Digem

Have the inline 6 in my 1989 F150 currently. And I love the truck an the motor, haven't given me any problems what so ever. But I'm getting bored with it honestly. So I believe I want to do a motor swap. At first I thought a cummins 4bt, but it's a little more work, time, & money than I wanna do. I have decided to just do a V8 swap but which motor do you suggests I plan on driving the truck 2-3 days a week so basically daily driver. Not going to drag race or anything. But do wanna smoke the tires. So what motor do you suggest?

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

If you're going to go to all the trouble to relieve some boredom, the small block you'll want the 351 windsor.
But if you want the truck to really do it for you, then the 429 is the one, power and torque combinations just really work well for a truck.
429's are hard to find, so if the best you can do is a 460, put the 429 crank gear on it if you want some real throttle response. If you could find some (2nd version) 429 cobra jet heads, you would not ever be bored with your truck again.
I know it seems like a big block would be a total gas guzzler, but actually they don't have to work hard at all to move a truck around, so if you keep your foot out of the pedal the mileage is actually not too bad.
It's hard to do though (the foot out of the pedal thing).

Digem

Thanks for the input. I got a few more questions for you.

What else would I need to change? Transmission, radiator, rear gears, wiring? What else?

Also this big question, and I know it's such a broad question but could you estimate I would spend on this? Parts and labor?

CJ720

hey i have a 1994 f150 with the 5.8 and i have a complete donor vehicle with the 5.0 auto as well, what kind of troubles am i looking at for swapping motors? thanks in advance.

CDavis9

Going from a straight 6 to a v8 isn't difficult. You will need a new bigger radiator, the engine, harness and computer, motor mounts are different. also the straight 6 is a longer motor so you might have an issue with your driveshafts not 100% on that one.

Digem

Also this big question, and I know it's such a broad question but could you estimate I would spend on this? Parts and labor?

CDavis9

Depends if you buy a parts truck with all the needed parts it would probably range 400-1000 but individual parts is beyond me. Never done such a swap

Digem

So I can use the transmission I have now? That's stock in a 1989 f150 with the 300 straight 6 motor? Not sure what tranny it is.

Manuellabour247

If the engines are around the same year, the transmissions should bolt up....hopefully. You'll be looking at motor mounts, electronics, and probably fuel pump/lines. With the engine out, it wouldn't be a bad idea to update your front suspension. The straight 6 isn't light, but it's lighter than the 460. You'll also want to make sure you have the right brackets for all the additions to the motor (alternator, power steering, etc). Also with the motor out is a good time to power wash everything and check all of the components that are hard to get to and see with the engine in.

Manuellabour247

You can look up the part number for a replacement transmission with the 460 and a replacement trans for the 300 and see if they are the same part number. Otherwise, it's measuring time for the mount holes.