1971 Ford camper special repower

[WLehto]

Hello everyone,



I’m a new member to TDR forum. I’m planning to repower my 1971 Ford F250 2wd with an early 1991 CTD and Getrag transmission. The Ford was originally a 390 with a C6. I just picked up my donor truck Saturday, so haven’t really gotten too far into the project. I have pulled the Ford engine and transmission. Just wondering if anyone has done a repower on a 2wd of this vintage Ford truck? I can see that my steering linkage maybe a problem.



Thanks,

Wayne

 

[WLehto]

The Ford's engine bay

View attachment 64928

 

[WLehto]

The donor truck

View attachment 64931

View attachment 64930

 

[WDixon27]

i've not done it but thought about it with my granddads 73 f350 camper special, i think you need to chop a couple inches out of the cross member to clear the oil pan, at least on the later 2wd trucks like pap's truck not sure about the earlier body style

 

[WLehto]

Update

Well got the engine and transmission out of the donner truck and have been doing some test fitting on my truck. I had to notch the oil pan and extended the oil pickup tube to clear the steering linkage. I ended up just using the dodge motor mount on the passage side. I just bolted onto my crossmember. I'm working on the driver's side motor mount today, also using the dodge but needs alittle modification.

 

[WLehto]

Update engine now in

Well I have finally gotten the engine in after a number of test fits and some fabrication. I have gone through the transmission and have cleaned up the engine and painted it. I have a lot of little things to do before it is ready to start. I'm excited to get it back on the road, before I started the conversion I was in the middle restoring it so I still have a lot of work to do on the truck. Hopefully I will be driving it next spring and be getting better then 9-10mpg the 390 was doing.

 

[HRDROKN]

Hopefully I will be driving it next spring and be getting better then 9-10mpg the 390 was doing.

:-laf You can count on doubling those figures!

 

[John - K5AWO]

Is that the same motor that was in the '91 Dodge?? :-laf

Sure looks different now

 

[WLehto]

Is that the same motor that was in the '91 Dodge?? :-laf



Sure looks different now

Sure is, I thought it turned out pretty good for how rusty it was. Still have a few pieces to paint.

 

[jimlj]

That looks nice! I like the color of your engine. Here is a picture of mine when I was a bit ahead of where you are now. Like HRDROKN said, you will get double the mileage of your old gasser. You will have a smile on your face for a week after the first test drive!

 

[JHerr]

WLehto,



Your conversion is 50% larger than mine. I am planning on putting a 4BT into a '72 Camper Special. I have the truck but need the 4BT powerplant. I currently have some leads on one.



FYI - There is a lot of Cummins swappng info on www.4btswaps.com and also in the "Engine" section of FORDification.com - The 1967-1972 Ford Pickup Resource. Look specifically for the "Official 4BT Conversion Thread" on Fordification... you can't miss it, it's 23 pages long!

 

[WLehto]

JHerr



Sounds like a good project, be interesting to see what fuel economy you can achieve. Did you know that in Brazil they put 4b's in new f250s.



http://www.holset.com. cn/pics-related/3-media/3-1-magazines/HTiIssue7final.pdf

 

[JHerr]

Thanks for the link on the Brazilian Fords. Those headers on the new 4B look pretty cool.



I would like to drive one to see how those trucks perform and the fuel economy numbers that they deliver.

 

[Grizzly]

I bought a 71 Ford new, F250, 2WD, 390, 4 speed. At 104K I had the engine rebuilt, at 121K I had a new engine installed. I went another 10K or so and gave the truck away. If it wasn't the engine, it was always something gone wrong with that worthless Ferd. It turned out to be the worst vehicle I ever had. I wouldn't spend too much time and money on a 71 Ferd if I were you.

 

[WLehto]

Grizzly



Sorry to hear that, I guess I have a pretty good one then. It was my grandfather's truck and he bought it new and didn't have any major problems while he owned it. This was my first vehical and it really didn't give me to many problems, still ran good at 135,000 miles on the original drive train. I don't worry too much about the time and money I put into it because of the sentimental value of the truck to me.

 

[Grizzly]

Grizzly



Sorry to hear that, I guess I have a pretty good one then. It was my grandfather's truck and he bought it new and didn't have any major problems while he owned it. This was my first vehical and it really didn't give me to many problems, still ran good at 135,000 miles on the original drive train. I don't worry too much about the time and money I put into it because of the sentimental value of the truck to me.

Well, good luck to you. I really do hope it works for you. I just have never known anyone to have descent luck with those old Fords with a 390. The Cummins engine will make a world of difference.

 

[WLehto]

First start

Well I finally got the truck started last Friday. Everything went pretty well no leaks. The only problem I had was that I was not getting 12V to the fuel shut off solenoid. I used the ignition wire that was going to the distributor before. After looking at the ford wiring diagram closer I see that there is a resistor in the line. So after I find that all I have left to finish the conversion is fabricated the exhaust and figure out how to hook up the speedometer to the getrag transmission since it had a electronic pickup for the dodge. Then I have the rest of the truck to finish

 

[JHerr]

How difficult was it to shoehorn the 6BT in the engine bay? Did you have enough room for the radiator?

 

[WLehto]

JHerr



It wasn't to bad to get it in there. There is a good 4" between the pulleys and the radiator. I'll have to get some better measurements and post them with some better pictures. I will be running and electric fan setup.



Wayne

 

[JHerr]

Good! I peered into our '72 F250's engine bay yesterday and the space looked like a 4BT may get snug. If a 6BT has no difficulty, then I can relax. We'll have plenty of room for an aftercooler, if necessary.



I'd like to see some photos of the progress. I am anxious to hear your fuel mileage figures, too.