote the inliner with some hop up parts and a 5 speed, the rest can be handled with rearend gearing...
Find a 403 Oldsmobile motor. They'll run FOREVER, make lots of power over a broad rpm range and can be found hiding in countless big old late 70s/early 80s barges. Use a B-O-P pattern TH350 autmoatic and that truck will haul any damn thing you need it to all day long! Lots of aftermarket parts available for it, too...intakes, carbs, cams, headers, etc.
Did he just call a flathead a "turd"?? OK, maybe a flatmotor isn't the greatest for a tow vehicle....
Uhhhhh, That truck needs a big engine. Something along the lines of a 390 or 428 would be cool. You could also strip the 460/C6 from a newer truck and use that. Please no SBC!
If you're going to use a sbc, try to find a 400, all the convenience of a sbc with the torque you need, I love em.
A small block ford drops in easy, but they look lost in there. A 390 would be cool for something like that. Dibs on the two carb manifold!
If it were mine (oh that I wish), I'd do a Merc 300D turbo diesel in it. I KNOW that those can haul a LOT, get great mileage whilst doing it, and are practically 'forever' motors, 500,000 miles and they *might* need a re-ring, dunno for sure, as my own has only 300,000 and it still isn't burning a drop of oil. 'Course I say this because I don't have a 350/350 combo sittin' on the garage floor, but I DO have a 300D's turbo diesel sittin' on the floor... Cosmo P.S. My personal opinion on a daily: keep it stone stock (the engine you put in, NOT the flattie leaking oil and water that's there now), that way you can repair it anywhere, yet it won't need it as much.
The hamb helped talk me into rebuilding a 327 for my truck! Want to buy my 348? LOL! Just kidding, I couldnt sell it but it would be a cool engine for your truck!
Hmm... that's not the first time I've heard of them Olds motors runnin forever... local junkman 'round here swears by 'em.
500 Caddy, they are cheap, make gobs of torque, run forever, and get fairly reasonable mileage. Edelbrock manifolds bump the power even more, headers are available, and they fill up the engine bay.
Depends on what you want...but unless you are doing a lot of towing, you may not want a ridiculous amount of torque. F-100s are traction limited & even a mild 460 or any other BB tends to be squirrelly, especially in the rain. If that's an issue. Been there, done that. A cheap, nice compromise is the 351W, & you can get parts almost everywhere. Back it with an AOD & you have a nice reliable setup. Bag the SBC idea, it's all too common. That being said, it's kind of hard to argue with the looks of an old Nailhead or Olds...or a Y block....
man with two carbs on that truck you are gonna need a larger fuel cell than that small one you have lying in the floorboard!
I run a 289 C4 in mine. With 295 tires on the rear it will still get sideways in the dry. In the wet you have to go real easy on the gas.
You are hearby charged with sustained loss of traction sir, I am confiscating your truck for 28 days, and I probably won't give it back after that either.
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