59 1/2 ton PU

SuperDave

Senior Member
I have a friend that owns a nice 59 PU with a six cylinder engine. He wants to "hot rod" it with dual exhaust and twin carbs. What is the engine? 240 ? What is available for these? My experience is with Model A's and Stepdown Hudsons. I will probably be doing all the work! LOL..;)
 
It's a 223 unless somebody swapped in a later, bigger 6. A 300 6 would be the ticket for it. They're practically immortal and have gobs of torque. Check out Clifford Engineering for inline 6 go fast parts.
 
Jack Clifford started out years ago by making Hudsons go faster! I'll will check them out.
Thanks, Dave
 
If you want to keep the original look, find a 262 cu. in. six from a f-600 or so truck from the same era. Looks just like to 223 but bunches more power. A plus: You can't beat the sound of a straight six with a split exhaust manifold or headers!
 
I think the owner wants to keep the original engine, but add some "Bling". Twin carbs and headers would make him happy. "Hot rod" was my attempt at humor! First thing I need to do is determine if the engine IS original. He bought the truck from someone several years ago and has no idea if it's correct or not. I'll consult my stash of "Motors Manuals".
 
I think the owner wants to keep the original engine, but add some "Bling". Twin carbs and headers would make him happy. "Hot rod" was my attempt at humor! First thing I need to do is determine if the engine IS original. He bought the truck from someone several years ago and has no idea if it's correct or not. I'll consult my stash of "Motors Manuals".
Here's a page of some '59 Ford truck specs...
http://www.oldride.com/library/1959_ford_f100.html

Engine block casting number prefix, EBP = 223

Be careful not to add too much carburetor capacity on a stock engine, the day-to-day driveability will likely suffer.
Here's a link to a CFM calculator....
https://www.summitracing.com/expertadviceandnews/calcsandtools/cfm-calculator

.
 
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I'm pretty sure I still have a set of NOS Hi-lift Barkers somewhere.

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Hey Sal, I guess the picture didn't show. Yes highlift rocker arms.
 

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Thanks Tinker. I never heard of that brand before. I remember the old Gotha rockers way back when.

Sal
 
I am hitting a wall. I have written emails to Sacramento Vintage Ford, Patriot headers and Clifford. No response. My basic question is "Why does all the parts advertised for the 223 say Fits up to 1956 ?" I am sure there as some radical change in body style in '57, but why does that impact the 223 engine manifold/header wise?
 
I am hitting a wall. I have written emails ..... No response.
Don't email. I suspect most of those Contact Us messages from websites are never seen by a human.
Call them on the phone and ask for 'someone who knows'.

Good luck.

.
 
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The 223 six of the mid to late fifty's were not very good engines, had several of them in work trucks. Properly taken care of the 292 & 312 V8's were excellent engines.
If the owner wants to keep the truck some what stock looking I would suggest the 300 CID engine from the 1970's, lots of power and longevity.
Add a "Clifford 6=8 " four barrel manifold, w/390 CMF carb, headers, a little head work, a good cam and ignition, will result in a truck that will run of and hide from the average small block out fit. A C-4 trans would make the truck very user friendly.
I had an inline six in a half ton pickup, it had Clifford 6=8 equipment, the thing was a rocket ship, the engine put out over 300 hp on a dyno..
The '59-60 F100's generally have Dana 44's or Ford 9" rear ends w/ 372 ratio.
I currently have three '59 F100 4x4's.
 

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I am hitting a wall. I have written emails to Sacramento Vintage Ford, Patriot headers and Clifford. No response. My basic question is "Why does all the parts advertised for the 223 say Fits up to 1956 ?" I am sure there as some radical change in body style in '57, but why does that impact the 223 engine manifold/header wise?

The aftermarket dual castiron header setups for 223 are a rare thing to find.
support for these motors aren't great outside a 2/3 pot intake.

Lot of guys will split the original intake, if you know or are a cast iron welder you can get it done.

I sold a clifford header last yr that i had for about 5yrs.

http://www.shop.cliffordperformance.net/Ford-223_c15.htm
 
I put a 300 with a Comp 260 cam, Offy C, 390 Holley, efi dual exhaust and high energy ignition in a 92 F250 with a ZF. It was great to drive except too much cam for a work truck. But every time I put gas in it I thought wow, I could be driving a 460 and have some real power.
 
We have a local shop that did the 223 Ford for the figure-8 racers when the 6 was the spec motor for the class. Some of those were pretty exotic and could run with 8 cylinder cars at other tracks. The chassis of choice was the '62 to '64 Galaxie since it was massively strong.
 
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