If you could bring back....

rusty ol ranger · Mar 21, 2018

One engine from fords past, and apply all the tech they have today (DI, twin turbos, etc), which one would it be?

For me, it would be the good ol 300 straight 6.

I dont know what got me thinking about this, but thought it would make for interesting discussion...

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

Probably the 4.6/5.4 2V.

I know it's a fairly recent engine, but they are pretty bad-@ss engines. Much more durable than their 3V VCT counterparts, plug spitting aside.

The Expedition has a 5.4 I have has a quarter of a million miles and it's still going strong. The biggest repairs that I know of to that vehicle are two spit spark plugs and replacing the rear LSD clutches.

rusty ol ranger · Mar 21, 2018

I had a 2 5.4s in expeditions, 97 and 98. They were good solid motors, both burned alot of oil though, the 98 only had 50k on it and it was eatin 1.5-2qts every 3500-4000 mi. The 97 used that much to but it had 180k on it.

The 4.6 is a frickin legend for how long it lasts, cops beat the piss out of them for 80-100k then some cabbie gets it and puts on another 200k+.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

Yeah, the 4.6 is the better of the two IMO. Out 5.4 doesn't use much oil, but it knocks a bit, so I will probably start searching for one to rebuild soon. Although I can get by without the Expedition if I have to. I keep it around for longer trips and towing things.

I would love to try sticking a 4.6 in my Ranger, but I think it would just be too much trouble with the heater box location.

85_Ranger4x4 · Mar 21, 2018

Mine has 160k and doesn't use any oil, either does our service truck here at work with about the same miles.

They have a nice level of sophistication without being too sophisticated. I would like to drop a 2v 5.4 into a bullnose... that would probably be my dream truck.

91stranger · Mar 21, 2018

5.0 HO were fun little motors.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

85_Ranger4x4 said:
I would like to drop a 2v 5.4 into a bullnose... that would probably be my dream truck.

That would be awesome. Slap a ZF5 behind that sucker and she'd be pretty sturdy beast.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

91stranger said:
5.0 HO were fun little motors.

I used to work with a guy who had a twin turbo 5.0 Fox body.

It went vroom vroom :3gears:

rusty ol ranger · Mar 21, 2018

85_Ranger4x4 said:
I would like to drop a 2v 5.4 into a bullnose... that would probably be my dream truck.

Man, just when i started to think youre a cool guy....

J/K

The bullnose trucks were always my 2nd fav gen Fseriesn(behind the 73-79), but as time goes on for some reason the Bricks (87-91) have taken 2nd spot.

Honestly though, while a 5.4 would be cool, i think id go with the V10, should slide pretty nice in a bulls engine bay, and be about the same wireing/fabbing as a 5.4.

The V10 cant be much longer (if any at all) then a 300 is it?

If someone would make some sort of carbed manifold and some way to control the EDIS, i might attempt it.

91stranger · Mar 21, 2018

v10 motors aren't bad. We see them a lot in motor homes. they can get a 35 foot rv moving fairly quickly. I never drove a truck with one so I cant say. anything with twin turbos would be fun and fast.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

I was never a fan of the V10. Or inline 8 or 6 engines. They are just too long, things start flexing too much.

By the time we start doing crazy stuff like putting a 6.8 in a Bullnose I'm going to just bite the bullet and put a 6.0 in there.

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 21, 2018

Can I pick two? Ford’s 302 and any Slant 6. Those sixes went forever, had good solid power, and were soooooooo easy to work on!

Interesting that you chose the 300 straight six, Rusty. Growing up, I had always heard how bulletproof they were. Indeed, my brother had an ’83 F150 that he modified to put a heavy ass dump body on, hardly ever changed the oil, and the thing just went and went.

Either something must have changed somewhere along the line or I had a bad one though, because I had an ’86 F150 (made in Canada) that blew a piston at 150,000, even though I was always up on maintenance. When I asked a mechanic friend of the family who passed last year, he asked me if it the engine ever made a pinging noise under load. Indeed it did, every time I went up one particularly long hill (not a terribly steep grade). According to him, the truck required premium grade gasoline to prevent premature detonation or something. Never understood why. Replaced the piston and rings and got rid of the truck.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
Can I pick two? Ford’s 302 and any Slant 6. Those sixes went forever, had good solid power, and were soooooooo easy to work on!

You want an inline 6? I have one of the smaller Ford in-lines sitting around. I'm not 100% sure what it is though.

The car it cam from suggests it should be a 177, but the valve cover sticker said it was a 200. But if I remember it was the same valve cover for both engines.

What I'd really like to do, if I was building an old I6 car and not V8 swapping it, is get an Aussie 250 head. Ford Australia was still using the 250 I6 into the 2000s, so that head has provisions for EFI.

85_Ranger4x4 · Mar 21, 2018

rusty ol ranger said:
Man, just when i started to think youre a cool guy....

J/K

The bullnose trucks were always my 2nd fav gen Fseriesn(behind the 73-79), but as time goes on for some reason the Bricks (87-91) have taken 2nd spot.

Honestly though, while a 5.4 would be cool, i think id go with the V10, should slide pretty nice in a bulls engine bay, and be about the same wireing/fabbing as a 5.4.

The V10 cant be much longer (if any at all) then a 300 is it?

If someone would make some sort of carbed manifold and some way to control the EDIS, i might attempt it.

Basic thought was to replicate my '02 F-150, so I figure start out with a 250 or 350. 5.4 would swim in the engine bay and be easy to work on since it would sit out in the open as God intended engines to be. I would also ditch unit wheel bearings and heater core/evaporator buried in the dash and would gain lockout hubs. I would want all the bells and whistles too, cruise, A/C and overdrive.

I thought about a V10, not sure how they compare cooling wise to a 5.4. I just want the thing to be able to run and not think about overheating (probably not longer than a 300 but longer than a 460, not sure how the cooling systems compare) And a V8 sounds infinatly better than a V10. :icon_hornsup:

They have the aggressive nose and cool wrap around interior, no other truck compares. The '96 that replaced dad's '80 has a nice exterior, interior is blah.

adsm08 · Mar 21, 2018

85_Ranger4x4 said:
They have the aggressive nose and cool wrap around interior, no other truck compares. The '96 that replaced dad's '80 has a nice exterior, interior is blah.

You know the cab and doors are the same from 80-96, so you could put the older interior in.

If you could bring back....

Im a Jeep guy now.

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Im a Jeep guy now.

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Forum Staff Member

Well-Known Member

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Im a Jeep guy now.

Well-Known Member

Senior Master Grease Monkey

New Member

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Forum Staff Member

Senior Master Grease Monkey

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Member & Vendor Upgrades

Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Amazon Deals