# 300 I6 in F350?



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

well i have the opportunity to buy a 1986 ford F350 single cab. all steel flatbed, 2 wheel drive, decent tires, 4 speed on the floor. no rust could use a paint job and a seat cover. but its got a goose-neck and a DMI style hitch on the back. this is one heavy duty truck. but how well is the 300 in this truck? what should i expect for MPG? im getting this thing CHEAP so somewhat bad is okay


----------



## Ross (May 9, 2002)

That's great! Because mileage is somewhat bad. The 300 is a good engine that should preform well. A little less hp than some 350's are used to, not really a typical towing truck. My nefew is getting one, I can hardly wait to borrow it!!


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

the guy said this one is a stump puller. he said hes hooked it up to a trailer and hauled cattle and the like any never had a problem. what do u think it would get per gallon?


----------



## fixer1958 (Dec 12, 2005)

Kind of gutless but fairly tough if it has been reasonably maintained.
Mileage may not be great.

I had a 85 1/2 ton with a 3 speed with overdrive manual (4th gear).
If there was a stiff headwind I couldn't keep in in overdrive and maintain freeway speeds.

Yours will be the lower geared tranny (with a granny gear 1st) I would think for a 1 ton.
Higher RPM's, more fuel.
It will pull, just not very fast.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

well i know i can get it for 1000 maybe less.. he doesnt seem to have much in it. and he knows alot of my family hes a member of the good ole boy network if you know what i mean. and who knows down the road maybe ill find a 6.9/7.3 to put in it.. who knows..


----------



## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Average 15 mpg less with a load more down hill with a tail wind and a rear collison. They were very solid engines you should save on repairs. I'd buy a cheap one, it wouldn't be my daily driver but I wouldn't hesitate to load it when needed!


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

yeah a have a 94 ford explorer with a 5 speed that gets like 24 and it can tow and haul a little but it sucks when i need to move big trailers. or go get hay or something. my dad has a 250 and i live it home(im only 18) but i like being independent and he doesnt like me drivin his truck because of my driving record.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

is it worth 1000?


----------



## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

The 300 is high torque and it is gutless at speed but it is extremely durable. I've seen them in older duallies. "Somewhat bad" would be a fair description of the fuel efficiency of a 300, some are downright terrible. I had an 86 F150 300 automatic, and I was lucky to get 12 mpg - stick would most likely do better. 86 was also an odd year, in that the "carburator" was some "electronic feedback" type and may have only been used on the 86.

Of all the the different body styles of Ford pickups in the past, the style of the 86 is perhaps my favourite - its a clean square simple look which lots of folks really like. 

86 is also a good year where I'm at, as they're exempt from emissions tests.


----------



## Wis Bang (Feb 20, 2009)

Most likely it is geared low to tow so it won't have good mileage. Since he calls it a 'stump puller'; it is geared low [4:11 or lower differential] so it will tow anything and pass nothing, especially a gas station.

During the 50's - 70's most one ton trucks including most 6 wheel 'mason dumps' and stake bodies were I-6 engines. You didn't get there fast but you got there no matter how much you loaded.


----------



## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

4animals said:


> is it worth 1000?


Yes.
You could part it out for salvage and get your money back.
Steel flatbed
engine
transmission
rear axle
rear leaf springs
Cab
wheels&tires


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

i know the flatbed would bring well over 1000 here.


----------



## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

I think I looked at same one..if not..1 like it...Body was great-no rust FOR ALL YOU NORHTENERS-that means it's not brown and when you touch it,flakes don't fall off,and when you put a wrench on a bolt-it turns


----------



## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

If you dont like the power of the 300 stock, it is the one engine that can be made into a really nice high HP powerplant fairly easy, though not inexpensive..... boreed out 50 thousandths, 390 pistons dropped in, add an RV cam and your HP will go up pushing 400 on the dynamo, get rid of the electronix and put a 4barrle carb on it and increase that to over 500 HP...... it raises the compression but not to the point you need high compression mounts on your heads, and on my old 1977 one ton 4x4 it went from 9mpg to 15mpg with all that power included...... cost of a rebuild like that in this area is about $2500.00 parts and labor, but it is well worth the cost in my personal opinion. Of course optional is to add split headers, port and polish the heads, and make a real head turner out of it in town..... not that i was ever into turning other folks heads with it, it happens..... might not be as good as a diesel in the MPG, but when you got what no one else has, and leaves folks scrathin their heads about what is under the hood...... makes ya feel good.

yep its worth the grand as an investment if you have it to spare in these troubled economic times...... though the government may penalize us who have those older rigs with the HUGE carbon footprint..... which is idiotic in and of itself and a whole nother thread for another day and another place i spect.

William
North Central Idaho


----------



## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Yep that is when they made work trucks .Don't let it fool you rather have it than a diesel .They are cheaper to work on too.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

zant said:


> I think I looked at same one..if not..1 like it...Body was great-no rust FOR ALL YOU NORHTENERS-that means it's not brown and when you touch it,flakes don't fall off,and when you put a wrench on a bolt-it turns


where was the one you looked at


----------



## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

Outside Samson...and Bluduk is right-check out Clifford Research,their motto 4 or 6=8..


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

well if it was owned by Phillips nursery in bell wood it was the same one. i live in Hartford on 15 acres. im in samson every now and then i have family all thou Geneva county are you from this area?


----------



## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

What do you plan on doing with it? It is made to haul loads slowly. It will not like highway (55 MPH) speeds and neither will you driving it. If it gets 12 MPG I'd bronze it as I don't think any of them ever did and that's empty. It will run forever no matter how much you abuse it.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

what do u think it would get empty


----------



## roachhill (Jul 8, 2009)

Our old f 250 had over 370,000 mi on it when we sold it original engine original trans . The 300 is a great engine it's just not meant for speed it's a farm truck. When I found out I couldn't get a new truck with a 300 I asked why and was told they discontinued the engine because it lasts way to long. Ford doesn't want a truck that you don't need to replace every 5 years.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

yeahh i have a 1994 ford explorer suv. with the 4.0 V6 2 wheel drive and a manual trans. it has over 312,000 and still runs great


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Local Vet had Chevy 350 in a 1/2 ton to carry his fiberglass supply box. Loaded up it was quite heavy. At about 125,000 miles the rear axle went bad. He expected the dealership to repair it for free. They refused, so he switched to a Ford. It had a 300 cu in 6 cyl, a 4 speed manual trans with overdrive and a high speed rear axle ratio. He got that vet box mounted and was all set to get great mileage. Most places he couldn't get it into overdrive, unless it was down hill. Mileage was very poor, 10 to 12 mpg at best.
Just too much load, too much gearing and not enough engine.


I consider the Ford 300 to be their best engine. If this is the engine that came with it, I'd guess it is geared way down. 

Long stroke engines have good pulling power/ torque, but it is difficult to get the emissions to pass. I doubt Ford discontinued this engine because it lasted too long. Makes an interesting story, just the same.


----------



## travis91 (Jul 26, 2005)

what would be a direct bolt in to replace the motor with something bigger? or would it be best to change the motor and tranny? id really love to swap in a 12v cummins


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Someone with lots of experience, tools and time could swap in a diesel, a matching clutch, bellhousing, trans and rear axle. I say rear axle because I'm assuming it is a low ratio rear end, you'll want a ration above 4.11.
I suggest you just drive it as it is, but I have no idea why you need a ton pickup.


----------



## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I saw an adapter to affix an inline 6 Deutz air cooled engine to the Ford tranny.


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Buy that truck and bring it north. You will more than get your money back as farmers here use them to pull chopper wagons back and forth from the fields when there is a few miles back and forth. they use them to hual the hay racks also, fire wood is delivered to city folks with them. restorers also like those clean rust free southern trucks and cars.
Your not going to get the fuel milage with it you do with the explorer but you aint going to hual in the explorer what you can with that truck. Thats the trade off.

 Al


----------



## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

As heavy as that truck is and with that enginegearing I would say 10 MPG will be good if everything is in tip top shape and tune. 
Start swapping in a powertrain and you will have an expensive old ton truck. Unless you have a rea lneed or use for a truck like this it's really not worth it. 

Ford didn't eliminate the 300 because it lasted too long. Haypoint has it right about emmissions. Ever notice you don't see any straight 6 engines any more?


----------



## Homesteadwi5 (Mar 16, 2008)

the 300-6 was the best motor ford ever made.In an f-350 the mileage would run8-10 i'd guess in my f-150 i average 17-19. they have more torque than the 302 and are easier to work on.


----------



## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

I have a 300 six in my 77 F-100. Towed a few trailers with it. It works alright but my truck could really use a four speed and lower gears in the rear end. I towed a fairly light car on a very heavy car trailer 3 hours a couple of weeks ago with it. Once it got moving it wasn't so bad, even made it up some fairly steep hills coming back over the Mississippi river. Averaged around 14 mpg towing which I figure wasn't too bad. A few years ago I used to pickup can milk for this one farmer guy. He had two E-350 cube vans, one was a fairly small thing with a 302 V-8, the other a large beast with a 460 V-8. Well that 302 would get 8 mpg loaded and would hardly get out of its own way. It couldn't haul as much as the larger 460 powered cube van since it had a real short box on it. I would bring in 7,000 pounds worth of milk with the 460 powered cube van. Plenty of power to spare and it got 8 mpg. Would get 8 mpg all day long, in the hills, the interstate, stop and go picking up milk empty or loaded. Given the choice I would go with a 460 way before either a 302 or a 300 if I had some heavy hauling to do.


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I know a couple guys that bought motorhomes that looked exactly the same. Georgie Boys. One had a Dodge 340 and the other one had a 440. They each had car hauler trailers with a dune buggy on it. They traveled together cross country a few thousand miles. They got exactly the same mileage. The only difference was how close the gas pedal was to the floor.


----------

