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Its the truck mounting stuff for the alt that sits up higher,, as mentioned before look at the bracket kits ICT billet sells, those are about as tight hugging as you can get and you likely don't need the whole front setup just the bits to high mount the PS pump and low mount the alternator. BUT,, your LTD has a relatively high hood, the truck setup might fit. The truck intake sits about even with the top of the alternator.. So if one is a fit problem so is the other. This is where the $ get unpredictable. Lots of googling of things like LS truck motor pictures..
Getting a whole short cab long bed 2500 2wd truck would be awesome, they go for about 2500 bucks around here with 1-200 k on the clock and have the 6.0/4l80 in them.
some time at a U-pullit yard with a tape measure will pay off..
Another thing you might consider, as its labor not $$ is doing a tubular cross member, you can make it so it wraps around the pan rather than just going straight across under the pan.
yea patience might pay off if I just wait for a good deal on a full vehicle, as I’m starting to realize. Spent 8 hours today trying to pull a 5.3 to no avail. Had everything out but the guy’s **** hoist wouldn’t roll it out whatsoever. Had to leave empty handed. don’t know if I’ll even bother to go back for it, it seemed to run good and $375 but holy cow was that frustrating.
plus winter is here in Minnesota and god i forget how much it blows working in the cold and snow. Wouldn’t hurt me to wait some till nice weather
tubular crossmember is a good idea, I was kinda thinking that myself as I imagine how much of it i’ll have to cut.
yea patience might pay off if I just wait for a good deal on a full vehicle, as I’m starting to realize. Spent 8 hours today trying to pull a 5.3 to no avail. Had everything out but the guy’s **** hoist wouldn’t roll it out whatsoever. Had to leave empty handed. don’t know if I’ll even bother to go back for it, it seemed to run good and $375 but holy cow was that frustrating.
plus winter is here in Minnesota and god i forget how much it blows working in the cold and snow. Wouldn’t hurt me to wait some till nice weather
tubular crossmember is a good idea, I was kinda thinking that myself as I imagine how much of it i’ll have to cut.
COMPLETE 4.8/5.3 for only $350 and it had no issues? I'd go back and get it. Especially since you put 8 hours of your time in to it. If anything, just flip it if you still decide to get a whole vehicle.
COMPLETE 4.8/5.3 for only $350 and it had no issues? I'd go back and get it. Especially since you put 8 hours of your time in to it. If anything, just flip it if you still decide to get a whole vehicle.
yea now that my frustration has worn off, probably will. It had 299k on the odometer but the motor looked to have fresh seals so maybe it was replaced, 60psi of oil pressure at idle
yea now that my frustration has worn off, probably will. It had 299k on the odometer but the motor looked to have fresh seals so maybe it was replaced, 60psi of oil pressure at idle
299k is just broke in. Most on here are pretty new to LS stuff (judging by their responses on this thread) but don't be scared of mileage on an LS. If it had that oil pressure, no ticks,taps,knocks or smoke. I'd snag it up, cam it or leave it stock and slap it in. $325 is dirt cheap for these motors nowadays
If you are getting frustrated just pulling the engine out of a a car, you may want to re think this project. Pulling stuff apart is the easy work. Many of these projects never get done because of budgets and frustration levels. Nothing like taking a good running car snd making it non useable.
If you are getting frustrated just pulling the engine out of a a car, you may want to re think this project. Pulling stuff apart is the easy work. Many of these projects never get done because of budgets and frustration levels. Nothing like taking a good running car snd making it non useable.
He said,,, "plus winter is here in Minnesota". <-- outdoors under 50 degrees will wear almost anybody out working on a car..
If you are getting frustrated just pulling the engine out of a a car, you may want to re think this project. Pulling stuff apart is the easy work. Many of these projects never get done because of budgets and frustration levels. Nothing like taking a good running car snd making it non useable.
Yea you're certainly right. I was at that point last night but after I settled down I was back into wanting to get it done, so I think that's a good sign. I was also planning to get everything going this month or so but I'll be way more patient with it now.
Part of doing a project like this and getting it completed is being realistic about budgets, goals and skills and time. In order to complete something like this, you must be realistic about all of these.
Getting frustrated in the beginning of a project like this is a picture of things to come. This stuff is easy in the internet, but time consuming and frustrating, as well as costly. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a dreamer. Whether pulling an engine out in someone’s driveway to save money, or determining how low to set the engine in the car, it’s all on you to figure it out.
This isn’t brain surgery, but certainly takes perseverance. Starting things like this without a real plan and such will probably not end well. I would suggest going back with a proper hoist to remove the engine that sounds like you have a majority of the work done. Unless someone else has taken advantage of your hard work and gotten it.
Part of doing a project like this and getting it completed is being realistic about budgets, goals and skills and time. In order to complete something like this, you must be realistic about all of these.
Getting frustrated in the beginning of a project like this is a picture of things to come. This stuff is easy in the internet, but time consuming and frustrating, as well as costly. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a dreamer. Whether pulling an engine out in someone’s driveway to save money, or determining how low to set the engine in the car, it’s all on you to figure it out.
This isn’t brain surgery, but certainly takes perseverance. Starting things like this without a real plan and such will probably not end well. I would suggest going back with a proper hoist to remove the engine that sounds like you have a majority of the work done. Unless someone else has taken advantage of your hard work and gotten it.
I've done some big projects before so I'm no stranger to it. Been through some engine swaps and making things fit and all that. I know what's required to get something like this done and the pitfalls. Most every time however I pass up on taking my time with things and it get's messy, always some bit of a learning curve. ^Good idea, I plan on heading back in the next couple days for the motor, the guy is expecting me to.
Did you get the engine? Pull the truck engine mounts and frame stands, could be very useful to modify to your frame instead of paying for oddball mounts. Grab everything you can from the truck, radiator and even core support and graft it into your vehicle. All hoses, intake tube, etc can be useful. Grab the stock trans mounts. Swap pan, hmm, looks like LTD has a big crossmember in the way, crossmember can be notched but the drag link won't move. F body pans seem to have the most clearance of stock pans and run about $100 on ebay for chinese repops. Universal rear dump headers may clear??
Keep it stock and get it running, driving. Cam swap and tune later, if you want.
1966 LTD, you luckily don't have the damn 60's ford shock towers to deal with. Here's a pic I grabbed off web
Not trying to discourage, but, If the 390 is in good mechanical condition, I think you can get the mileage in the 15-17 range with a good tune. Timing recurve and carb adjustments, swap, or rebuild. Even a gear swap may help, open diff highway gear 9" center chunks are still cheap. Sometimes a lower gear helps with mileage.
Here's an update for anyone that was subscribed to my post: After about two weeks of gathering parts and prep work, 5 days of engine swapping, I got it finished up just a couple days ago. So far things are going without a hitch, my $300 4l60e will need some revitalizing but it's overall functioning. Engine runs great without messing with tunes at all yet. First impressions say the stock 5.3ls, only mod being shorty headers, would totally smoke my 390 and at that I got 23mpg cruising on the highway at 80. Give or take it cost me about $2500, which I'm working on making it back by selling the ford parts but also at the rate I drive, the swap will pay for itself from gas savings in about a year. I'm sure plenty of problems will come and go as it works with any engine swap, but so far everything has exceeded my expectations and to me, it was definitely worth it. Thanks to everyone on this thread who helped out!
Here's an update for anyone that was subscribed to my post: After about two weeks of gathering parts and prep work, 5 days of engine swapping, I got it finished up just a couple days ago. So far things are going without a hitch, my $300 4l60e will need some revitalizing but it's overall functioning. Engine runs great without messing with tunes at all yet. First impressions say the stock 5.3ls, only mod being shorty headers, would totally smoke my 390 and at that I got 23mpg cruising on the highway at 80. Give or take it cost me about $2500, which I'm working on making it back by selling the ford parts but also at the rate I drive, the swap will pay for itself from gas savings in about a year. I'm sure plenty of problems will come and go as it works with any engine swap, but so far everything has exceeded my expectations and to me, it was definitely worth it. Thanks to everyone on this thread who helped out!
YES! i feel like i won as i was fighting for you to do the swap and to do it cheap! haha. Looking back isn't it crazy that people were trying to tell you to stick with the 390???? Its an insane difference even with a stock LS isn't it? lol. You paid the same amount for your 4l60 as i did mine so, glad neither of us are surprised its not a brand new rebuilt transmission. But, i need pics and more info. You kinda got us invested, dipped, then showed up with a running and driving truck lol.
YES! i feel like i won as i was fighting for you to do the swap and to do it cheap! haha. Looking back isn't it crazy that people were trying to tell you to stick with the 390???? Its an insane difference even with a stock LS isn't it? lol. You paid the same amount for your 4l60 as i did mine so, glad neither of us are surprised its not a brand new rebuilt transmission. But, i need pics and more info. You kinda got us invested, dipped, then showed up with a running and driving truck lol.
Yea, all the way, you totally got me moving on it. A while back I was against ls swaps myself, I still admit they're boring and overdone but holy cow does it just work! I miss the idea of a nice vintage, all mechanical engine that runs of a wire or two, but after a day of driving around with the ls I'm not looking back at all.
Had to cut a notch into the crossmember and elongate the mounting bolts on the trans crossmember, plus a little fabricating for the mounts, shifter, fan shroud, trans cooler, and fuel pump mount. Amazingly the $140 amazon headers fit perfectly, which I laugh at when I consider the $700 hooker headers I had on the 390 that took a lot of hammering. There's still plenty to clean up, like make a nice housing for the ecu and the fuses/relay. The only hitch that I ran into was I had misplaced one wire on the obd2 port, but I can't believe it took only 5 days from having the 390 pulled out to getting it running, I trimmed up the stock harness prior though and that took me a full day or two.
Had to cut a notch into the crossmember and elongate the mounting bolts on the trans crossmember, plus a little fabricating for the mounts, shifter, fan shroud, trans cooler, and fuel pump mount. Amazingly the $140 amazon headers fit perfectly, which I laugh at when I consider the $700 hooker headers I had on the 390 that took a lot of hammering. There's still plenty to clean up, like make a nice housing for the ecu and the fuses/relay. The only hitch that I ran into was I had misplaced one wire on the obd2 port, but I can't believe it took only 5 days from having the 390 pulled out to getting it running, I trimmed up the stock harness prior though and that took me a full day or two.
LOVE IT! Thats all you need right there. Nothing fancy, just functional and far better than what was in it before. Now you can start doing all the under hood cosmetics. Surprised you did the harness yourself. With how cheap harnesses are now i couldn't have the patience to re work one myself lol. Did you use the amazon headers i sent you? Honestly don't remember what all i sent you links for. But glad you did the swap. And, its not as many wires as people would think. I was very surprised how little wiring was involved when i did my swap.
I forget what all I grabbed from the links you sent but I bought literally everything off of amazon lol. The wiring wasn't nearly as bad as I would've imagined, there's so much info online about ls swaps it's hard to mess anything up as long as you're patient.
nice work!!! congrats on getting it up and running. always a good feeling. for me personally, i'll always believe my swap was "worth it" because there is a certain level of satisfaction that comes from knowing that i'm driving something that i put together myself. also a certain level of frustration.....lol
enjoy driving it and getting better fuel economy. i wouldn't doubt that with a tune you could do even better than what you were seeing MPG wise.
12-06-2021 | 12:33 AM
