looking for some thoughts and suggestions enginewise

[blueovalmadness]

Ok I'm currently getting ready to start tearing into my 64. The truck has a good running 40 over 302 and a c4 in it now but a friend of mine has a 90 grand marquis with fuel injected 302 and aod I can have for 300 bones. I can't decide what I want to do. The previous owner cut the radiator support up pretty good so I'm tearing the entire front clip off the truck anyway. So I'm looking for some input on past experiences from some of you guys on what seems to work best in these trucks. This is only my second slick so I'm pretty new around these trucks

[Truckrat]

A friend of mine with a 63 Flareside in Texas did a FI302/AOD swap a while back along with a Dakota IFS under it. It runs and drives great and he is pretty happy with it. TR

[Greg D]

Blown 500 Caddy...........................................

[Johnny Canuck]

Haha.. Greg you been reading slick 60's Facebook, haven't you!,, how about a twin screw Rat motor?

[slick4x4]

quite honestly , what you people do with more than 223 ci is beyond me......

and apparently.... with some bolt on parts
even those sound & run like something else

[jkimbrel65]

quite honestly , what you people do with more than 223 ci is beyond me......

and apparently.... with some bolt on parts
even those sound & run like something else

We drive 70 on the interstate

Mike

[cooter]

i personally hate the aod as it is a very sluggish working tranny unless you build it with a shift kit. If you have a 302 in your truck already stay with it, if you need to rebuild something then get a 351 windsor

[slick4x4]

quite honestly , what you people do with more than 223 ci is beyond me......

and apparently.... with some bolt on parts
even those sound & run like something else

We drive 70 on the interstate

Mike

I can do that......

Downhill.....

With the wind.....

Running premium.....

[blueovalmadness]

I dont believe in putting gm engines in a ford. I'm not looking to make this truck go fast either. I'm planning on a daily driver to work every day which is why I was considering the injected small block with the over drive tranny

[slick4x4]

Sorry about the joking around
I think the 302 is about one of the sweetest engines ever built .
With an auto behind it... Make a great driver....
GO FOR IT !

[kstones63]

4.6 DOHC with a 4 speed automatic. It will do good mileage and has plenty of power. I am kind of partial to this setup.
A 302 is an awesome engine with either carb or fuel injection.

Mike, You beat me to to it by telling Pat that we can drive faster than 50 on the freeway.

Kevin

[Greg D]

I have had a few 302s,
it is a reliable engine but most of the 70-84 engines are pretty weak and not nearly as efficient as they could be.
The Roller Cam 5.0 is the business!
Either the 86-95 Mustang 5.0 or the Explorer 5.0 (with it's even better heads) is a far better option in my opinion (some Lincolns had roller motors too).
It's higher torque will move a full size truck around with less effort resulting in better economy. Fuel mileage is not simply "He with the least cubic inches wins",
it's a very complicated set of variables & compromises.
As far as AODs go, you want one from either a 5.0 Mustang, T Bird, or from an F 150 with a 300-6 (4.9),
this version of the AOD has more clutches and better shifting. The early speed density EFI engines can be converted to mass air also.
This is probably your best over all efficiency / power bang for the buck if you want a V8.
If you don't mind shifting, an M5OD is the easiest overdrive manual conversion. This trans is common in late 80s thru 96 F series trucks,
just Be Sure to replace the shifter seals. Uses a hydraulic clutch that will be pretty simple to adapt to a Slick.
A T-5 will work but has several "issues" installing in one of these trucks - trust me I have one in mine.

[blueovalmadness]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will post more info and pictures as I go along

[ezernut9mm]

i had a 90 gm and it did pretty good on the highway for what it was. i would get a touch over 20mpg on road trips. the car weighed almost 4k and was probably about as aerodynamic as these trucks. lol. still, it had a highway gear i'm sure, so i wouldn't expect much more mpg than what you are getting right now.

[blueovalmadness]

I actually have no idea how this engine does down the road. The previous owner hack the hell out of the radiator suppot to where you can't even mount a radiator and he flipped the fron springs over to lower the truck so now the frame sits right on the springs so there is no give in it

[Mugwump]

I'd second what Greg D said.

I have the '93 EFI 5.0 with a T-5 manual trans, and I love it. The truck is a blast to drive, sounds fantastic, and runs under 2k RPM @ 70mph all day (as long as you're not climbing long hills). Gets good MPG to boot. If I had it to do over though, I'd definitely check into the M50D tranny.

I have the feeling that the truck wouldn't be nearly as much fun with an AOD or other A/T, but I can't say from experience...