zfink

Just picked up this 86 F150 last weekend. It's a 5.0 4x4 automatic.

Plans for it:
Body lift
Chrome baby moon wheels with meaty tires
Classic green and ivory two tone paint
Replace rubbers
Under coat it.
Interior to match paint
stereo
CB radio


Performace:
It's a 5.0 so I need to know if I can put mustang parts on it...?
Plans if I can:
Cobra intake and cam
Headers, long or short??
Exaust all the way back..
Nitrous?
What do I need to do as far as transmission work?

I appreciate all the help and will keep the updates posted, Yay for a new project!

ChevyMudtruck

mustang parts work but if ya do a mustang intake ya have to have the rest of the fuel injection system . . unless the truck is carbed and ya go with an after market intake and carb . . . . i always liked long tube headers and they should clear fine on the truck i would think . . .clear fine on the 2wd fords we have . .
if it's a c6 tranny they are pretty strong if its a e40d or even a 40d they kinda suck when power is put to them . . . i don't know if baby moons would look right on the square body ford's or not but that's up to you and depending on what size tire ya running or maybe for shits and giggles ya might do a solid axle swap in the front

reneponac

86 should still be carbed??.......

"Mustang Parts" will work (I assume you mean 87+ 5.0) but I 99% sure your motor doesnt' have a roller cam. Unless you can find a block and the parts cheap just go with a standard camshaft. Other than that its a 302, go to town, but remember its a heavy truck and torque is your friend. Also keep in mind the non roller motors have a different balance 50oz vs 28 I believe.

What tranny do you have? Is it OD?

Long tubes generally suck for offroad IMO.

zfink

Hey guys, it's FI... I don't know what the diffrence in roller cams and non is? The tranny is a 3 speed? I dont really know...thanks guys I appreciate it!

reneponac

Ok, well I guess only windsors were still carbed in 86.

"Roller" refers to the type of lifter your cam uses. You have a flat tappet cam which is no big deal. The roller cam is completely differnt setup and won't just swap in without getting roller lifters and the alignment spider. Unless you find a "roller" block its not worth the trouble and expense IMO. Especially on a truck.

I'd look into 1st gen lightning stuff for the motor if you want a lil more kick.......

Tranny is likely a c6........im not sure if they used any smaller 3 speeds on trucks like the c4.......take a picture of the pan and post it.

zfink

Hey all, took some better pictures. I decided to go with the original baby blue and white center stripe paint scheme. Also ditching the baby moon wheels and just going to try to find a nice set of dog dish center caps. Changed the oil, got a new battery and got an inspection. Once I get home from college I'm going to start sanding and spraying. What is the first upgrade should I do? I'm thinking before I spray I'm going to take all the panels off and bed liner spray the bottom and frame in black just to make it that much cleaner. Input??? Thanks!

SCREECHO

actually there is a difference in the non roller and the roller blocks. You can convert a non roller to a roller block but its easier and less expensive to just swap in a 351W, which you have to research some more to see what your firing order is. Due to the fact there were 2 different 5.0's that had different firing orders.
Also as mentioned before the lifters on the roller to non roller blocks are different as well.
The E303 cam is great, best performing cam on the market. I think summit racing has the cam for 125 or something. Spend the other 100 on new lifters. On the 302's the lifters like to stick. in my 95 gt I used to have I put some valve medic (yellow bottle in advance auto for 6 bucks) in it from time to time. Summits brand for cams is the same as a frpp (ford racing performance products)
Also the oil pump drive shafts like to gum up and snap. Moldin has the high volume oil pump for a little over 100 which is a great idea. 75 psi or something as compared to the 40 psi. you have to pick your engine up about 3"s to make room for the oil pan to come out to replace the pump.
Cobra intake is another good spot, better yet for inexpensive parts, find the the explorer 5.0 or mercury mountaineer heads and intake. Same thing gt40. I wouldnt reccomend going with a gt40p because you have to have a "special" header that tucks along the block. Which will make you run into your tranny actually. had that problem on my 92. Summit sells there header for less than 100 bucks. It is also the same as a headman header.
A mas air conversion is a good thought. The MAP sensor sytem is ummm... well I would just recommend a mas conversion.
Morris perfomance sells valve bodies for the trannies. I am waiting for my turbo 4runner to be on the road to swap out mine.
Gears, swap out your gears to like 4.10. stock is a 3.23 I believe. hell of a difference.
So yes you can swap in mustang parts if wanted.

zfink

Awsome!!! Thanks for all your input!

Update....
1. Truck wouldn't turn over very good and battery would always die,
Put a new alternator in ( what a pain )
Put a new starter in...
Put a battery killer switch in...
2. The truck seemed to over heat quickly...
Was going to flush the raidiator...
Turns out no fluid could come out of the draincock because the bottom right quarter was full of gunk...
Removed the radiator..
Removed the gunk...
Raidiator flows good and truck stays very cool... YAY!!!
Installed new LED rear license plate lights.
Good two days worth of work made alll the diffrence in this thing already.
Currently drving the truck around town to make sure it's reliable.

Next step... Install a stereo, new speakers, paint door cards.
two new door speakers... JVC head unit, two 6x9's behind seat in boxes, two NOS bottle subs...custom layout so it fools people..loud music!
Hopes and dreams.. take out the crappy flooring, dynomat the whole truck, buy new carpet..

I'm starting to love this truck!
5.0 to go!
Help me think of a name for this thing!!! Baby blue and white truck....???hmmm???

zfink

Another update...

Replaced the master cylinder and bled the brakes...

I've known there was a slow gas leak but was never able to find it. Realized there was a few hoses that didn't go anywhere so I plugged them into where I thought they would go thinking that may work.

Filled up and it started steady fripping from underneath so I got under it and found the leak. Two pin size wholes in the top of the tank. Realized the whole top of the tank was about to rust through.

Ordering a new gas tank....

Feeling bad about all the lost gas...

While I'm under replacing the tank I'm going to do the radius arm bushings as well.

Big test, driving the truck 250 miles to radford to pick up some couches and back...

QUESTIONS:
What's all the hype about tires and wheel size. There are so many rules about what will and wont work. I know the lugs gotta match up and the offsets...at least for the cars ive owned. How crucial are offsets on trucks. I know I can get wheel spacers and push the wheels way out to offset the offset...? What would be the best size tires for this truck in your opinions...Thanks as always!

SCREECHO

31x10.50 r15 that is what I normally run on a truck.
Had them on my f150, c20, 86 4runner, 85 4runner. Not to big to be overly expensive and not to small for allowing some more off road fun.
Normally its just a 2" body lift to clear the 31's as well. You will have to research some more.
So the difference I found out about the roller to non roller blocks-
there are oil passages at the front of the block that lubricate the camshaft and valves in the higher rpm's. You can run roller cams in a non roller block, but would not recommend it. oil starvation in an engine kills.
Glad to hear about the radiator being fixed. an older engine like that will probably push a head gasket out easier than a new one.