Forgive me my Mopar brothers. I have sinned

-
love it.. i'd have bought that too.. love the old ford and chevys.. can get parts for them too unlike the d100's.
Yeah, just look through the LMC online truck catalog and see how much they DON'T have for Dodges that they do for Fords and Chevys.
 
Here's a good shot of a 534. You can see it doesn't share the intake making the upper valve cover rail like an FE. You might see a "SMALL" resemblance in the exhaust ports to the FE...like REAL small. lol Then, that outer row of head bolts "KINDA" puts you in mind of the outer row of head bolts on a Cleveland....It's just ALL its own engine. They are really unique. ......and HUGE. And I want one. LOL
534.jpg
 
There was even a twin turbo Marine version of the 534 marketed as The Sea Master.
 
The twin turbo was actually called the Super Sea Master. I Can see why. lol
SUPER SEAMASTER.jpg
 
I like Fords, I just don't know much about them.....
At work, we used them for years and were very reliable and we put them through a lot of **** and abuse.
Good luck on the build, you have a good looking truck there!
 
The problem with FE engines is almost any one you find has been rebuilt many times. blocks decked, heads cut ect that the intake manifolds don't fit right anymore and need to be cut and refit to the engine. We were finding this when I worked in a Ford dealer in the late 80s and 90s.
 
The problem with FE engines is almost any one you find has been rebuilt many times. blocks decked, heads cut ect that the intake manifolds don't fit right anymore and need to be cut and refit to the engine. We were finding this when I worked in a Ford dealer in the late 80s and 90s.
Well, kinda like the big block Chrysler, they ain't been made in a long time. 1976 was their last production year.
 
I saw a YT video by a Ford guy, I think Thunderhead289 is his name... he showed an easy way to check if you have a 360 or 390 FE motor by measuring the stroke with a piece of welding rod through the spark plug hole since that's the only difference between the 2.

Friend of mine in grad school had a 1975 F100 Ranger with the 360 and a C6, he swore with the 2.9x rear end he got 20+ MPG. Kinda hard to believe though and he drove it like a baby, never took it on the freeway because it seemed to run higher RPMs than it should and he was afraid something was up with the converter or the brakes were dragging (he was pretty obsessive-compulsive, typical brilliant engineer type lol). I have my 1972 D200 with a 360/727, full-floater D60 rear with 3.54 gears and 33" tires and it consistently gets 10 MPG no matter how I drive it, goes down maybe to 9 if I'm pulling a 5000-lb trailer. Not really sure why but all old Dodge trucks get terrible gas mileage unless maybe it's a RCSB D100 with a 318, manual trans and tall gears but even then 20 MPG is a stretch.

I figure if it gets 10 MPG now, a fresh-rebuilt and warmed-up 440 can't do much worse... planning to build and swap one in over the next year. Truck does fine with the 360 pulling light loads but it could use a lot more balls pulling heavier loads on the freeway up and down the big hills on I-25.

Anyway sorry got off track there, @MileHighDart that's a great-looking truck I definitely like it. Nice thing about living in Colorado, there are old work/farm trucks all over the place with minimal rust since the climate is so dry here. My D200 originally came from Nevada and spent most/all of its life as a camper truck being driven by an older couple so it's in excellent shape for being a 50-year-old pickup.

20201127_120939.jpg
 
Last edited:
I love my old bump side Ford. Not a big fan of FE's though. 460's fit like they are made for it.

DSCN4914[1].JPG


DSCN4868[1].JPG
 
I love my old bump side Ford. Not a big fan of FE's though. 460's fit like they are made for it.

View attachment 1715835419

View attachment 1715835420

When I was looking at old trucks I considered getting a '70s Ford truck and swapping in a 460 and ZF 5-speed manual. Just from everything I've seen and read I really like the 385-series BBF. But this D200 popped up on marketplace for a steal and was exactly what I wanted in a tow rig (reg cab, long bed, 2WD, bigger than a half-ton). I also only have old Mopar stuff in my collection of spare parts, nothing for Fords so that also made me lean more towards getting a Dodge. 70s Ford trucks are IMO the best-looking of the time period and the Twin I-beam/Traction Beam front suspension was a step up from the usual front solid axle with leaf springs at least as far as ride and handling are concerned. That's a reason I also didn't want a 1971 or older Dodge truck, 1972 was the first year of full IFS in 2WD Dodge trucks.
 
So on both doors there was a section about 10" tall and the length of the door, where something had been painted over,,,, with house paint.
Well my curiosity got the best of me, and after about 2 hours with 220 and 400 wet sand paper, this is what I have found.

A+ Gallery_47.jpg


A+ Gallery_55.jpg


A+ Gallery_51.jpg
 
The 360 FE was made for coming emissions. It is the same block as a 390 with a shorter stroke. You can change out the rotating assembly, and use 390 rotating assembly.
You can check stroke by using a straw, or something similar . Rotate to TDC. Put straw in #1 spark plug hole. Mark it. Put straw in #4 spark plug hole without rotating the engine. Mark it. Measure between the marks, and that's the stroke.

20210302_091628.jpg


Resized_20210125_175648.jpeg
 
The 360 FE was made for coming emissions. It is the same block as a 390 with a shorter stroke. You can change out the rotating assembly, and use 390 rotating assembly.
You can check stroke by using a straw, or something similar . Rotate to TDC. Put straw in #1 spark plug hole. Mark it. Put straw in #4 spark plug hole without rotating the engine. Mark it. Measure between the marks, and that's the stroke.

View attachment 1715835611

View attachment 1715835612
Good to know. I may be looking at an engine rebuild anyway. I'll know more tomorrow.
 
Looked at this a few weeks ago, thought it was overpriced. Seller has dropped the price two times since then, and I had to do it.
'69 F100, 360 big block, granny gear four speed.
Towing it home from Reno to Oregon right now.
Pics to follow, they don't want to load right now.

Cool truck!
My first truck was a '69 F250 with a 390/C6 combo. I took that 2-wheel drive truck places that were meant for 4-wheel drive.
Finally sold it after my daughter was born and we needed more room in the cab for baby stuff. Bought a brand new '77 F250 SuperCab.
 
Nice score! Had a '73 F-250, 390 w/4-speed, 2wd. Utah truck, no rust. I miss it, which is why I had to read this thread.

73F250.jpg
 
Its ok to buy /drive a Ford if you are a Mopar guy but Chevy? absolutely not...:lol:

Chevy were the ones who whined and complained about the Hemi and got it banned from NASCAR, Ford tried to play the game with the Talledega and Cyclone etc.
 
Well, worst case scenario confirmed. This thing had a bad miss on one cylinder when i was loading it up. Was hoping for just a fouled or bad plug wire.
But, no such luck. Did a compression test on it this morning, 110-120 on all cylinders, except for #8, which was 20. So I pulled the drivers side valve cover and cranked it over, the rockers are rockin' so I know the cam isn't wiped, guessing a burnt valve? Cant confirm that till I pull the head off, and then the truck isn't mobile, and i'll have to commit to doing an engine build, or swap or something.
I think I'll just leave it alone for now and weigh my options, work on body and suspension work in the mean time.
 
Well, worst case scenario confirmed. This thing had a bad miss on one cylinder when i was loading it up. Was hoping for just a fouled or bad plug wire.
But, no such luck. Did a compression test on it this morning, 110-120 on all cylinders, except for #8, which was 20. So I pulled the drivers side valve cover and cranked it over, the rockers are rockin' so I know the cam isn't wiped, guessing a burnt valve? Cant confirm that till I pull the head off, and then the truck isn't mobile, and i'll have to commit to doing an engine build, or swap or something.
I think I'll just leave it alone for now and weigh my options, work on body and suspension work in the mean time.
That's too bad...but you can always LS swap it

hedgehog-shy.gif
 
-
Back
Top