75 Ford Ranchero 400 Cid Swap?! How long would this take?

[chamblizi]

hey i am phil i was wandering how long would it take to swap out my 400 with a rebuilt 400 cid.

[MagicRat]

IMHO An experienced amateur with a full selection of tools could do the swap in about 10 hours, including swapping all existing accessories, ignition, manifolds etc from the old engine onto the new.

A novice with only basic tools might take 20 hours or more.

Some handy things to have to speed it up:

Warm shop with a concrete floor.
High lift trolly jack and big jackstands.
Air compressor and decent air tools.
3-ft extension bar for sockets. This makes easy work of the 6 bellhousing bolts.
acetylene torch to heat up rusty exhaust bolts/nuts
Cherry-picker engine hoist ( easier to use than a block and tackle.)
A case of beer to bribe your buddy to come over and help line-up the transmission with the new engine.