oldsmobile rocket/ford 360 swap.

[Brendon_Clayton]

First off hello to everyone I just joined this site tonight.

I'm Brendon. I have a kind of blasphemous question to ask but here goes.

I am in the process of trading my 87 caprice which was all redone for a 69 ford ranger f 100 with a 360 fe block and c6 transmission.

I am aware of the horrid gas mileage of the 360, and also the engine has a few lifter and cam issues that need addressing.

So the problem here lies in this, I recentl bought an all remachined and brand newish 71 oldsmobile rocket 350 to put in place of the olds 307 in the caprice, now that the caprice is going bye bye for the beautiful ford truck i have an engine laying around in 0km shape that wont get used. Instead of selling i was thinking of maybe pulling the 360, putting the olds motor in its place and somehow maybe by use of a trans adapter plate bolting the c6 to the olds 350 (which has the ability to bolt to a gm 2004r just to give idea of the bolt patern) ofcourse engine mounts and wiring and such things will have to be figured out but im wondering if anyone has heard of the c6 transmission bolting up to an olds motor before.

[hazelnut]

NO

[Redcap]

DO NOT WANT. I will not assist in ripping out a decent motor like a 360 for a turd like a Olds 350...and I like some Oldsmobiles.

[averagef250]

How crazy! I'm considering buying a '71 oldsmobile and I'm going to rip the boat anchor olds 350 out and replace it with a 360 with 3 dead cylinders. Even on 5 cylinders the 360 will still out perform the olds motor.

[fordman]

too much bull to make it work.

[Redcap]

Boys, I think we just got troll'd.

[m-mman]

Here is the main point. If you think that performing deferred maintainence on a Ford engine in a Ford truck is TOO MUCH WORK (?) why would you believe that putting a 100% different motor for a competing manufacture would be ANY EASIER???

Nothing will fit. Nothing will line up.
Who makes adaptors to fit GM motors to Ford transmissions? If somebody does, what would an adaptor cost compared to just fixing the correct motor?
Not even considering all the other modifications that are necessary.

BTW - if gas mileage is your goal try swapping out the 360 for a 300 six(!) With a parts truck, the swap can be done in one weekend.
Or you could buy another vehicle. These Ford trucks never won economy contests.

[averagef250]

[quote="m-mman" These Ford trucks never won economy contests. [/quote]

Heck yes they did! The economy sucks and my ford doesn't care. Oldsmobiles on the other hand...

[fordman]

years ago my das had a unibody truck. i think it was a 61. and he had a 72 skyhawk or a skylark i cant remember exactly. any way the buick had a 350 in it. and the truck needed an engine. well my dad always wanted to do a swap like this he said. he took the engine and trans out of the buick. he sat it down in the truck. nothing would line up or work he said. he had a couple of guys come over and look at it. he then started talking about using the crossmember from the buick to mount the engine into the truck. since the unibody doesnt use a engine crossmember. i thought to myself no that was the wrong thing to do. but he did it. he cut the engine crossmembers out of the car. he then welded in the buick crossmember into the truck. it took him several days of trying to line up this and that. before he welded it in. when he was done he said it still wasnt quite right. he did finally finished the truck. maybe in a couple of weeks of daily working on it. i don't remember the details other than the part i just told about. but he finally sold the truck to someone after he finished getting the buick engine and transmission into it. but there would be alot of things to do if you had to do a swap like that in to one of our trucks.

lets say engine and trans from the olds. you would need engine mounts to the frame. then transmission mounting position. the you have driveshaft length. gas pedal linkage shifter linkage exhuast starter wiring to the GM starter mounted relay. mayeb more wirign to the coil. i have no idea how a gm coil would need to be powered up. then you have the charging system and maybe more wiring or a custon alternator bracket made. all of the above would have to be custom made. and that is if you used a gm engine and transmission. if you add the complication of using a ford transmission. that is probably a cutom adapter to use a gm engine to a ford transmission. i doubt anyone has ever done such a thing and would have to be custom made also. and may not work right or line up correctly the first time. i know the situation you are in. a truck that really needs a better motor. and a engine without something to put it in. i have several motrs that are sitting in my garage that i cant get rid of too. i know how you feel. but it will cost you more in the long run doing the swap than it would if you just maybe put in a 6 cyl. or even a 351w. maybe you could trade off the truck for a chevy truck instead. i have seen others wanting to do trades like that before.

[knightfire83]

Had a friend stick a caddy V-8 in a '79 ford pickup. Said to flip the engine perches upside down and switch sides. Somehow he got it in there and it looked factory too.

You can put whatever you want in any vehicle so long as you can fabricate stuff.... such as the early V-8 s-10's, Fiero's, and motorcycles.

Not that I'd ever do such a thing..... Especially not a motorcycle powered lawn tractor....

[Brendon_Clayton]

thanks for the input, I knew it would be one of those "looking for issues" kind of ideas I just had hopes maybe it had been done so I wouldnt have to work on selling the olds motor.

Thanks to all who replied

[OldRedFord]

If your going to put a Olds in, why not a 455 Rocket? Not the lame 350.

[442tom]

I'm a little late to this one but it's disturbing to see the Olds 350 take such a beating! No, it's not a good fit for an F100, but the only thing missing from the Olds 350 is aftermarket parts. It was a better motor than the Chevy 350 when it came out of the factory - stronger block and higher rev capability. Any of you guys ever take a ride in a Ram Rod 350 or a W31?

[Ohiotinkerer]

I'm really really late but my is nothing cheeses me off more that walking up to a car of any make at a car show and seeing another brand engine under the hood..........especially when the big trend was to stuff a Chevy 350 into whatever you had.........I've always been of the opinion you want a Ford keep it a Ford - a Chevy a Chevy etc............

[fuzzier1]

Ohiotinker, I 100% agree. I was thrown off of a Facebook group for Bumpsides because I called a guy a stupid, lazy idiot for putting a Chevy LS engine in a F100. Pisses me off. If I'm looking at something online or in a magazine and they have a Chevy in a Ford, I move on. I even saw a 302 Ford once in a really nice 68 Camaro, that is still wrong. Ford deserves Ford, Chevy deserves Chevy and Mopar deserves Mopar. The rest deserves Coyotes!