CHIEF Is Almost a 302!!!!!! 91 XLT SAS In the process of 302 and T-5 Swap!!

Hello Everyone!
It's Chief here, Aka: Tim. I started with this pitifull excuse of a motor called a V6 and even more of a dissapointment This POS A4LD tranny! This will all be a nightmare that ended real soon

 

[Yng_pnk]

CHief will i need the master with it or can i use the one thats in the stock explorer? for the Mcleod

Did you take any pictures of the thing installed?

 

[Rick]

How's it been going? Haven't heard from you in awile. Any updates??

 

[Chief34]

hello,
Everything has been going pretty well. I did however break another motor mount, The driver side for the second time, since Tierra del sol, only this time just driving on the street. I am severely disapointed with the L&L motor mounts. I would not recomend them to anyone. They are WEAK! The design is just weak, the only thing that holds it together is ONE 3/8" bolt. As soon as it fatigues and breaks... BYE-BYE!
Anyway I am making my own now out of Stainless Steel. Actually, tomorrow oddly enough. I will get pictures of my new home made mounts VS, the Weak L&L mounts. They WILL NOT break again I can assure you!
Until tomorrow.....
Tim.

 

[CLB]

That is A LOT of chrome, and a very high SOG. Do you plan on even taking it off pavement?

Definately looks nice, just curious as to its functionality in what you use it for.

 

[Robb]

and a very high SOG.

Senter of Gravity?

If you are gonna bust someone's balls, at least spell it correctly.

 

[NOTAJP]

Senter of Gravity?

If you are gonna bust someone's balls, at least spell it correctly.

LOL

Someone just got owned! If you read the thread Chief's been off-road plenty of times. I've been pretty impressed with how well he does. I've never had an issues with my COG...or was that SOG....or SOB...don't know....

 

[Josh S.]

hahaha notajp, I was gonna post something similar earlier, but I decided not too. You chimed in for me ...dang jeepers! J/K

 

[Chief34]

heh, thanks for the back up guys!!!

By the way I am still working on those motor mounts... I have been super busy but I did make them I just have to get them tack welded together and then Illl finish welding them up and get some pics on here. They are turning out great though!

 

[montanaexplorer]

wow
congrats
awsome

answers 99% of the questions i have on a 302/5spd swap into explorer

although you are most definatly a better mechanic then i will ever dream of being lol

i do have a couple questions if thats ok ?

1. what did you do for gearing in the axles ??
2. did you upgrade to the 38.5 tires ??
3. have you driven this thing far enough to see what kind of fuel mileage
you get ??

did i mention congrats ?? i am awstruck by the amount of work and the detail you have put into this project ...you are most definatly a person who takes great pride in a job well done .. and your rig is very very well done

.

 

[Chief34]

Montana Explorer,

First of all Thank-you very much for the compliments. I do take great pride in everything I do to my truck. What can I say, I love it!

I am running 4.10 gears which is plenty steep enough. I get about 13 mpg no matter where I drive. I havent got larger tires yet... I am waiting for these to wear out then I will step-up.

 

[burgo]

Subscribed!

 

[nicndar]

Nice job in the works....what do you know about changing a 97 Explorer 4x4 4.0L SOHC to a 01 4.0L SOHC? Do I just need to swap the engine harness and computer over to keep them both 01 versions? Thanks for any answers!!

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Chief -- That thing is huge! I like the choice in tires. You did a GREAT job under the hood. I was glad you painted and cleaned up anything to make it look good and professional. You've seen a lot of people throw crap in there and that is that - yours on the other hand is clean and well constructed. You did some great custom work and I think that rear window will be very nice. Again, I can't compliment you enough - good job on everything!

-Drew

 

[Chief34]

nicndar,
I do not have any experience with that particular swap. I can tell you though to check what kind of computer the '01 has versus yours.... If it is the same, you will only have to change the engine. If the computer is different however, then yes you will have to change the computer, and have a custom wiring harness made to tie the two wiring harnesses together. You will have to be carefull to get the right computer also, ie; manual or automatic transmission computer. The best advice I can give is to do your homework and be prepared for it to take a while.... Also, Not to put your project down in any way, but if the computers are in fact different on the '01, and you get that involved in a swap project, why wouldnt you put a V8 in it? It just seems like an awefull lot of work to get the same engine.

 

[Chief34]

ExplorerDMB00,
Thank-you very much for your compliments. It has been a lot of work and there is still tons more to do.... But I Love this truck and Like working on it. Thanks Again.
-Tim

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Well Cheif, just keep up the great work. I'm very impressed. Good luck on future projects and on your "to do" list. ha

-Drew

 

[410Fortune]

Wow okay so the L&L mounts you dont like, NOW you tell me hahaha

Excellent work, I hope to follwo in your path very soon...give me 3-4 more weeks and she'll be running.

Lets see some pictures of those new mounts you are making.
My plan is to run these L&L mounts for a while, if I dont like the harshness of the solid mount or if I break them, I want to fab something that keeps the engine in the same place but uses a urethane mount.

Your thoughts?

Also why the modifications to the fuel lines? Wouldnt the factory 4.0L Lines work? Excuse my ignorance I deal with a 88 BII that has a totally different fuel system and setup, but al I had to do was boil the nylon line in some water and install teh correct Ford double flare fitting, let it cool..

I knew Brett did a wire harness a little while back but I didnt know it was for your truck! Did it work perfectly first shot or what? hahaha Brett is a genious, he learned everything he knows about wiring from me. jUst kidding, actually the two of us figured that stuff out together when he put a 4.0L in his 87 BII we figured all we would have to do is copy the wiring harness I had tons of help building for my 88. WRONG. They were totally different, so Brett and I started reviewing it and a few weeks later we rebuilt my harness the right way, called crash course in PCM wiring.....I assume you are happy with the harness he built you? PLug and play? Work first shot?
I wanna be able to razz him a little next time I see him, of course he's probably reading this...

Anyways congrats, the truck looks amazing, cant wait to see how you work out all the little bugs as you log some miles. I am getting very excited, in 3-4 weeks (cross your fingers) I will have a smooth shifting, 5.0L powere OBD-II Bronco II.

Also Now here's where I need some pictures, what did you end up runing for your exhaust??? 4 02 sensors? Did you go true duals?
I am using the Torque monster headers which will allow me to run alot of the stock Explorer exhaust, at least the down pipes with the cats and 02's, but if they hang down too far ( I suspect they will) I will be cutting them up and doing full custom. SO I just want to see what you did with your setup...thanks!

 

[bmxking5]

Chief -- That thing is huge! I like the choice in tires. You did a GREAT job under the hood. I was glad you painted and cleaned up anything to make it look good and professional. You've seen a lot of people throw crap in there and that is that - yours on the other hand is clean and well constructed. You did some great custom work and I think that rear window will be very nice. Again, I can't compliment you enough - good job on everything!

-Drew

Exactly!! Great job Chief

 

[95offroadx]

I am running 4.10 gears which is plenty steep enough. I get about 13 mpg no matter where I drive.QUOTE]

13mpg!with 4.10's and 37's, i really want a 5.0 ever more now! more power and better gas milage

im only getting 11mpg with 33's and 3.73's

you have one of the nicest explorer i have ever seen, keep up the good work

 

[Chief34]

410Fortune
As far as the L&L motor mounts go, they are basically to weak. Essentially they are two pieces of steel "glued" together. They just wouldnt hold up. I broke one going off about a 4' tall jump last year at TDS and the second one just breaking a tire loose coming out of a gas station parking lot about a month after that. I will take a couple of pictures and post them , so you can see the new ones I made. It is a solid mount with polyurathane bushings where the bolt goes through. They are made out of Stainless steel.
The fuel lines on the 5.0 come up on the opposite side of the engine as the stock 4.0 lines. That is why I ran braided lines and an In line fuel filter down the the frame.
Brett Did my wiring harness, and Did a great job. It plugged and almost played right off the back There was only one minor thing that had to be changed. I cant quite remember exactly what it was.... I think a jumper wire. The ignition wouldnt try to start when you turned the key. It had to do with the nuetral saftey switch. I called him up on the phone and he went back to his diagrams and figured it out in a couple of minutes. He walked me through fixing it over the phone and it was solved in no time. Thanks Brett!
Lastly, but certainly not least, the exhaust. I had fully custom exhaust made. It is a work of art!!! A guy up in Oceanside,Ca did it for me. "Warner's Muffler", I saw their name in "OffRoad" Mag. He fixed me right up. I am running the "explorer" package. He built custom long tube headers, with O2 provisions (just one in each pipe). From there I have a 2 1/2 inch
Y-pipe going into a full 3" inch Cat back exhaust. High flow cat (One right now, but I have to add one more to pass smog.) going into a Flowmaster muffler. It looks, sounds and runs amazing with this exhaust. I bet I saw a 20% increase in power versus the horrible James duff headers that were on there. I will get some pics soon!

95offroadx
I found out that I was running WAY to far advanced on my timing, and I am going to test out my gas mileage again soon. I am willing to bet alot that my truck is going to get even better gas mileage now.