amt 53 ford f100 engine swap question...

[AC Norton]

hi to all tonite....I know the experts in our forum will be able to advise here,,,will the 390 t bird engine from the 34 ford truck kits of AMT and LINDBERG basically drop into the 53 ford f100 setup without a great deal of problem...I have something in mind, but before I get deeply involved, I would love to hear from the boys on this one...regards, the ace..

[Ace-Garageguy]

hi to all tonite....I know the experts in our forum will be able to advise here,,,will the 390 t bird engine from the 34 ford truck kits of AMT and LINDBERG basically drop into the 53 ford f100 setup without a great deal of problem...I have something in mind, but before I get deeply involved, I would love to hear from the boys on this one...regards, the ace..

It all depends on how you define "problem".

Though I've never done this particular swap in 1:1 or on a model, I can tell you the engine bay is plenty big enough.

You'll encounter what you always encounter doing engine swaps in real vehicles OR models...mounts may need to be moved or modified, coolant hoses relocated, the driveshaft may need lengthening or shortening, the exhausts will need re-routing, and the steering box may need to be slightly relocated. It's also possible the front crossmember or the oil pan may require some surgery.

I personally don't consider these things to be "problems"...they're just what you do.

The '56 Ford pickup is on the same frame, shares much structure, and it came with a factory-available Y-block V-8 (Revell's kit has one). Good indication the later 'Bird engine will fit as well.

And because the '53 Ford truck kit came with a DeSoto engine swap option, it's a good bet your T-bird engine will go in pretty easily too.

Best bet is to tack your engine together and mock it up in the truck. Instant answer.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[AC Norton]

thanks Bill, I know what you mean on all noted,,,just wanted to try to find out if, like the Pontiac, Olds, etc that swap in and out of several early AMT kits, if the AMT 390 ford follows suit....the ace....

[mike 51]

I just checked my AMT F100 (stock flathead)...it uses a different motor mount set up than the old Trophy Series motors.

But as Bill said there's lots of room there.

Edited July 10, 2015 by mike 51

[ChrisBcritter]

I put the FE engine from the old '61 Sunliner kit into the '53 pickup a long time ago and don't recall any trouble with it, if that's any help.

[Bob Ellis]

I thought what he was referring to was the pin/engine frame mounts of the AMT kits. All the AMT Trophy '32 Fords, (I think '36), and the '40 Fords had common pin locations on the frames that meant swapping kit motors was an easy task.

Pin location motors;

Hemi

Olds

Buick

Small block Chevy

Pontiac

TBird Ford

[AC Norton]

thank you, Bob, that's what I wished to know. think the t bird mill will pop in with little problem....the ace.....

[carrucha]

Good question. I just picked up the same kit and was thinking doing the same thing.

[Skip]

A few years ago we swapped the inline six for a 390 in my brothers full/scale '53 F100 there's a whole lot of engine bay there the engine wants to sit down too low. We ended up using an aftermarket engine mount, which bolted directly to the frame and used the stock type rubber isolated 390 engine mount on the block side. He is running a C-6 automatic transmission on the rear with a round 3/4" tube transmission mount, also an aftermarket piece. Exhaust at first he ran the stock rear exit manifolds which have since been swapped for headers. All in all it was a pretty easy swap due to the aftermarket mounts. There were no clearance issues at all.

That being said try searching for an FE Series engine swap in an F100 I'm sure that with the still huge following that the '53 - '56 F-100's that there must be a ton of stuff out there.