My uncle has a 98? F150 that he is swapping a 5.8 in turn for the 4.2 that's in it. He's an old school desert racer and this is his prerunner so it'll get bored, aftermarket heads, roller cam and lifters, holley carb, etc.. Any who, the engine comes to $250 out the door. He was quoted by a non pull yourself yard $450. So I'm thinking of meeting him in the middle at $350. Now as for my truck, it needs some work (has the 5.8 with 210k). Definitely has perfect internals but seems like a giant turd even compared to my dad's 92 4.9 with 300k on it. I've been reading up on heads, exhaust, etc without breaking into the block much further; my uncle wants just the block with accessories so I'm thinking about swapping in some gt40 heads, intake and manifolds that I could eventually put in my truck, essentially for free. From what I've read, I can't get a clear answer on the intake. It seems as though the lightning is the only intake that will fit as the 5.0 intake is too narrow? Then I hear people are using the stock 5.8 intake? I just want to know if I'm getting myself into too much trouble. This is definitely a budget upgrade but anything will help this thing. I just need someone with experience to chime in before I screw myself over

 

Im not sure im fully following.

your uncle wants a 5.8 to stick in a 98?

you have a truck with a 5.8, are you taking your engine out and selling him yours? are you then in turn building a junk yard 5.8 for your truck?

As far as the intake, well you have a 5.8 and it obviously has the 5.8 lower, so install heads and checked and see if it fits.

Heres my two cents though, gt40 heads are good and all but why not spend some money and get a set of aluminum heads? I feel gt40 heads are good for 302s but kinda leave you in the same boat as stock 351 heads on a 351. that's my thinking it may be completely wrong, there are plenty of people that have put gt40 heads on a 351. so im not sure.

 

He doesn't want to spend the time out at the yard so I'm making a bit of money pulling him an engine and I just wanted to grab some parts for my truck. I started thinking that as well. I'm just gonna look for some extra stuff I know I need

 

The 5.0 and 5.8 lower intakes are not interchangeable.

Also, you'll need to drill the holes out for the GT40 heads if they are not Lightning heads. (from 7/16" to 1/2")

In order for the 5.0 GT40 upper intake to work, you'd have to get a Lightning GT40 lower intake.

 

Just to add a bit more, the 5.8 performance intakes available are pretty much all aftermarket with the exception of the Lightning lower. And by the time you purchase a Lightning lower (they sell high), you could have probably purchased a complete Trick Flow or Edelbrock upper and lower set.

 

So it wasn't just me. I couldn't figure that out at all. But if he'll pull a motor for $100 I could have used him last week.

 

That's exactly what I'm doing. Just getting some extra cash to go do something I don't mind. It gives me an excuse to go out and just poke around for some things I need instead of making a pointless trip. If anyone in Tucson needs anything, I'm more than willing to pull whatever they need. Plus I'll even deliver the parts.

 

Good stuff - helps your uncle out too.
As far as the intake goes, I don't know the rep for the 351. For sure it's quite a bit wider than the 302.
But in the 302 intakes, the lower intake is apparently the best 302 intake to get. I don't know if that thinking transfers to the 351 intake (research) but you would think it's very possible.
Gt40 heads flow better, but all by themselves they won't turn the engine into a screamer overnight

 

I’m building a 1986 F-150 5.0 swap from EFI to Carb... Any knowledge on this is very much appreciated