1965 F100 Father and sons project with 240/300 Big 6

[WhitewallWill]

Hi All, I'm a newcomer to inline 6 motors. Building a truck on the HAMB and was referred here by French Town Flyer as a result of my quest to find an intake manifold. I've only ever done V8's so quite interested to see what we can come up with for a horsepower increase. Also some of the power adder stuff is not traditional Hot Rod friendly so won't show that part over there.

Truck was done in the 80's likely as a high schoolers project, we don't know what engine we have yet. We got it running last spring and I drove it to work for about 6 weeks. When winter arrived we cut it all up. In the works so far is our home built intake manifold using the lower EFI intake and thickwall 2-7/8" tube - couldn't buy a C series Offy manifold. I plan to split the manifold between 3 and 4 intake runners and put a 2 bbl carb plate in line with motor. Planning for 300-350 HP as I drive both freeway and urban streets. Fundamentally truck would be a Hotrod/worktruck. The plan is to stage improvements including dynoing current stock setup out of curiosity. Phase 1 EFI exhaust manifolds (which I have already), and intake manifold we are building. Truck is on propane now with a farm 4 speed and 3.70 rear and 29" tire. Phase 2 is install our turbo in the rear then ultimately do a Phase 3 turbo fab under hood. The reason for phasing is because I want to drive it while doing these steps. Right now we are doing all the metal work and target roadworthy date is May 2022 for my oldest kid's high school Grad parade. We are not tucking into the motor yet but, plan to increase valve size, port and polish head, roller rockers then put about 6-8 lbs of boost into it using blow through Propane carb. Will evaluate for full build when we start work on the engine. It ran pretty good prior to us shutting down for the season but, I have done nothing to the engine yet. Resisting all temptations as we struggle to get the truck done. The Journey is on.

 

[bubba22349]

Welcome to the Ford Six forum WhitewallWill, that's a really nice 1965 F100 to work with and a personal big favorite I drove a 1965 F350 (and it was that same color too) for constuction work from about summer 1972 to about 2008! The Motor is fairly easy to ID by your Short Block's and Head Casting / Design numbers if the engine is still stock to the truck then the door Warrantee Tag Code would ID it too. You have some great improvements lined up for it, be sure to post any questions that you will have on the engine and mods over on the 240 & 300 Big Six forum too, here is the link. Best of luck https://fordsix.com/forums/240-300-big-block-six-performance.2/

 

[WhitewallWill]

Welcome to the Ford Six forum WhitewallWill, that's a really nice 1965 F100 to work with a big favorite I drove a 1965 F350 for work from about summer 1972 to about 2008! The Motor is fairly easy to ID by your Short Block's and Head Casting / Design numbers if the engine is still stock to the truck then the door Warrantee Tag Code would ID it too. You have some great improvements lined up for it, be sure to post any questions that you will have on the engine and mods over on the 240 & 300 Big Six forum too, here is the link. Best of luck

Thanks for the welcome. Door tag says it's a 240, previous owner told me it was a 300. In a perfect world it would be a 300 with a 240 head. I'll be asking lot's of questions so thanks for the link.

 

[pmuller9]

Welcome to the forum
What is the casting number on the block just above the starter location?
The original 240 block would start with C5AE.

 

[JPierce]

I just bought this one last week, it looks like your older brother - 1966 240 short bed.

 

[WhitewallWill]

What is the casting number on the block just above the starter location?
The original 240 block would start with C5AE.

Funny, I'm supposed to be getting ready to go on holidays but, onto really important stuff right. Looks like C6AE - 8015-D. 8H28 Truck is a '65.
Door tag lists engine as SP-3.L/D which I believe is a Canadian truck 240ci.

 

[WhitewallWill]

I just bought this one last week, it looks like your older brother - 1966 240 short bed.

Holy. Check out the HAMB 1965 F100 Father and Sons Project to see ours. Yours looks to be a lot nicer than what we started with. We have it looking better now but, as the song says, She Ain't Pretty, She just looks that way. Ours was a mess. Priority is to get it back together then hit the engine. Good luck with your new toy, it looks like you got a good one.

 

[bubba22349]

Your C6AE - 6015-D short block originally was a 240 and it still maybe if it there still is a 240 Crankshaft and the rest of the original 240 rotating assembly in it.

 

[WhitewallWill]

Hi bubba22349. Thanks to you and pmuller9 I'm already smarter. Maybe the engine casting is 6015 from the above photo, is it possible it is an 8? Had to contort myself to put a camera on it. I'll pull a plug at some point and push a wire down into the cylinder and see what we get for approximate stroke length. Up until fuel prices went through the roof I was hoping for a 300 but, if we have the 240 it means we may have the smaller cc head.

 

[bubba22349]

WhitewallWill, yes any Ford engine Block is going to have the basic 6015 number code in it no matter what kind of engine it is. In looking at your very good picture of the Design / Casting Numbers I can see that its C6AE-6015-D this decodes like this.
C = The Decade of the 1960's.
6 = The year added to the above gives us a 1966 the first Year of this Design.
AE = Is the Ford Engineering Department that first ordered the part to be made A is for the Big Ford Cars and E is for Engine.
6015 = Ford Generic Part Number for an Engine Block.
D = shows that this part was redesigned or improved several times and can be an A for a First design, and then AA, B, BB etc.
So now if you then look to the right side there is also a Casting Date Code of 8H28 with the two numbers together we can know the true Month Day and Year of a Block as the design numbers are often used for multiple years. Decoding this number we get August 28, 1968 as the exact day this block was cast at the Ford engine Foundry so this engine likely originally came out of a 1969 year Model Ford Car or Pick Up Truck. The 240 engines were produced and offered from 1965 to 1972 in the Big Ford Cars (and until 1974 for the Ford Fleet Sales) The Ford Pick Ups used the 240 from 1965 to end of 1974 year model production. All is not lost though if you really want a 300 Six the 240 & 300 Blocks share the same measurements of the Bore Size, Deck Height, plus the Main & Rod Bearing Size's. So you drop a 300 Crankshaft right in with the 300 Rods and Pistons which is often done during their rebuilds. Plus if you still have the 240 Head you would get a .4 to .5 point bump in the Compression Ratio. Best of Luck

 

[WhitewallWill]

Thank you so much. Now you've done it, you educated me now it'll be even harder to keep my hands off the engine. Regarding photo clarity, 20+ yrs of trading photos with Engineers and Architects as a GC/builder will do it. My wife regularly remarks, all I see are construction photos, where are your pictures of me and the kids?

 

[bubba22349]

I would have to see that Door Tag to be able to decode that info, but SP-3.L/D isn't an engine code I recognize or have ever seen, The Code for a 240 six is in the forth position of the Vin. Number and is an A if its a 240 Six. One other Tid Bit the Canadian Truck had Mercury Badges and a Mercury Tail Gate on the back of the Bed, over the years I have only seen a small number of them here in the US.

 

[WhitewallWill]

So Phase 1 is build the truck. Phase 2 is engine build including the turbo I picked up this winter which would install in the back with a scavenger oil pump. It is supposed to be good for up to 400 HP. The interm plan includes using the original exhaust manifold and existing exhaust pipe and would allow for a slow build up without getting into serious downtime. I want to drive it this spring. Phase 3 would involve installing our EFI exhaust manifolds and routing exhaust under the motor to the drivers side. Turbo on driver's side solves some of our packaging issues with the propane gear on the passenger fender. I'm by no means married to this idea it's just what I saw as an easier way to package as it is pretty cramped on the passenger side. If I have a 240 ci engine the manifold we are making is about 235ci. making it a .979 intake ratio to cubic inch. If we end up with a 300 the ratio will be about 0.783. We will check engine health before hooking up the turbo. 6-8 lbs of boost is the plan but, it's just a plan - subject to change. By the way, we installed DJM 4" lowering brackets in the rear and fabbed and installed a 1986 Jaguar XJ6 IFS up front. 'Clementine' is a traditional looking ol' girl and I still plan to use as a truck but, make no mistake about it, we are building a Hot Rod albeit not a belly button version.

 

[WhitewallWill]

I would have to see the Door Tag to be able to decode that info, SP-3.L/D isnt an engine code I have ever seen, The Code for a 240 six is in the forth position of the Vin. Number and is an A if its a 240 Six.

I can't recall where I saw the decoder but, it is a Canadian Vin. Wish I could spin the photo for clarity.

 

[bubba22349]

Well that's really interesting never got to look at the Ford Canadian Codes so that would take some research to figure some of it out. Edited

I learned something new that they built both Ford and Mercury Models in the Pick ups. So on the Number 6991014L - 231498
The First number a 6 this ID's the Truck as a Ford Model pickup with a Six engine, 5 Would be a Mercury Model with a Six.
The 99 is for a Conventional Cab for the F100 to F350's.
10 is for a 100 series so an F100
14 is for a 114.8 Wheel Base length that's for a Short Bed Pickup.
L is for a Left Hand Drive.
231498 is the Consecutive Unit Build Number at that Ford OakVille Ontario Assembly Plant
A is the Gross Vehicle Weight Range of 0M to 6M
Yes you remembered right the SP-3 is for a 240 Six and a 3 Speed Transmission the L/D further ID's the Transmission Type I couldn't find out that info.
Trim code of 03 I also couldn't find listed. The Trim and Paint colors seems to be different from the US built Trucks.
Paint PP means it's Champagne Beige on both the inside and outside.

Your doing a really nice job on your Chassis upgrades!

 

[WhitewallWill]

Well, there we have it, bringing my essential Canadian-ness to the Ford 6 discussion. Thanks for your input, you've been tremendously enlightening.

 

[pmuller9]

Which turbocharger do you have?

 

[WhitewallWill]

Which turbocharger do you have?

Hi pmuller9. I don't know who the manufacturer is that makes the turbo but, a local speed shop where I live sells a brand line called Performance World with a full catalogue of speed parts. The store here is called Mopac in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.,
Turbo is a T3/T60.
Comp A/R = .60
Comp Inducer = 54.13mm
Comp Exducer = 70mm
Comp trim = 60
Exhaust Inducer = 65.2mm
Exhaust exducer = 56
Exhaust trim = 74
Turbine A/R = .82

 

[jgregg13]

Welcome to this forum from Summerland. Interesting project, I'll be following.

Even though you wanted a 300, a 240 may not be so bad. With boost the 240 can make about the same power as the 300., just at higher rpm. With the shorter stroke, it will buzz up easier and the 240 crank is probably stronger than the 300 as the throws overlap the mains on the 240 whereas the 300 doesn't. The 240 will also probably be easier on propane on your drive to work. It's your choice. I've got a spare 300 here, but you can surely find one for cheap in the lower mainland. They're basically throw away motors these days.

 

[WhitewallWill]

Hi jgregg13. Summerland is my Favourite Spot in the Okanagan. I leased a house on North Beach and my folks lived in Penticton for years. Think I'll run with the 240 then if we need to dig into it I'll evaluate. It actually tuns pretty good with propane power. I appreciate the offer and maybe rain check if needed. I drive a late model pickup with a Coyote. The world doesn't need us to build another V8. I'm really interested to see what we can achieve. Stay tuned for more.