<![CDATA[M52 swap old f-150?]]>I have an 1986 f-150 with 4.9 straight with holley 4 barrel carb and c6 3spd auto. It has bazillion miles and refuses to die. Good compression decent power and awesome 9mpg no matter what.

I also have m52 with zf  5 spd lying around

I was pondering the idea of swapping my truck with m5x and eventually maybe running small/ mid size (borg s252or some kind of gt30) turbo.

Would it be a good towing rig? (5k lbs max)?

Do you think the zf320 would entertain extra load?

]]>https://wibimmers.com/topic/5623/m52-swap-old-f-150RSS for NodeWed, 16 Sep 2026 05:02:37 GMTWed, 22 May 2019 19:34:25 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to M52 swap old f-150? on Mon, 27 May 2019 03:32:22 GMT]]>That m5x would have to be turbo. 

The 300 that its in the truck now makes probably 200hp and 230-250lbft at the wheel at probably 1200-1900rpm  with a stunning redline of 4500rpm 😜

M5x even with a small turbo would easily exceed 320lb/ft.  I am not sure about the trans cooler. Probably some small electric pump similar they use to drain bottom mount turbos.  

Ive seen some aftermarket manual and sequential transmissions that have build in oil pumps and provisions for the coolers.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/99773https://wibimmers.com/post/99773Mon, 27 May 2019 03:32:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M52 swap old f-150? on Thu, 23 May 2019 16:01:28 GMT]]>Not that this helps you but I have always thought that a Toyota mini truck would be excellent to swap a BMW engine into.  And it can't be any harder than putting one in a van.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/99703https://wibimmers.com/post/99703Thu, 23 May 2019 16:01:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M52 swap old f-150? on Thu, 23 May 2019 03:42:55 GMT]]>the 320 is rated for 320ftlbs of torque, well above the power of the engine - i'm not sure how the towing load weight calculates into extra strain on the transmission, though. is it possible to add a transmission cooler to a manual trans? (you'd need some way to pump the fluid)

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/99683https://wibimmers.com/post/99683Thu, 23 May 2019 03:42:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M52 swap old f-150? on Thu, 23 May 2019 02:36:18 GMT]]>Cooling system and transmission I think would be the week points too. Maybe a stronger clutch as well?

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/99682https://wibimmers.com/post/99682Thu, 23 May 2019 02:36:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M52 swap old f-150? on Wed, 22 May 2019 20:28:08 GMT]]>https://www.bmwblog.com/2016/12/19/bmw-m2s-top-engineer-owns-red-mamba-land-rover-defender/

Red Mamba Land Rover Defender 2 750x563

There is/was once an S15 Blazer locally that has an M50/52 swap. 

I would make sure the vanos is in good shape with a rebuild (stupid easy), keep the stock intake and exhaust manifolds for best low end power (although a tune, M50 intake manifold, and headers can catapult the power from ~165whp to 195whp  very easily at the expense of low end grunt.

Make sure the exhaust h-pipe merge is at the same location that it exists on the stock exhaust to retain correct exhaust scavenging and low rpm torque, and if all else fails you can add the very low cost supercharger kit kaiser has for sale.

It is a great engine once the cooling system is addressed

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/99675https://wibimmers.com/post/99675Wed, 22 May 2019 20:28:08 GMT