Coyote-Swapped 2003 Ford F-150 Is Our Kind of Project
Why bother beefing up your stock F-150 4.6 or 5.4 when you can simply swap it out for a fire breathing Coyote V8?
Truthfully, there’s nothing really wrong with Ford’s 4.6 or 5.4-liter V8s, aside from a few known issues. But for our money, there’s nothing quite like the howl of a Coyote. Unfortunately, owners of older gen Ford F-150 pickups didn’t have this option. So the next best thing is to simply swap a newer 5.0 into your older, rounder pickup. At least, that’s what longtime F-150 Online member and moderator Patman has been working on for a couple of years now. And he’s also been documenting the entire process in this informative thread.
“Earlier this year I purchased a 2015 Gen 2 Coyote and 6R80E from an F-150 with 8,400 miles. Took a little bit of time to get the electrics figured out, and I have a ton of time thinning out the wiring harness, but I’m still not done.”
To make pulling the old 4.6 easier, Patman removed the entire front end of the F-150. That also made test fitting the new Coyote a much simpler process. But as you might imagine, Patman immediately discovered a few issues with fitment.
“And here is where I ran into my first major clearance issue. Oil pan hits the subframe on the passenger side. I ordered a Moroso oil pan to hopefully take care of that problem but still keep an 8 quart oil capacity. I also managed to mangle up the cam sensor and harness on the back of the driver’s side cylinder head. Will obviously need to fix that before it’s all said and done.”
Next, it was time to start figuring out how to make the new transmission fit.
“I ordered a Mustang GT transmission mount because the F-150 mount was way too tall for my application. After getting the GT trans mount in hand, I was able to figure out what I needed to do on the transmission crossmember. I also moved the transmission crossmember back to the further holes in the frame.”
Next up, Patman fabricated a custom starter harness bracket and toyed around with the exhaust a bit. As you might imagine, a lot of things required modifications to fit. That included the heat shields, along with the factory oil filter and cooler location.
In the many months since this awesome F-150 project started, Patman has completed a ton of work. He’s obviously quite skilled at this sort of thing, but it still has us pondering a similar swap. At this point, Patman’s on to working on installing a four-link rear suspension and some beefy axle shafts. So be sure and head over here to catch up on what’s been done so far, as well as stay tuned as this hot rod ’03 F-150 project comes together!
Photos: F-150 Online forums
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