1986 F-150 conversion thoughts

Shamoke

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I have a 1986 F-150 with a 351 Windsor and a three speed auto and a low speed rear end, an old farm truck apparently. I am thinking of pulling the gas engine and auto tranny then putting in either a Cummins 4BT or an Isuzu 4BD1T 6 cylinder, maybe even an Mercedes OM606 if I could find one cheap enough.

I'm also thinking about installing a manual tranny with the diesel like the ZF5 if I could find the adaptor plates for whichever engine I go with. There are two fuel tanks on the truck and I wonder about re-purposing them for diesel along with the fuel lines and tank selector switch.

Has anyone done this with a similar truck and what are you thoughts of problems encountered and your solutions?
 

Catimann

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I have a 1986 F-150 with a 351 Windsor and a three speed auto and a low speed rear end, an old farm truck apparently. I am thinking of pulling the gas engine and auto tranny then putting in either a Cummins 4BT or an Isuzu 4BD1T 6 cylinder, maybe even an Mercedes OM606 if I could find one cheap enough.

I'm also thinking about installing a manual tranny with the diesel like the ZF5 if I could find the adaptor plates for whichever engine I go with. There are two fuel tanks on the truck and I wonder about re-purposing them for diesel along with the fuel lines and tank selector switch.

Has anyone done this with a similar truck and what are you thoughts of problems encountered and your solutions?
There is a video of a guy on Y.T. who has a 150 with a 4BT. Very informative, get superb fuel mpg and liked it. I asked the DieselPumpUK guy about a larger motorhome install and he said it would not like the heavy vehicle and run hot. The 150 is not as big by any means so it cold work.
 

subway

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he is not on here very much anymore but @Darrin Tosh did a clean 4bt on a F150 that he uses as his plow and run around truck on the car lot. He really liked it and thought it was a great fit. unfortunately I don't know many of the install details. I would have to search but he might have did a build thread.

edit: I found the build thread but it got hit by the great photo delete. The trucks name is Droopy and I believe he might have pictures still on his facebook page.

 
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snicklas

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he is not on here very much anymore but @Darrin Tosh did a clean 4bt on a F150 that he uses as his plow and run around truck on the car lot. He really liked it and thought it was a great fit. unfortunately I don't know many of the install details. I would have to search but he might have did a build thread.

edit: I found the build thread but it got hit by the great photo delete. The trucks name is Droopy and I believe he might have pictures still on his facebook page.


Droopy is a fun truck to drive. When I bought my Jetta from Darrin a few years ago, I was looking at Droopy and the conversion. Darrin handed me the keys and said take him for a spin. It moved that Regular Cab F-250 4x4 ZF-5 down the road well. It had plenty of power, for a “little 4 banger”… but I believe that Droopy received some of the same engine “stuff” that Big Ed did also. I enjoyed the drive I took in it. I would not have a problem running one in my own truck…..
 

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