Thread: a 5.0 in a 50 ford

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curantly i have a flathead in my 50 ford with a 3 speed. but i`m looking for more power and reliability. i`m thinking of putting a fuel injected 5.0 motor in it but was wondering if anyone has had experiance with them in a shoebox ford? like motor mounts and tranny mounts as wel as tranny fitment and how about the front crossmember and steering linkage? i `ll probabyly go with an automatic trans. but i don`t want a computer controlled one. what do you recommend to fit to the small block? how about the stock rear the car has 70,000 origanal miles would the stock rear hold up? not sure which on it is.

i`m open to any sugestions for other swaps but looking to keep a ford in a ford. basically want to know what i need to do before i do it its my first hot rod but not my first project. thanks

It is actually a pretty sensible swap. The 302 is lighter, narrower (I think) but length of these engines present some things to deal with. You can use special short water pump kits to lose about an inch and a half or two, and that helps.

The '50 engine room presents some issues too, most notably the tie rod assembly. These usually have to be dropped down to clear the oil pan, but once again, these are available to do the job. Commercial motor mounts are available, but you may have to build one for the transmission you choose......very simple to do.

Your rear axle is fine, but the ratio may be a little deep, since it came with a stickshift. You can solve that by running an AOD from a early '80's car, they are non electric. I used one out of an '84 Lincoln Towncar to swap a 5.0 into my Jeep truck, and it couldn't have been more simple to hook up. The later ones are designated AOD "E" and are the electric units that entail some hook up/ computer work.

You can start by looking at Speedway for some swap parts.......I think I saw some mounts in there, etc. Also, look at Hot Rod and Custom Supply at
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....hPage~cadefeex

They used to be right here in Cape Coral Florida, but moved to Michigan. They had a full line of this stuff back then, and suspect they still do. There are probably other sources for these parts, and some other members may be able to provide these names.

Go for it, this will make it a great driver, and very dependable.


Don

Originally Posted by 1lowryd

curantly i have a flathead in my 50 ford with a 3 speed. but i`m looking for more power and reliability. i`m thinking of putting a fuel injected 5.0 motor in it but was wondering if anyone has had experiance with them in a shoebox ford? like motor mounts and tranny mounts as wel as tranny fitment and how about the front crossmember and steering linkage? i `ll probabyly go with an automatic trans. but i don`t want a computer controlled one. what do you recommend to fit to the small block? how about the stock rear the car has 70,000 origanal miles would the stock rear hold up? not sure which on it is.

i`m open to any sugestions for other swaps but looking to keep a ford in a ford. basically want to know what i need to do before i do it its my first hot rod but not my first project. thanks

This would be a very nice swap. I'd be tempted to buy a complete donor car to accomplish it, something like a Mustang. I can appreciate your stand on computer-controlled ANYTHING, as I'm pretty much the same way. I'm slowly coming around though, as I see the benefits and reliability of these cars. I might be thinking about an '86 to '93 unit, complete and running. You could use everything off the donor except the sheetmetal. The differential would be a very nice addition to the shoebox 'cause I don't think the stock rear is gonna hold up very long to any kind of horsepower or abuse. The middle third of the Mustang trans crossmember could be mated with the outer thirds of the shoebox crossmember to make a custom trans crossmember. I'd also try to adapt the entire rear suspension to the shoebox.

Scroll down for the shortie Ford water pump. Call and ask about the reverse rotation pump used on the 5.0 .
http://www.snowwhiteltd.com/products.htm

I've seen it, but can offer no help, but I respect your attitude. A Ford deserves a Ford motor. Good Luck, keep us posted, and give us some pictures.

Jack

Speedway and Trans-Dapt have the mounts you'll need ,you will need a front sump oil pan and pickup.The AOD trans won't clear the floor tunnel on a '50 Ford in '51 the tunnels were enlarged and will clear ,so you will have to make a new tunnel,however a C4 will clear no prob.

thanks for the help i`m a start collecting parts. moter mounts should bolt up and the water pump is a nice find. do you guys think the mustang rear would fit with no mods? What i mean is the length. i think it may be to narrow. not worrying about the mounting points because i`m a bag it anyway. it would be nice to find a doner car but if i could i want to get something i could use the whole front suspesion from maybe a linclon or something i really want disk brakes on the front to so while im at it i mine as well go all the way. you guys know of any ford cars that came with a 5.0 motor and had the short arm long arm front suspension? maybe that way i could just whack it all off and not have to worry with the stock front frame so much.

A 5.0 in a '50 Ford sounds like a winner with a C4 or earlier mechanical AOD even with trans tunnel work. The diff will not survive long with the added horsepower of the 5.0 but an 8" would be fine (been there.....). There are about as many gear choices as OEM 9" units without the big bucks as most salvage yards keep crushing the 'little' ones to build even more Toyotas. (or think about a 351W/5.7 as another slightly more interesting build)

true i have thought about the 351. but i`m looking to get something cheaply i figured a 5.0 is in like a billion vehicles and i figured it would better suit me. i`m not looking to get crazy horse power from it. i`ll probably leave it stock depending on the condition of the motor i choose. to be honest i would rather keep the flathead in it but the money involved with getting it the way i would want it just is not justifiable. even on ebay everyone realizes what their junk is worth.

Just don't give the flathead away - the money situation sometimes loosens up as it has for me (married off the kids and sent them on their way ).

Also, there are a lot of 351W's available as well - one of mine, in running condition, thrown in the back of my truck, and with the 'good' D0OE heads cost me the grand sum of $10!!!

Just don't shortcut on the rest of the car for safety's sake and to get it done quick. The chassis is a tried and true ladder design plus fairly heavy duty.

go and check out shoeboxford.com you will find a ton of info on the conversion your thinking of doing. i have a 302 in my 51, however the engine is out at the present time or i would send you pic's.
i would very strongley suggest that you include front disk brakes before the swap or during, also find the book "how to build shoebox fords"
by tex smith it's out of print now but they are around.
hope this helps
joe

not looking to short cut anything just trying to plan it out. their are some things i know i want to do like 12volt convert,air bags, disk brakes up front and probably chop it. but i would like to modernize it a bit with easy to find parts. if i wanted to slap on a pair of uprights and use the stock drum brakes i would have already.(not saying that their is anything wrong with that my father and i did a 51 ford like that, and it`s been done like that since way back)and i figured if i go the jamco route with the ball joints(which was my origanal idea) i would be set. but after searching around i found i could basically get the motor and trans for under the $900 starting price jamco wants and i could bone yard the front clip for peanuts than put my pecies together and see what i come up with. the web site looks ful of info but afetr registering it isint letting me on maybe i have to wait for a confirmation email. your so call how to build a shoe box book, where could i find that?
once again thanks for all your help so far and choppedandchanneled even though your motor is out of the car i would still like to see your ride if you have any pictures shot them to me at 1lowryd@comcast.net
oh yeah and sorry dave for the posting yesterday.

Might try ebay for the book, or just google the title, no telling what you will come up with. Probably at least a 1000 hits from google.

Jack

thanks but i think i`ll pass the cheapest i found the book was 80 bucks and than i found an unlimited supply for 195.00. uh no i`ll just abuse the forum some more

Another tip, if you do run into troubles with the length of the motor, you can try to get a 6 cyl radiator and core support. This will give you maybe 4" of extra clearance in front of your motor. Also, the 6 cyl radiator will work fine with a 302 or 351. Another benefit to using the 6 cyl rad is that is has a single inlet and outlet, unlike the flatty V8's rad that has 2 and 2.

I have a big block Ford (429-460 style) in my 50 and it fits very well.

Gotta love a Ford in a Ford, even if I am notta Ford guy.

Jack