looking to buy a 1976 f 150 heavy 1/2 ton spc. as a project truck. owner knowes its a 8 cylinder but unshur of engine size. this is a problem . dose any one know what engine sizes were used for this t

I'm about 90% sure they had the 390's in them for the 8's with an option for the 460, but considering its a 1/2 ton i believe the 390 was what it would most likely have.

or sorry, 385ci rather than 390

You were right with the 390. the 460 is known as a 385 "series" engine.

1976 Ford F-150's could have had a 302, 360,390 400 depending when in the year of '76 it was built, most later ones had the 400, most earlier ones had the FE engines or the base 302. The 360/390 FE engine family was replaced during the year of 1976 with a 400 M engine which was similar to the 351 cleveland block but with a higher deck height and a different stroke and used a detuned version of the cleveland clyinder heads. Other than clylinder heads,Very few parts interchanged with the cleveland engine.. The base engine for an F-series truck was the 302 small-block, everything else was optional. The 460 big-blocks were mainly available on the F-250 and F-350 camper specials but only with a C-6 automatic transmission. Here's the best way and the easiest way to determine what engine family that you have. Just count the valve cover bolts. 5 bolts: 332/352/360/361/390/391/406/410/427/428 (FE engine) will be a 360 or 390 in '76 trucks 6 bolts: 221/260/289/302/351W will only be a 302 in '76 trucks 7 bolts: 429/460 will only be a 460 in a '76 truck 8 bolts: 351C/351M/400 will only be a 400 in a '76 truck All 1973-79 truck engines had an engine code tag mounted to the engine, usually on the lower driver's side of the block towards the front. This tag tell engine family and displacement. A great sight for reading these tags and for other Ford Truck information is fordification.net. here's the engine tag page link http://fordification.net/tech/engineIDtags.htm Good Luck, Have you driven a Ford...Lately??? Kenny/MrBlueOval

Did you find a F150 Heavy half? I sunk a lot of money in mine the last year and half as a project. Now, I may not be able to finish it. Mine needs the cosmetics - paint job and restore dashboard and interior. Otherwise, I have new engine, breaks, Magnafow exhuast system, rebuild carburator, shocks, radiator, intake manifold and more. It is mechanically sound now and has a solid arizona body. 300 straight six.

I have a 1976 camper edition ranger

I have a 1976 f-150 ranger XLT trailer special extended cab with a 460. With A/C and cruise control.

1/2 tons did have the 460, also standard transmission not c-6 only, the 390 was also in the 350, the 385 was the length of the stroke for the 460, Mr Blue Oval is up on the FoMoCo's , but don't know if he knows what FE stands for, And don't try to tell me Ford Experimental like an editor in engine rebuilding stated. Another note FORD was the fastest car on the strip in 1957, Ford pulled out of racing mid way thru 57 and still, AND STILL had more major wins than all other manufactures combined.So Omaha Mike

YES, MrBlueOval does know that "FE" stands for "Ford-Edsel" Which is what type of cars that particular engine was originally designated to go into in 1958 and up but we all know that the Edsel cars only made it until not even midway for the 1960 model year before Ford pulled the plug on it. Not many 1960 Edsels were even built but Ford still called that engine the "FE" and used that "FE" engine until midyear 1971 on Ford and Mercury cars and thru 1976 on Ford light trucks up to 1-ton capacity. The "FE" engines were basically bulletproof in their day but was a tired design by then so Ford replaced the "FE" Big-Block with The 335 series engines which were used in mid- and full-sized cars and light trucks, (351M/400 only) at times concurrently with the Windsor small-block family, the 351 Windsor, in cars. These engines were used as a replacement for the 360 and 390 FE V8 family in the car and truck lines. The 335 series only outlived the FE series by a half-decade, being replaced by the more compact small-block Windsor V8s. Ford's BIG-BLOCK replacement for the "FE" was the 385 series BIG-BLOCK which actually came out in 1968 in the Thunderbird and could ultimately handle up to 429 cubic inches until 1973 then up to 460 cubic inches after that. Ford used that 460 engine block in their big Galaxies, LTD's, T-Birds, Big Merc's and Lincoln cars from late 1971 thru 1978 and until the early to mid 1990's in their light trucks. Kenny / MrBlueOval.

I read the 460 made it's debut in 68 as well in the 68 Lincoln Continentals replacing the 462 MEL block, Mercury Edsel Lincoln...

I know this is an old post, but I'm hoping MrBlueOval sees this reply and responds. I just purchased a 1976 F-150 4x4 Ranger that has a 351M or 400 in it. I assumed someone replaced the original 360 until I read this post so now you got me wondering if this really is an original 400... Every scrap of documentation I can find tells me the 351M/400 was not used until the 1977 model year, and I see no provision for "S" as an engine code option in 1976 in anything I found. So....can you elaborate on that issue? Do you know of any documentation that I could access that supports that 351M/400 was used in 76? What engine code was used for these trucks? Was it "S" as in 77-up? Or did they stick with "Y" for those?

A 76 did come with a 351. I’m pretty sure it was a Cleveland but possible a Modified. F150 short wheelbase 4x4 Used the hell out of it on a dairy farm.