Engine Swap - Your thoughts and opinions please

[Greg D]

JC is right on with his last post. I am replacing the EFI with a carb on the roller 302 I'm getting so I don't have to spend the $ on the puter system. The M5OD 5 speed tranny I mentioned will bolt right to the 302. Some don't like them but I haven't had any bad luck with the Mazda trannys at all. Only one I ever had blow up ran dry (lost a seal I didn't catch) at 250,000 miles and it was the lack of lube that blew it not the miles. It was also in one of my delivery trucks which saw much less than pampered use. How soon are looking to make the swap? Here are the mounts I will use, JC used them in his 64 too. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
I am still working on the tranny crossmember. The swap part made is listed for C-4, C-6, & AOD (all the same crossmember) I am not yet sure if it will work with the M5OD and it's insulator. I may have to modify the one that fit's the M5 for use in a Slick, or modify the swap crossmember to take the M5's insulator, I also may just make one. I'll advise you all I can from here. I will be doing another "How Too" when I make the actual swap so if you do yours after that you will have a reference with pictures.

[Greg D]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned. The 86 up roller 302s don't have a mechanical fuel pump or an eccentric on the cam to drive one. There 2 ways to fix this;
1) change the timing chain cover and add the proper parts to convert to a mechanical pump
2) add a low pressure electric fuel pump & regulator (this is what I will do). The low pressure electric pumps are pretty much a bolt in and aren't expensive, it's the easiest way to go. If you do happen to find one with crank fired ignition for a good price, it's not to tough to convert it to a distributor. The carb manifold will have a provision for one and the cam already has the drive gear on it, it runs the oil pump drive gear. You'd be pulling the distributor to change the intake anyway.

[Gritsngumbo]

Thanks for the additional info guys. I'm not sure when I will make the swap.
That's an additional expense I hadn't anticipated. I may go ahead with the disc brakes and the power rack and pinion (putting the PS Pump on the 223) then make the engine swap and last the AC.

Maybe I'll luck out and score something good at a reasonable price like Greg did.

I'm so anal that I have my planned upgrades/mods on a spreadsheet with prices and sources, grouped by Engine, Interior, Suspension/Steering etc. so I can stay on track (and on budget HA HA HA)

[megabork]

btw why are you painting the interior before all the rest ?

a. Because it looked like crap and looked especially bad since the exterior shows up so good.
b. Got tired of everyone asking when I was going to do something about the interior.
c. Had to start somewhere (it runs and drives, just not up to my wants and desires).

To quote Red Fox: "Beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone".


Quite frankly didn't realize that I would wind up spending so much on the "extras", but my paint/body guy is a perfectionist and thinks you may as well do it right the first time (He's correct). The cab's going to be like new when finished.

i wasnt trying o be mean its just that i did some of the same things your talking about doing and i had to go back and redo the whole job, i painted it then rebuilt the brakes then the enigne and then had to repaint again becouse it wasnt as good as the rest of the truck,, just trying to let you know how bad the addiction cn lead you away from your wallet,, plus no offence to anyone but i bet you will be wishing you had put alot more engine than you needed,, theres never enough power lol

[Gritsngumbo]

i wasnt trying o be mean its just that i did some of the same things your talking about doing and i had to go back and redo the whole job, i painted it then rebuilt the brakes then the enigne and then had to repaint again becouse it wasnt as good as the rest of the truck,, just trying to let you know how bad the addiction cn lead you away from your wallet,, plus no offence to anyone but i bet you will be wishing you had put alot more engine than you needed,, theres never enough power lol

I didn't take your question as being 'mean'. Legitimate question. That's the beauty of this site...you get lots of good information and good questions. That's how we learn.

But I know me, and I'm so easily diverted that I have to hold myself to my plan or I will wind up a year down the road and have a lot of things half done. I have to be careful in reading the forums or I will be off on another tangent.

Regarding the engine...I want to have "enough" engine but not too much.
If I were 24 or 44 rather than 64 I would want all the horses I could get, but that's not my lifestyle now.

Yes I have the "Slick60Itis". Hazardous to your wallet, credit cards and marital status.