Slick 60's

So I scored a really nice 65 swb stepside. Very clean and straight. The PO said he had it running. I went to pickup and it wouldn't start. So went ahead at took it home. After trouble shooting the spark problem (thanks guys), I got it to start. I knew something wasn't right. I shut it down and stuck an pressure gauge in the side of the block (240 6cyl). Absolutely no oil pressure at all. So I don't know how much the PO ran the thing like this but my options are to yank the engine and replace the oil pump and hope all is well or replace the engine. Does anyone else have any other ideas? The engine looks like the rest of the truck, really clean and original. I got a line on a real nice 289 from a Mustang that sounds great and comes with a rebuilt C4. So I'm leaning that way. Of course I may do both, pick up the engine and replace the oil pump and see what happens.

Thanks for any info.

B.

from one 65 swb stepside ( flareside ) owner to another.
Its all in if you wish to keep the truck stock or not.

I opped for not stock, so i have a 351/c6 with 325/9inch
ill be dropping its soon, not sure if ill be using the droped I-beams or a vic frontend.

many of us can tell you how we feal about it, but in the end its up to you.
stock or not?


Marc.

Think I would pull a couple of main bearing caps off and see how the crank is before getting a pump.

The 289 will be a gutless wonder in a truck. If you want to ditch the 240, go get a 300 or a 351w. I wouldn't bother witn an FE unless it was original to the truck. Nothing against the FE engines, but, for what you get, the parts are not cheap.

Of course, if fuel economy is really the issue, then keep the 240. Its really no bad engine, and tough as nails. Are you sure you have no oil pressure? Did you take the sender and and crank it, or hook up a temporary mechanical guage?

And, if fuel economy is NOT the issue, then by all means, look for a 351w or cram a 460 in there!

If its a pretty close to stock orignal and you don't have a real preference, then do consider that original often maintains resale value better than a lot of alterations.

Are you gonna use this truck to haul a boat? Camper? Firewood by the cord?
Otherwise , and I hate to disagree with my esteemed colleague Dr. Herman, the 289 is a GREAT choice. It will get good gas mileage,, in the 20 MPG highway range depending on your gears, have useable torque, and move a shortbox flareside around just fine.

My personal choice would be to use it over either the 240 or the 300, unless, like the Doc, says, you are interested in Stock. Otherwise I would fling that 289 in there as fast as you can and not worry about a thing. It will be fine in a shortbox truck, I have a 302 in mine and am not the slightest bit worried.

460's are for motorhomes and drag racing. Small blocks will move that baby along just fine, have literally seen dozens of Fat fender trucks with them. The owners loved 'em.. if it were mine the 240 would be sitting on the burning pile as fast as I could get it there, if after taking Jacks advice, and checking the bearing caps, you find them scored.

Y block

opinions are going to vary a lot on this.
i personally would keep it a 6, installing another 240 or better a 300 if it were mine.
this is the easiest and least time consuming swap and the 300 6 would be the way to go.
since the stock choices were 6 or FE, they fit without excessive work.
anything else, especially a 289/302/351w requires fabrication and modification to install.
351M/400 are not worth using, a 429 or 460 is and can be done with a minimum hassle.

if you want to drive the truck sooner, stick with what the factory installed, if you want to use something else, prepare to spend extra time and $.

the 292 y block in my 66 f250 4x4 was a simple swap of a non factory engine because all that was needed to do was move the mounting crossmember forward 2" by removing the 4 rivets and drilling 4 new holes.since the 4x4 used the earlier 3 point mounting , front of engine and sides of bell housing everything lined up and no fabrication.also it would be quite easy to return to a factory engine from 66 by simply moving the crossmember back and getting the matching bell housing.

your truck, your choice, your time and $. good luck.
there were no

Although I haven't tried this myself, I have unconfirmed reports from another non-computerized Slick fan that the 240/300 six mounts are very similar to the small block towers and also can be just moved (by drilling out the rivets) to the already pre-drilled holes in the frame and used to mount the 289.
240/300/289/302/351w bellhousings are all the same pattern, and , if he wasn't using a c/4, the old transmission housing pattern would match on his current transmission.

So, to change out from the 240 to a 289, he basically has to drill out the tower rivets, move them to the new holes, mount the 289 and c4, and probably change the driveshaft length, and move the transmission crossmember to line up for the c/4. He will also need a floor mount shifter for the C4. One of the easier engine swaps, I would venture a guess.
A 300 is basically a bolt-in deal, although many of you may have by now figured out that I am not a real fan of sixes.

I am pretty sure that the 289 would drop right in -- that was not the basis for my dissallusionment with it. JC is correct -- if you are never going to tow anything with it, then it would work.

The early C4 trannies were not as strong as later one's either, so make sure its been rebuilt or have it rebuilt.

As to putting the C4 into it -- well there I have been gaining information. If you currently have an automatic transmission with shift on the column, then you are pretty much set -- the tranny cross member will need to be moved I think and you would need to change the drive shaft.

What tranny is currently in there? A well built C4 is a fine choice for a truck so long as the towing is kept in check.

any 289 would have more horse power than a stock 292, and mine zips along pretty well till the steering wheel shakes out of my hands. i was thinking of replacing the c4 with aod till i decided to do the crown vic swap now it getting a 4.6 also

Before you jump the gun BE SURE That 289 is not the 5 bolt bellhousing 289 that was used early models from 1963 to early 1965 in Ford Cars , Mustangs, Comets, Fairlanes