girth83

Think this is where I would start a build thread....but if not, someone yell at me, or move it.

Like the title says, Im putting(or I'm tying to ) a 5.3 from a 2001 Tahoe (with a 4L60E) in my '66 2wd F100. Project has only been underway for a week or so, so not much in the way of awesomeness yet. Tore most of the front clip off, and glad I did. Anymore time on the road and some of those fender bolts would NOT have come out. As it was I had to grind the head off one bolt 'cause the nutplate had rotted away to nothing. A couple of them, if they spin, the "easy" way to get them out is apparently to cut a hole in the fender...from the outside.

ANYWAYS, only thing left hooked up at the moment is the exhaust and motor mounts, so Im hoping to have the 460/C6 out this week.....hopefully. Truck currently has 4wheel disc courtesy of a '72 front end, and a late '70s Lincoln rear. The goal is to make it a somewhat "economical" daily driver, since I sold the pile of Heep Wrangler that I was running back and forth to work in.

I need to decide what I wanna do for motor mounts, and figure out what I can run for long tube headers. Anyone know where I can find dimensions (like how wide the headers are when bolted on, how far they drop etc) so I can make a guesstimate on what will fit best?

A couple pics to give you all something to look at.... oh and sorry about the pink hue on the one. Camera was acting funky.

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Good stuff man. I know it will be a blast when done.

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

Looks like a nice truck. I'm sure it will have to be more economical with the 5.3/4l60e than the old 460 with no overdrive! You'll love it when it's done. Good luck with it.

superbean

girth83

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Still pondering headers tonight. The market seems to deal with header designs for specific chassis, and obviously a F100 LS swap isnt really common enough to warrant a market for that. Any suggestions of is there a "generic" or close fitting set of longtubes someone could recommend? I have that radius arm crossmember that i must clear.

Im sure I'll end up making the motor mounts so that should give me some leeway, but I could use a nudge in the right direction.

girth83

Progress gents, progress on this productive little Saturday. Moved the father in laws '55 Nomad to his new place this morning, then got the 460/C6 yanked out of the F100 this afternoon. The engine mounts were a real bastard...whoever designed them, obviously never thought what a PITA they would be to remove. Its OUT though!

Bighatchy

I'm tearing down my 73 F100 to do the same thing. I'm doing the crown vic suspension swap on the front. I want a low, easy driving, bump the key and it starts every time cruiser. Good luck!

girth83

I read over a few write ups on the Crown Vic swaps. Not the direction I wanna go I think. I just can't get over the wider track and needing to run a FWD offset on the wheels. Not a fan of that look, so for now the I-beams will stay, at least until I get REAL excited and look into a Mustang II clip.

girth83

Been a while...should update this I guess. Ran into some setbacks, but still moving forward slowly.

Got around to working on the broken exhaust manifold bolts in the heads. (there were 3 of them) First one took a little drilling but came out no problem. On the 2nd one....things turned BAD quick. Wasn't paying attention for a second and broke the EZ-out off in the head. OK...I can come back to that. 3rd was right under a spark plug and still sticking out a bit. Figured I would remove the spark plug so I could grab it with some vise-grips. After a couple revolutions, the plug came out. THAT didn't seem right...should have more thread engagement than that. Look at the plug, and its rusty from the seat down about half the threads. Peek in the hole and sure enough someone has completely stripped out half the threads and cross-threaded the rest. YAY. Get to looking at the date...my "junkyard warranty" had expired the day before. COULD have maybe got them to give me a new head, but got to thinking and figured it would take almost $200 to bolt a used head of unknown condition on. (bolts, gaskets, etc)

Figured screw it and went for broke. Found a reman'd pair of heads from Thompson Motorsports on Ebay. Called them up and they showed up last week. Still need the gaskets and bolts, but two rebuilt heads for less than $400 sounded good to me!

Headers showed up yesterday. Picked up some cheap pacesetters just in case I need to modify them a bit. Noticed the "this is not high temp paint" sticker right away. lol Anyone have suggestions for repainting them on the cheap? Or is it even worth it?

Now I just need more time...and of course money. Gotta find some plate, DOM tubing and bushings to match so I can rough in some engine mounts and start getting this thing to sit where it fits.

BP Automotive

iTrader: (3)

Sorry to hear about the snags in the build! Thats never any good, but it will make the finished product that much more enjoyable! That will be one fun truck when you are finished, Ill be watching this thread...

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

I like old cars and trucks like these, they have style. I actually saw two of these sitting in a salvage yard side by side last weekend. I was shocked to see one in a yard that usually has only new stuff. Even more crazy I saw two more going down the street on different days.

Good luck. By the way, we need more pictures.

thompson

iTrader: (4)

Thank you for your purchase. Let us know if we can help with the bolts and gaskets or any other components in. Best of luck with the project. Looks like a great truck.

girth83

Eventually Im gonna need head gaskets, and bolts...maybe a cam if the extra cash is there. Im sure that list will grow, but I gotta get the motor bolted in first. Thanks for the quick service!