Another 4.0L OHV Build Thread (with 95TM heads)

[TennTechMan]

Summit is finally shipping my cam and springs. Now I just need to find some valve spring retainers. Crane has discontinued the ones previously recommended by a few others on this forum. Are the Crane items much stronger or is it just that the new springs seat better to the Crane parts? I have replaced single valve springs with dual springs and used the stock retainers on another motor previously with no problems, but it was a $1500 junker car. I've got twice that just in this motor.

Any opinions?

 

[Ronin8002]

Found a thread that might help you out:

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158205&highlight=retainers

Look at Racin' Ranger's comments...

If you're using stock replacement valves apparently the 988 springs will work with stock retainers, the spring will just overlap the retainer some but works fine with no troubles according to Racin' Ranger. Or you might try contacting Racin' Ranger at that board and see if he still has those crane retainers.

The answer to your EGR question might be on that board also if you search.

Sounds like everything is starting to come together for you...looking forward to seeing the results

 

[TennTechMan]

I should have the springs and cam in from Summit on Thursday (after 3 weeks of waiting), so I'll try installing the springs with the stock retainers to see what it looks like. Maybe I'll try to take some pictures and post them up to get some opinions.

I've got the crank, pistons, connecting rods, new oil pump and strainer all installed so far. I'm hoping to have the motor fully assembled and painted by the middle of next week. I still need to order some headers. I was having trouble deciding between JBA or Borla. I think I'm just going to do some shopping around, and get whichever is cheaper.

 

[NC_Xplorer]

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Do you have any pictures of the build? Let us see how it turns out. Thanks

 

[91exploreron37]

Well here are some pics of my engine im getting ready to install. It has the 422 cam, double valve springs and heddman hedders. As you can(or cant) see, the valve springs don't overlap by much at all. Crappy cell phone pics but i'll try and post some better ones later with the digital cam.
Oh yea the y-pipe is in the house but i'll try and get a pic of it also if you want.

 

[NC_Xplorer]

Cool, the pics aren't too bad, do you plan on doing some engine dress up once it is back in place? I know they don't make chrome or aluminum valve covers for the 4.0, but clean paint is just as good. Keep up the good work!

 

[TennTechMan]

I'm still moving a little slow on the build, but I'm getting closer. I've got a few pictures to show off this time. The Comp dual valve springs are now installed. I've posted a picture of my valve spring compressor that I made and used to swap the springs. I also posted a couple of pictures to compare the stock spring to the Comp dual spring. The one on the left is the stocker, and the right spring is the dual.

I also took a picture to compare the 95TM head to the 90TM head. 90TM is on the right, 95TM is on the left. On my stock heads, I noticed that there is a protrusion in the exhaust ports. The new heads do not have this protrusion. I'm not sure if it's a difference between 90TM and 95TM or if it's a difference between the Ford casting and the aftermarket casting. The new heads came from Alabama Cylinder Head for $405 shipped to my door.

The other pictures speak for themselves.

I'm going to order the headers tomorrow. With a little luck, I'm hoping to have this thing installed next weekend.

 

[TennTechMan]

I need some help. I went against others' recommendations and bought the PaceSetter headers. They look like pretty good quality. I have a couple of problems though.

#1. The EGR port on the header is no where near the right location. The paper that was in the box said it was for a 95-97 Ranger. Anyone know if the EGR valve is in the same location as my 94 Ex? And if so, I could just get the EGR tube for the 95-97 Ranger to solve the problem.

#2. It looks like there will be some interference between the spark plug wire boots and the header flange plate. I can solve this by removing some material on the flange to give some extra clearance.

Can anyone help with #1? I've searched all over the internet looking for a picture of a 4.0L in a 95-97 Ranger and I've had no luck.

This header problem is the only thing holding me back from dropping the motor in and firing it up.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bikeboarder]

send them back and have them send you the right ones.

 

[TennTechMan]

I sent back the PaceSetters and ordered some Heddman's from Jegs. The Heddman headers are correct for fitment, but I don't think they are as high a quality as the PaceSetters. The PaceSetters appeared to be powder coated and the bends and welding looked better. The Heddman headers already have several scatches and the tubes are smaller diameter. I almost think it would have been better to have used the PaceSetter and made a custom EGR tube.

I'm hoping to have this thing running in the next couple of days. I've run into one problem. I've already posted on the Stock 91-94 forum with no responses. I have a 94 which means I have a camshaft position sensor where the distributor would go. I think it is different than the earlier years, and I'm trying to figure out what it's orientation should be. If anyone thinks they can help with this, check out my post in the Stock 91-94 forum. Thanks again.

Look for some videos by the end of the week!

 

[Creager]

ooo very cool

wanna race? hah jk

From what my research told me, Pacesetter and Heddman have heat disapation issues: causing excess heat under the hood robbing hp. I think i may be having the same problem with my Borlas, cuz once this thing has been running for hours, the heat under the hood is way up and power is way down. The universal fix: Header wrap... although that will probably void warrentees

 

[TennTechMan]

Race?

We could go on Pinks! Might be a slow show. I just got it running last night. I'll have some pictures, video, and more detail later. I was really disappointed with the quality and fitment of the Hedman's. I honestly think I would have been better off using the PaceSetters and making a custom EGR tube. I should have known better and bought the JBA's. I've installed a few sets of them and know they are a higher quality. I would try some header wrap, but I really don't think I'll be able to get the stuff in there now that it's all installed.

 

[Ronin8002]

yeah, the ceramic coated JBA's, though pricey, fit just fine and they don't get too hot. You get what you pay for in this case. You could always get them later if/when you get fed up with the hedmans and install them with the motor in the truck....big pain in the rear but it can be done.

Looking forward to more details and your impressions of the new motor....nice work.

 

[91exploreron37]

Yea agreed i had to remove and reinstall my driver side header and y-pipe to remove my tranny and for some reason the driver side leakes at the head i tried replacing the gasket but no go. Maybe two gaskets put together might work?

 

[marked man]

I had problems with JBA headers warping at the flange after heat cycling. Only way to fix it was to mill the flange flat.

BTW, the shrouding around the valves being different between the heads is one reason to move to these heads with factory pistons. You increase the compression ratio without changing pistons out.
More prone to detonation, but that can be tuned for.

Nothing like a new engine on the stand to get you going.

 

[TennTechMan]

It's kind of short. The last time I turn around, one of the front tires comes off the ground. I've seen lifted Jeeps do this, but not an Explorer. After thinking about it, it seems like anyone cornering fast enough under power could do it.

https://inbox.tntech.edu/cgi-bin/fe...ideo/75556f72-2a2f-45b7-bdb1-997b01810fc5.htm

I'll try to get some stationary idling and revving sometime. I'm absolutely loving it so far. Knowing how well this turned out, I am definitely glad I went with building up the V6 rather than the V8 drivetrain swap.

 

[lifeguard379]

that looks killer!

 

[Ronin8002]

Very nice! Sounds like you're running a flowmaster 50 muffler? nice and throaty but not raspy sounding.

Glad everything came together for you.

 

[TennTechMan]

It's a Flowmaster 40 Series with 2.5" tubing all the way out to the stock tailpipe location.

 

[NC_Xplorer]

Sounds really good, glad to see it under it's own power.