Well...my mechanic/best friend told me to put a gm 350 in it, parts galore, cheap, easy to find, lot's of power. It's a standing lifetime joke, best friends for life and he's always been a chev guy and me a Ford guy. He was serious but he already knew my answer.
He also knows how little I care about having the fastest car on the block so he told me to just see how the 6 runs because changing the engine means changing the tranny and changing the rear end, which is all fine but costs a lot of money, he suggests I work on the truck (cosmetics), drive it like it is and see how I like it before I start investing a bunch of money in it.
I couldn't argue so I think I'll heed his advice for now and who knows maybe I'll just end up loving the 6 and sticking it out or maybe it will kill over dead and I won't have a choice? As he well knows I have no interest in racing anyone just playing, getting it to look good and be comfortable and cruising around having fun, guess you can do that with a 6? I do think it would look better with dual exhaust, can you dual out a 6? ;-)
first off getting advice on a ford from a chevy mechanic , can end in catastrophe.
chevy guys don't know the ins and outs of fords , and when they try to rebuild them like a chev it's not a good result.
have you ever talked to troy at troys engine in rigby?
f100 have 9 in rear ends, they will hold up to any stock/ semi hot rod engine
big block or small.
you can duel exhaust a 6 cyl.
a 390 fe is bullet proof if you keep oil in them, 4x4 guys run them low on oil and then complain
y blocks have oiling problems with the rockers, but there are kits available.
the y block is comparable in strength and reliability to the fe but more expensive to rebuild
a windsor is comparable to a chev 350 on cost to rebuild.
there are tripower carb assemblies available for 6 cyl, if you wanted to hotrod down the road