390 FE into a 1990?

[godblessmud]

1971 390, 4 speed, would be cupled with a NP 205 as soon as i find one
All going into my 1990 F150

So...

First off, has anyone done/heard of this before?
How do i make it happen?
Does anyone make engine mounts for this swap?
How much is the tranny mount going to have to be changed and has anyone done it before?

Help me out yall

 

[flareside_thunder]

I've never done it and never helped with i but anything can be done...there's guys putting Gen2 Lightning motors into focuses I mean come on!I wish i could help...that's all i gotta say lol.

 

[godblessmud]

I would love all the help i can get, because frankly this project is a bit intimidating to me...
In answer to your question in my other trhead, im a extended cab long bed...
and i HAVE to have a manual tranny.

 

[flareside_thunder]

Hell whenever you come down to florida I can get you an NP435 WITH an NP205...and Tony will even twin stick it for ya!

 

[godblessmud]

The answer will make me cringe but i have to ask...shipping costs lol

If i can scrape up the gas money ima start making the scrapyard rounds

 

[godblessmud]

So doesnt anyone have experience/advice with this type of swap??!

 

[Mr. Stroker]

That would be one sweet project. Cant beat the old FE Big Blocks. VERY heavy motors tho so be careful.

I dont think it would be to bad of a job... Get a straight axle up front while your at it! lol Good luck

 

[godblessmud]

My other option would be a 351m and rebuild it with a 400 crank and heads to make it a 400m. Now I know everyone says midland engines are boat anchors, but no one can deny they are easy to modify, with an RV cam, high rise intake and a bigger carb and some headers the 400 should hit 400hp

 

[surewhynot]

If you could take measurements from a truck that came with one, you might find that you can cut off and re use the mounts in your truck. The frames may be close enough.

 

[Raptor22]

Sounds like a cool project Scott. My dad has a 1963 FE390 sitting on the floor of the garage ready to go into a Tbird. Too bad it has taken 15 years too because it is all balanced, and ported, and bored, and stroked, with brand new edelbrock 3x2bbl carbs...

Cant wait to see buildlog.

 

[godblessmud]

I could get measurments from the F250 but not an f150
also the F250 is sandard cab long bed, and mine is extended cab long bed how will that difference affect a divorced T case setup?

This is the kind of question when i wish Quad was around to help lol

 

[godblessmud]

Sounds like a cool project Scott. My dad has a 1963 FE390 sitting on the floor of the garage ready to go into a Tbird. Too bad it has taken 15 years too because it is all balanced, and ported, and bored, and stroked, with brand new edelbrock 3x2bbl carbs...

Cant wait to see buildlog.

Thanks, hopefully it can come to fruition...the non-mechanical roadblock i keep running into is trying to do this in a daily driver LOL

 

[surewhynot]

The tranny/ transfer case mount should be the easiest. Do you have access to a welder and torch?

 

[godblessmud]

MIG and plasma cutter

 

[surewhynot]

You won't have any problems. When I've done oddball swaps in the past, I get the motor and tranny set into place and blocked up then build the mounts to fit.

 

[godblessmud]

Just another thought, this is gunna murder my front coils, would i need to swap to 8" coils to make up for the sag from the weight of an FE?

 

[Mr. Stroker]

Why dont you go with a 460 and a ZF 5 speed out of a 250? That way you wont need to do much changing right?

 

[surewhynot]

An easy indicator would be to have a couple of friends stand on the front bumper of your truck while you look at it. My guess, is that you will be gaining 250 to 300 lbs. That's purely a guess though.

 

[godblessmud]

To be honest mike, i dont know...it just seems like it would be cheaper to collect the parts for a 390 swap plus then have a bulletproof T case (205)

Plus i prefer 390's out of any engine offered in ford trucks (429 comes close) because of the reliability, power potential and ease/cost of modification.

a ZF around here goes for 1000 bucks easy

 

[SuperCab]

Yeah, IMHO you can't beat a 390. I heard of someone doing this swap into an '89 IIRC. As long as you can get the thing centered and fab up some mounts, it should be alright. IIRC they jast had little things they had to deal with - they used an oil filter off a Subaru or something because of the clearance - the Subaru was shorter or something. If you can deal with little problems like that, I think you should be alright.

Also, if it was me, I'd stick a C6 behind that FE, but that's just me.



EDIT: I think that might have been on the 'other site' that I saw that. Google it and see if you can find it. I think they put a 4 or 5 speed behind theirs. Actually I remember them saying he road raced a diesel with it and couldn't get it to shift out of 3rd...

That's all I remember. Hopefully someone can find that page and that will help you.