03 fliptrac $700 daily driver (summer of fun with 4 sport tracs)

[410Fortune]

No
I have Fords
That's the dude/company that bought the ranger
My shop truck is a 1997 F350 crew cab flatbed 4wd with 7.3 and 5 speed
I have reverse shackle kit, superduty leafs, 35" tires, 4.10 gears, 6.0 intercooler, swamps fuel injection, heated and cooled Lincoln seats, a crane in the bed and tons of cool upgrades..... I am not the new dodge type although that is a really nice setup, those new trucks, well they don't have wing windows

I also have a 7.3 excursion and a 7.3 van

 

[oklagp1200r]

Okay then! I have always referred that a Dodge is nothing but a rebuilt Ford! LOL

 

[97Sandbox]

This is a luk clutch for a 2001 f150 w the 4.2l v6. To my surprise it is much larger than the one that came off the truck…. New hydraulics included as well. Will have flywheel surfaced in town
View attachment 442720
View attachment 442721
I am glad to see it fits the flywheel and the bellhousing, was worried for a moment. This is my first 5.0 to 5 speed in a rbv

Late to the party here, but I wanted to jump in on this. I've read that folks typically use the clutch and flywheel for a '96 5.0/M5R2 F150 in this swap -- maybe that's why the two clutches you have are so different. If the 4.2 clutch works and it has more surface area, then it sounds like an upgrade though! Please keep us posted if you run into any issues once the whole system is in-place, as I'm likely buying a clutch for my 5.0/M5R2 swap in the near future.

Also, if it's not too late to get some measurements for where the trans crossmember was sectioned and how much the mounting surface was lowered, I'd certainly appreciate that info too!

 

[410Fortune]

Not too late the engine is not in yet it is still being assembled and the body lift going on

As soon as I got the clutch I verified:
Pressure plate bolts to flywheel
Pressure plate fits inside m5od
Alignment tool fits the old clutch driven disc
New pilot bearing is correct dia for back of 302
I have not bolted everything up yet but from what I see I believe it will work
It better I would hate to return this sucker! Lol
Flywheel is being surfaced today
I believe this is a 10.1 Luk clutch if it fits the 4.2 it should fit the 5.0
Same bellhousing! The only thing that may or may not work is the pilot bearing but I think it will
Press right in.
As soon as the engine is off the stand we will find out

Jasper 306 reman w 18,000 miles on it. Comp energy cam and valve springs have been installed
I pulled the obx headers and engine mount plates off the “donor” 302 from the black trac
Also new anchor engine mounts for
2000 v8 explorer installed
3 wire cam sensor (96-97) soaking in Mobil one

Won’t be long now

3ea 5.0 conversions in the shop 03, 05 and 07

Shop is a little crowded w projects and parts but we are making huge progress these days
Working 6am to 10 and night daily

 

[410Fortune]

Fitting obx headers not easy, clearances even tighter then tmh had to get fancy

First a few pics of the Jasper engine I am “refreshing”

Flexplate was removed,
Can’t wait to install flywheel and clutch

I will only use these gaskets to seal manifolds/headers to a 5.0

Drivers on

 

[410Fortune]

Two spots on drivers header where regular 3/8” hex head bolts will fit, but you have to install them together meaning tighten each a little at a time and then follow up with the other 6 fasteners, I am using Allen screw 3/8” chrome w lock washers

This is why you use remflex gaskets m

Wrench access

Passenger side is worse there are 3
Spots where Allen screw nor regular
Bolt will fit, with tmh you can make regular bolts work by tightening them all down evenly, with these obx there simply is not enough room for the bolt to go it. So studs with lock nuts were used in 3 locations

Again things must be tightened together so all 3 lock nuts will rotate and tighten as the header moves closer to the head

Absolutely no way to get a bolt in this hole

Again look at the remflex gaskets conform to the mating surfaces! I love these things

Both sides on.
Oil pan and valve cover felpro gaskets on
Next I mounted the engine plates and oil filter Mount

Crank balancer cleaned oil filter mount cleaned fuel rail and injectors, thermostat housing go on next

 

[410Fortune]

Balancer installed engine rotated cyl 1 tdc compression then cam synchro installed. I’m using a 3 wire sensor (96-97) because that is what my computer is for 97.5 pcm

Pcm has been flashed to remove auto trans functions and catalyst monitor 02 sensors
Too bad they didn’t delete the egr also!

Piston 1 tdc

Synchro stabbed with alignment tool

Next round of parts

Crank sensor also installed
Now injectors and fuel rail

Cleaned

Bench tested x8

Installed. Thermo housing and heater water manifold also cleaned painted and installed
Bypass hose installed engine is now ready to be dropped in

Attention to detail
Factory fuel cap and seal

 

[410Fortune]

She’s in but now comes another key moment, actually bolting the engine down to the mounts with the headers in place… rather tricky
Lucky I have done this a time or two lol
Cannot wait to bolt in flywheel and clutch then 5 speed!!! Prove this setup will work with the 4.2 clutch

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i never noticed before that they have ev6 injectors! this just about stopped me dead with my truck today.

 

[410Fortune]

The 99-01 does
96-98 with the orange injectors are ev1 I believe
I will have to change them out my wiring connectors are for the 96-98 orange injectors

. I snag the connectors off all of the bad sohc engines around here lol this sport trac is returnless fuel so I’m running the white injectors which are ev6

 

[410Fortune]

Sold a sport trac! Our friend came in to town, we built this truck for him to use daily
2001 trac sat for 9 years
Now she’s back on the road
My buddy fixed the body damage to the bed and painted the bedside
Came out really nice!

05 sohc runs fantastic

 

[410Fortune]

the $700 truck body lift is happening now
Was able to remove the bed and front bumper /fascia
All body mount bolts removed
One bed bolt snapped
The two rearmost cab mounts were a *****! Was able to remove one the other snapped
Body was lifted about 4” with the 2 post lift, allowing me to replace all body mounts and add the 2” body lift

Have to cut the threaded part off the factory “shims”

This will make exhaust work and 5.0 install much easier

For a 2003 in such good condition it’s crazy to find all the factory mounts deteriorated!
Bad batch?

This things gonna be *****in!

 

[Josh P]

The rotted mounts seem to be a very common complaint.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good job, the body mounts are often hell to remove, the rear two especially. I have a little looseness in the right side front of my 98, I need to look at the mounts as well as the suspension bolts.

BTW, have you ever had a steering column shift mechanism fail internally at the ignition switch, the plastic drive part? I had fun with that on my 98 today leaving to my route. The key turns in the cylinder with no resistance at any point. It wouldn't start and I couldn't see enough of the shifter parts(bolts) to tell what was wrong. So I scrounged a 1/4" socket set and removed the covers under the column, then the plastic cover with a Phillips. I could tell the bushing was worn out, it was down out of the bracket. But the damage was deeper and I couldn't see anything without removing more.

So I got help to go buy a Torx bit set, and took off the ignition switch. The yellow plastic piece deep in the shift mechanism was visible at the top and below at the switch slot. But it didn't move below when the shifter was moved. I chose to drive it like that with the ignition switch hanging down. I managed to only shut the engine off about four times during the day, normally might be 40. I'll probably rob the column shifter guts from my Mountaineer, and buy new ones to put back in that. Both need the shifter shaft and tube anyway(plus bushings), so it's something needed anyway due to age. It was over 92* today, I was out then from 11:30AM to 4:20, I was wet all day.

 

[410Fortune]

Hard work pays off!!
I have had days like that and yes I have hd to rebuild ignition switches a couple of times over the years, both in first gens

The lubrication grease just breaks down
Over time and then with that kind of use (40 starts a day!) it’s only a matter of time

Today I managed to finish the body mounts and 2” lift! Wooohooo
Then I finally installed the metal shield, the surfaces flywheel the luk pilot bearing and the luk 4.2 clutch
Shortly after we stabbed the m5od-r2
The transmission I used came from a 03 f150 I had to drill out the hole to accept the 5.0
Bellhousing bolts
5 speed is in

On the lift for clutch and trans Install

I have two m5od-r2 in the shop I chose to use the one in the right which is from a 03 4.2 truck
I had to drill out 6 bellhousing holes to fit the 5.0 hardware

New luk slave and t/o bearing

Stabbed

 

[410Fortune]

Tons of room

Starter and exhaust are next
Looks like the larger 4.2 clutch is a go

 

[CDW6212R]

Nice work, and great pictures.

How big are those later fuel tanks, are they still 22 gallons? If they are, being plastic are they also the same short length as the older Sport tanks, and the 1st gen 4dr plastic tanks? I still have my old 93 Limited tank I was and could install with the later top section from a spare 99 tank I got for the pump ages ago. Those can bolt in with 2nd gen Sport tank skid plates and mounts. The later tanks(Ranger or Sport Trac) might be a decent swap for the steel tanks of 95-01's.

 

[410Fortune]

Correct! I was shocked when I was able to put 21 gallons into the sport trax after being only able to stuff 16 into rangers and gen iis
Mock up of crossmember

You can see the lowered portion of the crossmember to help clear the 5 speed
With this f150
Mount it fits nicely, there is plenty of clearance
I am still going to have to modify it some

 

[97Sandbox]

Awesome progress!

If I'm clear, you have a 5.0 flywheel and a 4.2 clutch -- I suppose you'll put in a 5.0 starter then?

Which generation f150 is the poly trans mount for? Maybe the m5r2 mounts are the same 92-96 and 97-03? I've never checked.

Any way to compare to a stock trans crossmember to know what height needs to be chopped out for the m5r2 to sit right?

Thanks for documenting this all. I'm looking forward to doing the same level of documentation but for 2wd once I find a 302 for my Sport.

 

[410Fortune]

I will measure th crossmember vs a stock one

Trans mount is for a 96 f150 with aod I usually use these for converting v8 trucks to 4406 transfer case, I just happen to have one here in the box and it looks like it matches what came with my truck.

The trans and t case I have came from a 97 f150 5.0, and it came with what I believe to be a 97 f150 5.0 clutch

The clutch I bought is for a 04 f150 with a 4.2
I figured they have the same bellhousing so the same flywheel size and I was right. The clutch is much larger than the 95/97 f150 clutch it came with. Bolts to the same flywheel uses the same starter as a 95/97 f150

I am putting the starter exhaust and t case in now