Looking for driveline swap ideas (stripper pics included)

I am undertaking the restoration of my 1970 Ford F100 4X4. The idea is that my oldest son (15 now) will pay half of the bills and do half of the work, after which I will sign it over to him. Ultimately I want to build each of my three kids a unique vehicle, but he is the first. I mentioned in another post that he built his own race car over the winter so I am pretty sure he will see it through.

Anyway, the truck has a 360FE 4 speed which will not be going back in. there is no possible way to get acceptable mileage so my kid can afford to drive it. I have tossed around a lot of ideas for drive train options but I am having trouble settling on one. Ideally, I would drop in a matching set from fan to transfer case. I am shooting for 20 mpg minimum. my kid insists on a standard transmission so that will help the goal. Another requirement is electronic engine management, but maybe OBD1 for simplicity as electronics is not my strong point. Here is what I have considered thus far:

5.9 Cummins - way too heavy for a half ton.

4BT Cummins - smokey, vibrates, noisy, expensive, hard to find, does not really bolt up to anything that came out of a smaller vehicle

5.0 Ford - will not get the MPG in a 4000 pound truck?

300 six - same problem of not making the mpg target. It is very heavy as is the rest of the drive train

2.3 Lima Turbo - As heavy as a V8 and not that much better on fuel

Ford 4.0 V6 - I could take the whole package from a Ranger and drop it in. Mostly aluminum so it would cut the curb weight down considerably. Not sure about the electronics so how hard would that swap be?

Nissan KA24DE and the rest of the package from a Pathfinder - I have lots of experience with KA's and they make very good power and torque for a four cylinder. This would be an easy inexpensive swap, and would shave around 500 pounds off the curb weight of the truck. We also have the option of going turbo which might be fun. But the turbo would probably kill the economy and the NA motor would not exactly be a hot rod.

Nissan V6 - what is the advantage over a Ford V6?

Thanks for reading. Heres the stripper pic

And here is the fully clothed Ranger XLT we found for a donor. (Old Blue is VERY rusty)

Pretty low grade with those pasties covering the lug nuts!

At least she hs her "wings" spread

20 mpg, 4,000 lbs, four wheel drive, and 1970s truck aerodynamics may be too much to ask for. Maybe a VW TDI backed by a Samurai transmission and transfer case?

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

I know either Cummins would do it but the trade offs are not worth it.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

I will do some googling.

5.3 (LM4) With a 6 speed.

This is gonna be difficult to hit those goals. I would probably go with a mpfi straight six and five speed from a 90s pickup and take what I could get for mileage.

Although it might not make the mpg goal, I would go for a 300 I6. The were available in vans up '96. I think they were available in F150s with 4wd up to '94. For some reason, I seem to recall that there was something desirable about the '96 van 300 for doing swaps, but I can't remember what at the moment.

The reason that I recommend that engine is because it is the best non diesel truck engine that I have ever driven. If the plans are to actually use it as truck, there is no better gas engine. Also, I've driven them with both manual and automatic transmissions, I wouldn't go out of my way, or pay a premium to use a manual behind that engine.

Gm 4.8 with the 5speed. Cheap and should do 20mpg with the right gears.

I would do a 5.0L Ford V8. Getting 20 MPGs out of any gas engine in that vehicle is going to be very hard. And going diesel with out getting a donor vehicle to pull parts from can get expensive. The 5.0L can be built for power, torque, or MPG's. It's all how about what parts you use, I.E. what heads, compression, exhaust, camshaft, etc. The truck 5.0L intakes are good stock so no reason to look for something else other then for looks. On a low RPM truck motor, and you do want that for MPGs, I would look for a set of the E6 heads that came on '86 HO 5.0L and many passenger car engines.

If they weren't so new (and costly), I bet an EcoDiesel from a new Ram, would probably be the best option for getting the mpgs and still moving the truck along fairly well. Otherwise the 300 I6 is a good choice like HappyAndy said.

for some reason I cannot put a GM product in there. Makes no sense since a Nissan or a Cummins would be just fine. Mental block.

The truck will be driven by a 16 year old who loves watching Raodkill. In fact he is eligible for the Make A Wish Foundation and his plan is to do an episode with those guys. He doesn't know exactly what he wants but there has to be nitrous and wrenching But I digress. The truck will do lots of burnouts and drive to college, and haul very little other than friends and maybe the odd keg. (hey, I was a kid. I know how it will go down!)

7mge or 2jzge>w58 trans=win.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

I don't have any suggestions that someone else won't point out, but have to ask if those are 16" wheels, and are you going to use them? If not, I'd be interested in buying them.

Isuzu trooper diesel drops are usually available on evilbay for @$2k and would get you close. The VW tdi open might be doable too, but I would use the acme adapter and a Toyota transmission.

The recent Ford v6s are pretty awesome engines. If you went with a divorced transfer case pretty much any Mustang driveline would be relatively easy to drop in.

In reply to bravenrace:

On the donor? They are some kind of slotted aluminum mag. But there are only three.

I don't think we are reusing them though so happy to look at it.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

If all three match and are 16", I'd be interested in them.

I'll measure them tonite. I can trade you for a really nice v6 or something

How about an ecoboost v6?

You're gas mileage has less to do with the engine and more to do with the gearing, a 351W with an overdrive unit after the transfer case, it'll get decent mileage in 2wd and still have a deep stump pulling first gear. Otherwise, get him something other than a 3000 lb truck with 4wd.

I own a 3.5L 5 cyl Colorado w/4wd, and that barely gets 20mpg but only if I'm running all highway miles and it isn't too windy.

I had an 86 F 150 4 X 4 with the 300 6 cyl and manual 4 speed. Got close to 20 on the highway with it so I'd think with an overdrive 5 speed you could get 20+ highway.

If you could get beyond the opposition to a GM...

Since there is no heavy towing or heavy hauling expected the 6.2/6.5 diesel might not be a bad choice.

I had 1990 K2500 4wd with an sm465 trans, 3.73 gears and plow frame on the front and could get 21-22 mpg on the highway if I kept it between 65-70 mph. 17 mpg around town was normal.

That was without overdrive. I think the half tons and later 3/4 and 1 tons could be ordered with the diesel and a 5 speed.

While unloved, they are economical and with a mechanical injector pump they are reliable. Just keep an eye on the harmonic balancer.

bearmtnmartin wrote: And here is the fully clothed Ranger XLT we found for a donor. (Old Blue is VERY rusty)

Here in Illinois that's damn near mint condition!

BMW M50 or M52 with a 5-speed. Get one from a cheap donor 3 or 5 series. I would think 20 MPG is possible and it would certainly be different...

Grab a Duratec from ranger and turbo parts from Mazdaspeed 3/6. There might be a good parts mash up to get use normal fuel injection with the MS3/6 turbo bits so you can use Megasquirt. Use the 5 speed from the ranger too. It should be a light weight setup. The MS3/6 made 263 hp and 280 lb-ft so you'd probably be just shy of that without DI.