v8 swap

[Exploderpilot]

i didn't see one, is there a v8 swap forum?

[SkanlaxJMO]

uhh no do a search for V8 swap or 5.0 swap i know 410 fortune did one in his BII and section525 did(but that was the whole chasis)

[Exploderpilot]

well anyway, i have a c-6 with tcase if anybody wants the tcase, and now i need a motor. 410 says the gt40p motor is the one to use, i have two 4.0 motors if anyones interested. both will be pull out, only one is complete. but the big news here is that at some point in my driveshaft falling out, i did tranny damage, or at least thats what i'm telling my wife, so its time to do the v8 swap, 4 link the rear, spend my kids college money on 3 tube bypass shocks etc.....

[Exploderpilot]

so what i'm saying is, HELP!!!!

[410Fortune]

so you are starting fresh basically, meaning you have no parts yet?

My personal choice would be a 97.5-01 explorer, get the entire donor
2wd or 4wd is the next question.

Or you can start real fresh and rebuild everything new.

You have alot of questions to answer before you buy anything and alot of research to do.

What do you know about stuffing a 5.0L into your 92 so far? Anything?
Ever done anything like this before?
Does it need to pass CA emissions?

[Exploderpilot]

yeah passing emissions i guess is the hardest part, right now i have a c-6 tranny and tcase from a bronco, not sure about the motor yet.

[Exploderpilot]

i guess in a year and a half i'll have to find a smog hookup or just green sticker the damn thing.

[Exploderpilot]

i guess the main thing i'm worried about is fuel injection. can you run a carb if you are jumping and bouncing around all the time?

[410Fortune]

Sure you can run a carb, but you will need that green sticker, it wont pass emissions with a carb.

Fuel injection is a HUGE bonus IMO.
Since you are already going to use a C6 and have a t case (Dana 20?? what Bronco?) I would look for an Explorer engine 5.0L to bolt it up to.
Now you dont have to use the Explorer 5.0L, you can really use any 5.0L you want, but like I said the Explorer 5.0L has some advantages right out of the box, the front dress, exhaust manifolds, etc will all fit much easier into your Gen I truck.
To run it you can add a distributor and use a Mustang PCM. This way you get a GT-40 (with P heads if you can get them) 5.0L made for a truck and using the Mustang computer keeps the wiring/ignition and fuel injection simple. You can retain AC, the power steering pump, the alternator, etc.


Or you can pick up a 5.0L from pretty much any source and start finding the parts you want to make it fit in your 91. Basically a 5.0L needs:
-engine mounts (L&L, custom fab, or Mustang mounts)
-dual sump oil pan
-Oil filter re-location
-Conversion/custom headers or Explorer exhaust manifolds

thats the basics.
The cooling is up to you, if you want to keep your stock radiator support I would highly recommend the serpentine front accessories (Explorer style) to save room and you can even use your 4.0L radiator and A/C stuff.

If you want to hack it up then the sky is the limit.

Are you set on a 5.0L? If the budget allows you could always pick up a 331 or 347 block alredy built, or heck even get a built 351.

Rangerpowersports.com is a great place to see what's been and being done. Good place to ask 5.0L conversion questions as well.

With the V8 conversion into your Gen I it's really nice because all the research has been done for you, this convresion has been done in evrey way possible from a $500 hack job over a weekend to a $20K 500 HP swap. All you have to do is study up and decide which route your time and budget allow, also what you want the truck to do when its done (need AC? want to drive it on the street? etc etc)

[Exploderpilot]

i can't tell you how thankful i am that youre so knowledgeable about this!!!
anyway, i found a guy with a 308 bottom end, already bored and magnafluxed, basically fresh from the machine shop, for 400 bucks. another 125 or so in shipping and i have the heart of my motor. a forged crank is included. how does that sound to you? 525 seems fair for a totally fresh bottom end.

[410Fortune]

Yikes. It may be great and all but personally I would steer away from piecing together an engine.

The way to go these days IMO is to buy an entire crate engine, assembled and ready to go WITH A WARRANTY.

Otherwise its a crap shoot.
I have seen too many people buy built engines, or shortblocks or what have you only to find out later they did not get the part they paid for, the builder didnt put it together correctly, etc...

If this is your thing by all means go for it! But I personally wouldnt even trust a engine I put together myself with the help of my friends who know how to build them. I would rather pay for a complete 331 stroker with a warranty (can you guess what my future plans are?)

[Exploderpilot]

yeah i see what you're saying there, but building my own motors has been a goal of mine, and i just plain don't have the cash for a whole motor!

[Exploderpilot]

i was planning on this build taking several months at least

[410Fortune]

You better, it took me 6.5 total, plan was for 3.
Mostly like I said waiting on more $$$ for more parts, but still there was plenty of work to do all winter long....

You can likely afford a complete used explorer V8, this will give you 80% of what you need in one shot and you know it all works together.
Buying that block for $500, then heads, then intakes, headers, alternator, AC, power steering, brackets, oil pan and pickup etc etc etc will end up costing you ALOT more and take more time, plus its a crap shoot. When you turn that key you dont even know if all those parts will work together.
Also again the Explorer version of the 5.0L was basically made to fit in your engine compartment and work with the rest of your truck with little modifications (fuel system, heater box, intakes, exhaust manifolds, etc all made to fit in the gen II Ex, which saves you ALOT of guesswork, fabrication, time and $$$)


My goal is to assemble my own engines as well, I have helped doing several and am familiar with the process of a basic pushrod engine, but for a conversion it is best to get one complete that you know was runing before pulled. Worry about building one from scratch later, after the truck has already been converted.

You are going to end up spending more then you thought anyways so you need to take steps now to minimize the amount of purchases you make.

You can find 98-01 Explorer 5.0L's with under 80K miles on them for around $5-600 here in CO, at auction you can buy the whole truck for $1200-2000, but since you already have a trans and t case you dont need all that extra stuff (although you could sell it to re-coupe some of the cost). I say 98-01 because those have the P heads.
The GT-40 5.0L in the explorer is a STOUT engine, reliable and proven, the last of the good Ford pushrod small blocks IMO, likely the best they ever made.

[Exploderpilot]

see i am having no luck finding a motor here, mostly because there is such a huge market for v8 ranger prerunners out here, not to mention all the f150 and sand car guys

[410Fortune]

Ah have you tried AZ? I can give you the number of some Colorado Ford yards too...

How long have you been looking? They are out there for sure but you want to get the "right" one.

Shipping is not horrible, in fact tomorrow I am sending Froader my old V6, from Denver to Orange it will take 2 days and cost $180.

You can fill out those online parts request things, they send it out to like 500+ wreckers, I have had excellent luck with those....

[Exploderpilot]

see i am having no luck finding a motor here, mostly because there is such a huge market for v8 ranger prerunners out here, not to mention all the f150 and sand car guys

[410Fortune]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...32808148QQrdZ1

[celly]

Originally Posted by 410Fortune

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...32808148QQrdZ1

I put up that same link last night. Looks like a sweet engine. I'd imagine it's hard to find them in that shape these days.

[410Fortune]

its expensive, but might be worth it as long as it is what they say it is, which is hard to determine of course....

I paid less then that for an entire truck with P heads and 53K miles.