i have a 78 f150 4x4 that i plan to restore. could be somewhat of a "restomod" when i am done. i plan on adding power windows, power locks with remote entry, and disc breaks. pretty much anything that would give it the conveniences of a new truck without sacrificing a factory appearance. so no custom seats, instrument panel, etc. i would like to upgrade the engine to a fuel injected one that will get at least 14 mpg, and also upgrade the tranny to an overdrive model.

right now the truck has a 400 engine and a c6 tranny.

does anyone know which of the vintage ford truck forums would be best to get advice from? one with members who have done things like this before?

Try this forum http://www.fullsizebronco.com/ its broncos but they have a ton of info on the 78-79 broncos but 90% of it will work with a f150.For parts http://www.lmctruck.com/ http://broncograveyard.com/ and http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/ should have you covered.

Wouldn't you want something pre smog.

Smog tests are not required here. I'm just looking for fast easy starts and better mileage than the current 10 mpg.

Thanks for the links

Same thing I think anytime I buy a car in cali. this state blows.

You could do a swap 5.0 or 5.8 over drive trans its not hard.Ford did reuse a ton of stuff from 73-96 like the back window and front seats are the same lol.

If you don't plan to hit the car show circuit, I would put as many custom moods to the cab and interior as I could and leave the drive train alone.
I had several of these trucks over the years. There is nothing special in the least to warrant keeping the interior "as it was new"

Not intending to build a show truck but it might go to some local ones. As for the interior I want it to look as factory as possible. I grew up riding in these trucks. I'm nostalgic. The only interior mods will be PW, PL, and a stereo that will compare to a new ford truck factory system. As for the drive train....I would prefer the modern conveniences like fast easy starts and better mpg's than I am getting

For that your best bet would probably be to swipe the drivetrain (and necessary electronics) from a early to mid 90s F150 or Bronco (5.0L or 5.8L). They should be easy to find in a Junkyard, cheap, and relatively easy to swap in. Of course you could swap a SBC or LS engine, but putting a Chevy drivetrain in a Ford truck is practically a mortal sin and it would probably be a slightly more difficult swap than keeping everything Ford.

Of course if money is no object you could put a new 5.0L Ti-VCT ("coyote") crate motor in it for about $7000 (plus another $2,000-$3,000 for a transmission and a few grand more for a PCM and wiring), have a ton of power and excellent reliability, though you would have probably spent enough to buy a 2-3 year old F150 with this drivetrain already in it at that point.

Yeah...........money is an object unfortunately

Dmill a gm engine and trans won't be hard just run a adapter to use a ford t case.

Yeah..... That's not gonna happen. I can't believe that some people actually do that

I think this is going to be my best bet. I considered buying FI for the 460. It would help the hard starts but fuel mileage would be limited by the 460 and the c6.

I wonder if you can bolt on a newer ford 460 fuel injection intake to the older engine? If not could you get a throttle body from a 454 to work with some kind of adapter?

Not sure, admittedly I've always been more of a GM person myself (even though I own a 2013 Mustang GT, being 6' 2" the Camaro's low roofline didn't exactly agree with me) at least when it comes to older stuff.

A 87-92 FI setup might work on an older 460, I believe they changed the heads in 93 so a later intake probably wouldn't work(unless the heads were also swapped). Of course you could also pull a complete 460 (and trans) from a 90s F250/F350, RV, Box Truck, etc.

Though a 90s 5.0L/5.8L would probably be a better fit for an F150 (and more efficient) and they have a ton of potential and aftermarket support.

I'm sure something could be rigged up for TBI but I'm not sure how much work it might involve to get it working right, since older PCMs (OBDI and earlier) tend to have limited tuning ability.