Engine Options For Your Ford F-100

I used to think it mattered that you keep a Ford engine in a Ford truck. I don’t know if it matters to me anymore. I guess it just depends on the truck you build. And for me, I love the trucks, so what’s under the hood is less important than someone taking care of it. I prefer to see a variety of trucks. I think that’s what hot rodding is about. You get a mix of hot rod, restored trucks and nostalgia and you’ve got a good show. For nostalgia trucks, a 53 with a flathead in it is very cool.

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For all around driving and decent performance, it’s hard to beat the 5.0 EFI or 302 with carburetor. Taking the engine out of a late model Mustang and putting it in your 53-56 Ford F-100 (F100) will give you good power, reliability and a lot of tech articles available to make it go about as fast as you want. Fuel injection is nice once you understand it. It’s actually not that bad to install. You just have to get the correct computer and wiring harness out of your donor car when you get the engine. Usually, computers differ from manual and auto transmissions, so if you pull an engine out of a car, take the computer and wiring with it. You’ll need the oxygen sensors as well as the other sensors to make the EFI work right.

Installing a 4.6 Liter or 5.4 Liter Ford Engine In Your 53, 54, 55 or 56 Ford F100 F-100

The 4.6 or 5.4 Liter Ford is also a good runner. If you want to mount one of these up, get the book by Sean Hyland on building the 4.6 Liter and 5.4 Liter. He’s the master and has built and raced the engine for many, many years. The book is a bit old now (written in 2003), but it’s full of good info. for finding out what cars/trucks to get a 4.6 or 5.4 from. The book tells you tons of detail on crossover parts, heads used on each model and more.

The biggest hurdle most people see when contemplating a fuel injected engine swap is, of course, the electronics. What the heck are all of those sensors and wires for? Here are the basics: The engine is an air pump. The sensors give info. back to the computer to manage the engine. The mass air meter measures the air moving through to the throttle body. The mass air meter tells the computer how much air is flowing and the computer tells the injectors how much fuel to spray to match the air flow. On the exhaust side, the oxygen sensors (usually in the manifolds/headers) give information on spent gases. There are other sensors such as throttle position to make the system work. The point is, the computer does all of the work.

If you want to perform a 4.6 or 5.4 swap in your F100, pull the entire engine, wire harness and computer out of the donor vehicle. It’s always best to actually see the engine running in a vehicle before you buy the engine (and other components with it). Keep in mind that the computer is specific to an engine in that it has been programmed to match the engine. And, the computer used for automatic transmissions will not generally work on a manual transmission car (and vice versa).

If you’re not sure about fuel injection and the electronics, just get the engine installed. Producing more horsepower should be secondary to installing the 4.6 and 5.4. Get the engine in and running, and then hop it up. The computer program can be altered by aftermarket programmers or you can buy a new chip to get more power.

If you want to go all out, put a Chrysler Hemi in your truck. No one will whine about that! Those engines are just too mean and you can’t really hate them!

Remember, the more unique you can be, the better!!!!

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Wiring & Electrical Systems

Often the most misunderstood part of any vehicle is the electrical system. The best advice is to read and be safe. Unhook the battery when you work on different systems in your truck. I rewired my truck with several different colored spools of wire, a soldering iron and some shrink tube, but you can buy a harness and just install it. That’s more expensive, but way less time consuming.

Break down each system in your truck so it doesn’t seem like such a big job. Wire the headlights, then the parking lights, heater and so on…makes it less daunting a task.

We offer a number of electrical parts such as headlights, parking lights, tail lights, dome lights, wiring kits, power windows and more – click here

One more thing: If you are running fuel injection, don’t forget to install a fuel shut-off switch in the case of a wreck/rollover. All fuel injected vehicles that I can think have had one.

F-SERIES Steering Options

There are quite a few options for steering on the Straight Axle F-SERIES (F100). Stock steering is not actually all that bad with the giant wheel. Steering in confined spaces is tough, but on the open road, it’s not bad. If you want to upgrade to power steering, you have several options, but a lot of it depends on the type of front suspension you have.

Power Steering For Your Ford 53-56 F-SERIES

A pretty simple way to add power steering is by using a Power Steering Conversion Kit. The kit provides a great working power steering system and you keep your straight axle. The kit includes: custom built steering box, new pitman arm, mounting bracket, hardware, power steering hoses – No PS pump or engine brackets though. The Power Steering Conversion Kit is pretty much a bolt in. You have to drill a few holes, but that’s as hard as it gets. The kit allows you to install a power steering box in the same place as your stock steering box. Install the bracket, box and provided pitman arm on your truck. Hook up the drag link to the pitman arm. You can connect your stock steering column to the box by cutting the tube above your original steering box and fitting it with a bushing, collar and splined joint sold separately.

We carry a 53-64 Ford F100 power steering conversion kit in our catalog.

Power Steering For Grafted On Suspension

If you’ve cut or notched your frame and sub framed another vehicles front end on your F-SERIES (F100) then you can use the power steering components for that particular vehicle. Volare front end swaps are common. You will be using the steering column from the Chrysler vehicle you took the front end from. You may also contact one of the steering column vendors if you want a chrome or aluminum steering column.

F-SERIES (F100) Mustang II Power Steering Options

If you’ve put a Mustang cross member and power rack and pinion steering in your Ford F100, you might as well put in an aftermarket steering column from one of the manufacturers below. You simply need to link the shaft on your rack to the steering column with u-joints and steering rod.

F100 Central carries Ididit and CPP brand steering columns to swap into your Effie.

F-SERIES Brake Options

Brakes are the biggest problems on stock Straight Axle Ford F-SERIES’s (F100). It’s well worth it to upgrade themaster cylinder to a dual system and disc brakes, at least in the front. I remember one adventure in braking with my 53 F-SERIES that just about destroyed years of work that I put into the truck. I had completely rebuilt the suspension and brakes on the truck. Everything was stock as I was on a budget to build the truck. Ford F-SERIES brakes, it seems, are just not consistent. While coming down a slight grade, a stop light changed to red and I had to get on the brakes quickly. The truck responded by pulling hard right which put the truck into a broad slide. Luck was completely on my side because there was plenty of space where I slid to and the state trooper that saw me, didn’t even come over. I think he knew that in that instant I had a heart attack and that was punishment enough. Point is, replace the old systems if you’re going to drive your F-SERIES much, unless you have to have original.

There are many options in brakes depending on the suspension that you have. If you have a stock straight axle, we have F100 front disc brake conversion kits to mount later model discs and calipers in place of the stock drums. We offer several wheel bolt patterns, so choose the bolt pattern that you need for your wheels. The kits include everything that you need to make the conversion except brake hoses and your tools.

Along with upgrading to disc brakes, you might as well add an under floor brake booster and a dual master cylinder kit. F100 Central carries a high quality piece that includes master cylinder, booster and proportioning valve. You can also use it with a clutch pedal should you want to keep yours. You will need to add the clutch pedal kit. You may also need to add check valves in line if the booster ends up below the master cylinder. These will prevent fluid from flowing back to the master cylinder.

Another option is a firewall mounted brake booster and master cylinder kit. These are easier to access than the under floor mount style.

What about rear disc brakes? Another big improvement to your braking system can be a rear disc brake kit. We offer rear disc brake kits for 9 inch Ford rear ends.