Highroads Long Travel Trac V8 Swap

[HighRoad]

Going to be looking for some help here as I just started pulling the 5.0 out of my 98' 5.0 mountaineer donor tonight.

A little background on my Trac. It is an 01' Job 2 that I bought from a kid in socal about a year ago. It started life in 01' by going to Offroad Mag. Here is a little history I have dug up..........

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0608or_ford_explorer_sport_trac/viewall.html

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0610or_2001_ford_explorer_sporttrac/viewall.html

http://www.off-roadweb.com/features/1006or_off_road_project_vehicles/viewall.html

The Trac changed hands a couple of time until I bought it. I reworked the rear suspension and put in a F62 Deaver pack and long travel shackles. It will get some 18" triple bypasses when the cab/bedcage is redone after the motor swap. Truck had 33's on it, and I moved up to 35's which required some trimming and moving of the washer fluid/overflow and also going to move the battery to the bed.

The plan: To build a street legal all purpose off road machine. I live on the Oregon dunes, so that is a given. Also setting the truck up for mild rock crawling like Rubicon/Fordyce/Dusy-Ershim etc.

Swap the 5.0/4R70W and put the BW4406 I have behind it.

Rebuild front suspension. I had some spindle uprights built that use ford dana 44 snouts/hubs and accept an RCV 30 spline stub. I am using RCV's outer dana 44 CV and probably will stick with the 930 inner cv's I have. Using a 10" coil over/bypass on the new a-arms.

The truck has a cab cage in it.........probably more dangerous than if it did not have one at all. This will get re-worked when the front suspension cage is done as well as the bed cage.

Stroke the 5.0 to 347/build the trans: I have a DSS racing 347 rotating assembly and am planning on rebuilding the trans with a Performance Automatic rebuild kit, hardened input, upgraded valve body, deep pan, and maybe a different TC with slightly higher stall, depends on the cam I go with on the motor rebuild. I have TM headers and will have to re-work the exhaust from there. Probably use Gt-40x heads to work well with the TM's..... Watching a couple of 94,95 cobra crank pulleys on ebay to get my 28oz crank triggered balancer/pulley set up. If anybody has a line on one for a reasonable price, I am looking.

Have a 9'' rear end that will go in when the front suspension changes to 5x5.5 bolt pattern.

I will be swapping the front differential for either an IFS 8.8 or a dana 44, or maybe a 9" center. Don't fully have this part figured out/engineered, but I need a good stout front differential that I can run a selectable locker in.

So, sorry for the long first post, but I wanted paint a picture of what I am headed for. I have been collecting parts for several years as originally the parts were all going into my Mountaineer. When I found the Trac, I decided to switch directions and build it instead.

Looking for advice on the stock Motor swap for now. Hoping ttbit and Ranger SVT will subscribe and lend their experience. Anybody else who has thoughts, please share.

Brent

 

[HighRoad]

Here is the donor. 98' Mercury Mountaineer.

I think I am going to go the route of Don, ttbit, and swap everything over from the 98' Mounty to the 01' track. I believe that I will have to do the same as he did and swap fuel pumps, sending units and extend the lines. The engine harness/computer will obviously be swapped but I am not sure yet what other harness will need to go. In reading Ranger SVT's threads, he brought up the G force meter. I don't recall Don discussing this, although I do have one on my 98' mountaineer.

Question's:
Do I need to swap the Fuel pump harness's when I do the Fuel pump or will they plug into each other?
Still not sure what exactly to do about the VSS. Don had to change the ground I believe while Ranger SVT got into the anti-lock brake system.....still trying to wrap my head around the difference in how they approached this/difference in the year of the donor vehicles.

I am looking for shop manuals for both vehicles that have wiring diagrams if anybody has some for sale.

 

[HighRoad]

Putting a couple helpful links from the pioneers of this swap together in one place.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237639
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124159

 

[just1me]

I saw this mentioned before in a thread, maybe here, it seems like a valuable option.

http://www.terf.com/SpeedChangerPage.htm

Also Rwenzing mentioned using an extra Gem module from a 01 2.5 Ranger for the VSS conversion.

 

[Demo1986]

This is going to be a Super Trac when your done with it!

 

[Pjibs]

*****in'

 

[HighRoad]

Thanks guys,
Pulling the 5.0 out of the Mounty now.....

 

[Pjibs]

pictures!

 

[05dakotatrac]

go with a dana 60 front since your planning full size rear i would go full size front too.

 

[HighRoad]

go with a dana 60 front since your planning full size rear i would go full size front too.

Not SAS'ing, otherwise a dana 60 would be a great choice.

Looks like the reverse rotation 8.8 out of the post 97' F-150's and Expeditions can accept a 33 spline ARB. Light weight, lots of gear and locker choices and available in the wrecking yard, and hopefully not to much larger than the dana 35. Has anybody seen pictures of an ifs dana 35 next to an 8.8? Anbody done the swap in a Ranger/explorer? I may have to get one from the yard and see what the mounting options are going to be in the sport trac.

 

[Turdle]

I'm thinking you'll need to convert the trac to return fuel system, the 98 is, while your trac ( i believe) is returnless. Will the 98 tank fit?

 

[HighRoad]

Built a bracket to bolt my 4 barrel engine lift bracket to the EFI lower manifold

Bolted the 4 barrel adjustable bracket to the EFI lower manifold. Most everything is unhooked and ready to pull tomorrow night.

 

[HighRoad]

 

[Demo1986]

Good progress on this thing! Do you have a end date in mind or till a certain trip to finish?

 

[HighRoad]

Good progress on this thing! Do you have a end date in mind or till a certain trip to finish?

Thanks,
Block is at the machine shop and transmission is at the tranny shop.

I am hoping to have it running by the end of December, and have it ready for Moab EJS last week of March.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Great job man, I plan on doing a V8 swap if and when my 4.0 kills over. I'll probably go old school and just throw in either a SBC or SBF with a carb. I'm not great with electronics and emissions B.S.. What part of Oregon are you from I grew up in and around Hermiston, Stanfield area in northeast Oregon.

 

[OffTrac]

A carb will require some creative tuning if you plan to run trails.

 

[05dakotatrac]

edelbrock has carb to efi stand alone kits.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

By that time I may go with a partial propane setup for that. Back to the build thread. Don't wanna hijack it.

 

[OffTrac]

It's relevant to those who read this thread later and are considering V8 swap options. I originally thought I'd throw in the spare 351W I have from the parts Cougar and just go mechanical on everything. I came to the conclusion that I like modern technology.

PS. I am seriously considering propane. From what I'm watching, it's availability and increase in private use may likely skyrocket within this decade.