Sport Trac re-power

[qumanchew]

Hey guy's. I just found this forum and thought you guy's might like to see the project I've been working on. In my search for better fuel economy and towing performance I decided my best bet was a diesel conversion. I chose the sport trac because it fit my need well. Four doors to haul the family yet fairly small to achieve good mileage.

So here's what I using. 2003 sport trac. I looked long and hard till I found a manual trans one because it made the conversion easier. It's a fairly stripped down model. It has power window and ac, that's about it. For the motor I chose to go with the cummins 4BT since I think it is the most common "small" diesel and one of the simplest.

The conversion is almost done so I have a lot of pictures and info to post. I'm a slow typer so that's it for now.

 

[Triton8273]

Your in the wrong sub forum...this is for the Explorer, there is a separate one for the sport-trac.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=120

Good Luck with the conversion.

 

[qumanchew]

Oops! I think the mods moved it for me . Thanks you.

 

[snoranger]

Welcome. I thought you were already a member here. I guess I should have mentioned it to you on 4btswaps.

 

[OffTrac]

Interesting.... I have done a little research into this myself.

 

[theluke19]

Wow, subscribed on this! Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[qumanchew]

Here's acouple pics of the truck and the motor. The motor had 140k miles on it when I got it and a decent amount of blowby. I tore it down and discovered a few broken rings. Everything measured within standard spec so I honed the cylinders and rebuilt her. While I had it apart I got the exhaust manifold ceramic coated and almost everything alluminum on the motor is getting powder coated silver.

 

[qumanchew]

Welcome. I thought you were already a member here. I guess I should have mentioned it to you on 4btswaps.

Thanks, I got a lot of ideas from you build. I've actually been lurking on this board for a while, just finally got around to joining.

 

[qumanchew]

The next thing was to decide what trans and tcase to go with. I first got an m5r2 and BW1356 from an 88 f150 but decided they wouldnt work so great. The shifter on the trans was to far foreward so I ended up goin with one from an 03 F150. The shifter on these is right where it was on the m5r1 so that worked out great. After a lot of measuring I decided to switch from the 1356 to a 4406. This was a great decision for a few reasons. For one thing it is a lot skinnier. Also it had the speedo sensor in the tailshaft so my wiring plugged right in, all I had to do was lengthen it. Heres a pic of the t-case next to each other.

As far ad the trans mount goes it was an easy mod. I cut down the cross membersince this trans is taller and I re-used the original rubber mount from my truck.

 

[Heath]

Subscribing!!! I'm excited to see this one...

 

[qumanchew]

After I had the trans where I wanted it, which is actually 1'' farther back than stock, I went about mounting the motor. I knew there would have to be oilpan mods but I wanted to minimize them so I lowered the axle housing down by 3/4". This was pretty ease. I just cut the mounts off the frame and lowered them. Then I made the motor mount. I used the factory rubber mounts from the donor step van. Also I added a 1.5" body lift for a little more room.

 

[qumanchew]

Few more of the mounts.

 

[alakers]

This is so badass.

 

[01STrunner]

Great idea! I've been dreaming about doing this. Glad to see someone actually doing it.

 

[qumanchew]

Thanks Guy's! My next order of business was modifying the oil pan. This was the biggest pain in the a$$ because I had to keep taking the motor in and out of the truck. Also had to lengthen the pickup tube to move it farther back. In the one picture you can see it sitting full of gas. This was the best way I could find to check for leaks.

 

[qumanchew]

Now that the motor could be bolten in it's final location I worked on the exhaust. I ended up having to make a 1'' spacer for the turbo so it would clear the heat/ac box. I used 3'' ss for the exhaust with a magnaflow muffler. For now I just cut a hole in the bumper since I plan on making a new one anyway.

 

[Teejay4490]

Are you going to beef up the suspension at all?

 

[SouthernSAR]

I can't wait to see and hear this thing when it's done. Subbed!

 

[99SportX]

Looks very good! I definitely want to follow this.

Just out of curiosity, because diesels generally rev lower than gasoline engines, have you given any thought to the transmission/rear end ratios and the speeds you will run in each gear?

 

[qumanchew]

Are you going to beef up the suspension at all?

I'm going to see how it looks and feels when it's done and go from there.