Hey guys my name is Ricky I'm 26 and just bought my first pick up which is an 87 f150 inline 6. Since I'm coming from the tuner world I don't know much about these older motors so I was wondering if there's anything I should know about right off the bat. I plan on doing a full tune up and fluids change in the next couple weeks and tires as well. Is there anything else I should plan to do right away?

 

Nice looking truck. The 4.9 responds to pretty much anything that works on other engines, but, the truck weighs around 4000 lbs, so torque is king. The head is restrictive, and that's okay, you really don't want to exceed 5000 rpms anyhow. Freeing up the exhaust, like 3" all the way back helps, again we are trying for torque. you really don't have to spend any $$ to enjoy it, they aren't bad, as they come from the factory. Bumping the timing to 12° BTDC wakes it up considerably.

 

I assume you mean tune up not tuning for high high performance. The 4.9 is a bullet proof "truck engine" designed to work in a truck.
While it is no slouch and will respond to some tuner tricks, IMO it is best just give it a good tune up and fluid change and enjoy.

 

Ya by tune up I strictly mean just wires plugs and fluids I'm certainly not interested in turning this truck into any sort of race car lol. With a 3 inch exhaust since the trucks naturally aspirated I'm not going to have any issues with lack of back pressure with an exhaust that big?

 

Other than perhaps sounding a bit odd, none. Since that isn't a flow through head, the entire exhaust is a bit of a bottle neck, so any relief is generally a win. But, they do okay without it. if the previous owner hadn't done my 96 in 3" I doubt it would have ever gotten to being a priority. My '87 seems to get by without it, but even it has a 2 1/2" glass pack and a turn down for the entire cat back portion.

 

Ok good to know. Do y'all recommend any specific brand of plugs and wires?

 

I'm borrowing this from member rikard; "I did the "Six Liter Tuneup" which consisted of using the Ford motorsport wires, Motorcraft copper plugs gapped at .050, and increasing the timing to 12 Degrees BTDC. The engine was dead stock and performed better than before with the biggest difference noticed in acceleration."


That said none of them are going to break the bank, these are under $30 on Rockauto the only more expensive ones were the ceramic boots ones.
Sorry if I came on too strong, I also spend time on Fordsix.com, and those guys tend to see everything as a performance opportunity.

 

Fantastic. Any advice is welcomed!

 

Hi,
Steer away from aftermarket as much as possible!

Try to stay FORD/Motorcraft!!!

My opinion after owning an 89 F-150 4.9L for over 20 years!!!

 

Ya I'm not doing anything aftermarket except for suspension work tires and exhaust. I like how she looks now so ill mostly just be doing restoration type stuff to it