An engine looking for a project, OR: Petting the horse before there's a cart... (2 Viewers)

[Alaska Ranger]

Strange thread title, strange post.

I have on hand a Ford 300cid, aka 4.9L. Carbureted and, although these bulletproof engines have a reputation of being one of the finest gassers ever produced in the USA, this one is - perhaps - even better in that it's d*mned close to out-of-the-box new. It still has in it, clear, its first crankcase oil.

How many miles? Zero. It has run, however, approximately 200 hours. The reason is that has been the motive force for my backup electrical generator (a 45kW Kohler). No longer, and I'm looking for a new home for it.

What I don't know is whether the bellhousing for this, Ford's Industrial version of the I-6 powerplant, is the same as the version for vehicles but, as apparently this engine went into tractors, etc., I'm fairly confident it is. If so, then a little reading suggests it will be happy snuggling up to the E40D, the ZFS5-42, S5-47, Borg Warner's T18, the M5OD 5-speed, and the NP4354 4-speed. I may have missed some.

Anyone like to tell me his thoughts of my dropping this into either an 80 or a 55??? Any other projects an engine like this might be good for? Nice features about the 300 is its really grunty torque and pretty flat power curve - much more important for me than being able to hit and maintain 70 on the highway.

Any moderator who'd like to pass this on to another forum - that would be great too -

Ranger

 

[RockDoc]

Don't have much to add, other than this link to some discussion on the 300: https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-...straight-6-engine-swaps-advice-out-there.html

I don't think I've seen anything from anyone who has actually swapped on in to a cruiser...

 

[Alaska Ranger]

Don't have much to add, other than this link to some discussion on the 300: https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-...straight-6-engine-swaps-advice-out-there.html

I don't think I've seen anything from anyone who has actually swapped on in to a cruiser...

Ah rigbht - I'd forgotten to write that I also had seen both that post and an earlier one from GoldBoy in '07 - but neither of them appear to have concluded in an actual swap, as you posted. Those engines show up everywhere torque is needed: dump trucks, farm tractors, ski lifts, water pumps, saw mills...why not in a 60 or 80?????????????

 

[Fast Eddy]

With a 5-speed it would be a sweet engine for a cruiser. If it was fuel injected, even better.

This is the motor that gas-powered UPS trucks use.

 

[Alaska Ranger]

Thanks, Eddy. Got me to wondering - as this one is a carbureted engine (1980 or thereabouts is when Ford made the change to FI).

Why does FI improve an engine? Is it:

1. efficiency (thus economy),

2. performance when wheeling at scrotum-tightening angles,

3. reliability (hmmm: there are 6 or so injectors vs 1 carb. My main experience with a carb problems is a sticky butterfly valve due to propane's dryness vs its expected and desired wet gasoline),

4. improved distribution of fuel to all cylinders vs problems of getting fuel to the nethermost cylinders,

or is it something else? We don't have carbs in diesel engines, and as I've written before, other than this creature, almost all my 4-stroke engines are diesels.....

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Don't you mean "putting the horse before the cart"? Not sure why you used "petting", unless, somehow, 'stroking' the motor is part of the plan (and you can take that pun's meaning in a few different directions, I know...).

 

[Alaska Ranger]

Heh heh.
Well, the old chestnut normally goes "putting the cart before the horse. So, since I've got the horse but not the cart, I couldn't use the bromide in that fashion. BUT, since it absolutely makes no sense to say "putting the horse before the cart", inasmuch as, well, that is what day in and out one naturally would do, I had to change it...so why not "talk up" - ie, pet - the horse, or engine, that I possess?

And this may be the only time I've ever had to parse one of my not overly-clever thread heads......

But, hey, it got you to read the post!!!!

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Yes, nothing like an attention grabbing title..

 

[71-CRUISER]

Put it in an 80s Ford Truck.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

That's a good motor. I had a neighbor that years ago put the Ford 300 I6 in an FJ40 and it was a good match.

No way I'd put it in an 80. It would be silly to give up the fuel injection.

But a 55 or a 60 could be a really good match.

Didn't you have a purple FJ40 on your property there? What's in that?

I think there is a bellhousing to mate it to the Land Cruiser transmission. Or at least there was.

 

[Alaska Ranger]

Well, it's maroon, but it's got the 3B in it - original - and there's no way I'd bastardize a BJ into an FJ!!!!!

71-Cru: What about a 50s Ford? Or 40s? Jenny wants an old truck - not that there are a whole lot of those around Alaska. I do have a handle on two F-1s, though....

 

[71-CRUISER]

A 300 would be a great engine for just about any old ford pickup. I have a complete drivetrain EFI 300 / 5 speed from a 95 pickup at the shop that you could have for cheep. Just have to get it to AK.

 

[Pacer]

I've been told; that fuelie 300 got half the mpg of the older carbed version...

A 300 would be a great engine for just about any old ford pickup. I have a complete drivetrain EFI 300 / 5 speed from a 95 pickup at the shop that you could have for cheep. Just have to get it to AK.

 

[Fast Eddy]

I've been told; that fuelie 300 got half the mpg of the older carbed version...

"You can't always believe what you read on the Internet." - Abe Lincoln