Well as long as I can make it through the next 3 months I'll be graduating soon and it's time to fix up my hunting truck. It currently has a 302 in it but the flywheel needs to be replaced so while I do that why not drop a new engine in so,

Q1 if I can find a 460 from an 80's model will the motor mounts line up right? if not, will a 390 or 428?

Q2 I want to throw a 6" lift on it and change to 4.56 gears. I'm pretty good with mechanical stuff as the 302 thats currently in it was put in by me after I pulled the old engine. how involved is lift and gear installation? I may have the gears done but attempt the lift on my own

Q3 what size tires can I get on it, I'm assuming 35's are as big as I can go since thats what it is for my 02 if I get a 6" lift on that

Thanks fellas

 

Not sure about the first question... but the other two I think I can help ya out with. I have an 84' 150 too, with a 4 inch susp. lift.

With my 4 inch suspension lift and bushwacker cut fender flares, I was able to stuff on 38.5" Ground Hawg tires no problem. I only had them on for the day of wheeling and didn't go too hard on it since my gearing is stock and I didn't want to break anything... but didn't seem to have any problems with rubbing other then on the radius arms when turning. I've had 36's on for a couple months with no problems rubbing either (other then at the arms), but I never got to use those in the woods so I'm not sure about while flexing. I run 33" BFG Allterrains for my everyday driving though and those just barely rub on the radius arms at full steering lock. This is all with the cut fenders though on a 4inch lift. 35's would be no problem with a 6 inch, and I would think you could probably get away with something a little bit bigger.

The lift doesn't look too complicated to install... not much more to it then the radius arm drop brackets, pitman arm drop, shocks, springs, and block or springs in the back. I think there was someone who just did a post about installing a 6inch on their 86' I think it was. Pretty sure they just did it on the ground with a jack and basic hand tools and maybe some air tools.

I was planning on getting some 35" mud terrains for mine to fill the fenders up a little better then the 33" all terrains... but gotta get the priorities taken care of first unfortunately (you might have seen my post earlier about the water pump )

 

Thanks a lot fmf. hope you get your water pump issue sorted out. So it sounds like I'll be doing the lift myself, still haven't decided about the gears there's a pretty good post on how to do it, maybe I'll get the rears professionally done and do the front myself. I guess I'll try 36's and see how I like them since I won't be doing anything extreme as far as offroading just cutting through fields and ditches to get to my hunting grounds. Anyone know about the largest engine I can put in without drilling new motor mounts? Sadly this is all about 5 months out since I'm going to try to pay off my credit card debt before I start working on it.

 

I would *think* you could put any engine in there that was available as a factory option. The 460 was an option in 84.

What tranny and transfer case do you have now? What about axles? Going from a 302 to a 460 may require some upgrades. If you are lucky, it already has a C6.

 

I have a donor c6 that I will use I think I have the 8.8 rear end. The truck has been my parents farm truck while I've been at college (my 02 is a little more reliable). It origionally had a 351W in it but I bought it with a blown engine so swapped to the 302 because that was what the local junkyard had available at the time. will the lift upgrade my suspension enough or will I have to do something else if I throw a 460 in there?

 

If it came with a 351, it *should* be beefy enough to handle a 460.

 

The lift kit should be fine with the 460. Could even go with a 2inch leveling kit in the front as well as the lift while you have it all apart... this way it will give the truck a level look (unless you like the bulldog stance).

I think 36's should fit you good. Should fill the fender wells nicely and give the truck a good look. 4.56s sound about right for 36's from what I've been reading here and there over time. 4.10's seem to be popular for 35's, so I would think 4.56's wouldn't be overkill for 36's. I would suggest getting some kind of locker in at least the rear, you'll be thanking yourself if you do.

If you do get a 460 in, you might want to consider upgrading your axles though. Not sure how well an 8.8 and I'm assuming TTB D44 will take to a 460. Someone else might be able to shed some more info on that though

 

You will have to swap motor mounts if you go with a 390, 429, 460, ect, as well as transmissions. I have help buddies swap engines in their trucks, a 75 F250 from 351W-390, and a 81 351W-460. Both of which we had to do new mounts and trannys since the small block and big block bolt patterns are different.

As for the gears, I would get them done by a mechanic. They are easy to screw up. The lift, if you are mechanically inclinded, I would say go for it.

As for the rearend itself, being that it is an 8.8" they are a good little rearend and can take abuse, Mustangs have been running them for years. But with 35/36's and a big block I would personally up grade to a Dana 60 or a Sterling 10.25. And since you have a Dana 44 frontend I have heard that you can swap in parts from a 70's era 8 bolt 44 that where found in many F250's, and even some early 80's I beleive.

Just my $0.02 worth

 

PHS is on the right track, the only motors you can just drop in that bolt to your current tranny are the 300, 302, or 351w.

The 351m, 400, and 460 have their own tranny bell pattern, and the FE series (352, 360, 390, 428, ect..) have yet a different bell.

Adrianspeeder

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, so sounds like 36's with the lift done by me. I'm keeping the rake because this will be my hunting/fishing/camping rig and will usually be loaded down so it will ride level anyway. I'll leave the gears to the pros and was planning on a tru trac as long as they were pulling the gears, sounds like I may need to upgrade the rear axle, but as I said I'm not with the truck now it's in ND and I'm in CO so can't really get specs. I'll have to find out what my donor c6 has for a bolt pattern, since the reason I'm getting it is the engine was gone from the other truck when my buddy bought it. I really appreciate all your opinions. Once i start moving on this late this summer I'll definately post up some pics.

 

Snag the vin code from the donor truck and we can figure out the motor.

Adrianspeeder

 

buddy said he checked the vin and numbers on the c6 and it came from a '85 351m, so I should be good right?

 

Last year for the 351m was '82 so I'd say he read somethin' wrong. Also, the 351m has the same pattern as a 460.

Adrianspeeder

 

good to know I'll tell him to recheck

 

turns out after a little more prodding I got my buddy to admit that he just asked the guy who he bought it from what the engine tranny combo was. It's an '85 body that the guy dropped the c6 and 351m into, so no telling what the shape of the tranny is, I figure I'll have it rebuilt before I put it in anyway though. thanks for all the help Adrian, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get closer to starting this project. Target start date for all of this is late July.