1992 explorer gets a solid axle and v8 5 speed

[Josh P]

I'm out driving right now and don't have any pictures with me.

 

[410Fortune]

Here is the one installed in my sport trax
This is the part I need or need to create

Here is one of the tires sitting in place
Will need a bit more lift then this hahaha 34” 12 ton jack stands can only get us so far

 

[allmyEXes]

I forgot to add that I cut out the aluminum with a jig saw using a fine-tooth metal blade.

 

[410Fortune]

Stepson found a 300i6 manual at the junk yard and snagged up the spacer for us. I traded him some shifter boots for a trans and t case for this part

Sometimes we win!

Now we need an engine to build for this sucker so I dragged out a good builder 302 from my collection, this is a good running take out from a 97

So I made a video of the tear down
This may come in handy for those looking for information about these explorer 302s and entertaining for those watching this build



Now im assembling the engine with a ton of new parts

Good engine block donor
Not much else will be used as this stuff has sat for who knows how long before I snagged it up

 

[bnbader]

Iya Terra in the background. Best engine rebuilding music! Lookin good.

 

[410Fortune]

There’s more hang tight dealing with storage issues on my phone
Stick figure, the Movement and pals get lots of playtime in my shop! Big fan of positive vibes

Yes I am about two weeks behind:

Had a flu bug come through, my Kid turned 16 and got his license plus a job, crazy…. And several emergency repairs have happened for us and my customers… springtime!!! Now working extra to try and catch up
So far I’ve been sick most of 2025!! What the heck, wife is sick now, but at least we don’t have to drive a teenager all over at all hours now we just worry as he drives himself!!!

I have always loved these warning stickers that come w suspension parts (and some of the warning stickers I have around the shop)

More parts are here awaiting my approval and install

Enginetech rebuild kit, comp cam, canton oil adapter and exhaust manifolds all front and center

We were gonna run these Dorman cast manifolds for the 98-01 explorer but since they rob us of power we can make (choke)
We have picked up these foxbody shorties

The shorty headers will require a small trim to the upper frame rail on passenger side
And these use a 2.5” ball flange where as the stock explorer pipes are 2.25” so…. Another round of parts on order

Picked up some new tools , a brush type hone for 4” bore, cam bearing install and removal tool, some plastigauge and a 4” bore ring compressor (not pictured)

5ea, New method wheels are here, 17x9, 5 on 5.5, -12mm offset!! Sick wheels

Superlift early bronco 6.5” lift coils, Dorman shock towers, Barnes adjustable coil
Buckets, Explorer rear lift shackles and skyjacker braided brake lines…. (Not pictured is a stainless 2.5” mandrel diy exhaust kit )
Now all added to the build pile

Let’s build the engine!

 

[410Fortune]

Been waiting on some comp cams valve springs I ordered about 6 weeks ago…
They seem to be in short supply, jegs listed them in stock but once I ordered it went to “ships directly from manufacture” I was told they will be here today…. But no tracking updates. In the meantime I’ve been grinding rivets and prepping the frame
Engine will get heads installed as soon as the springs arrive…. Welcome to my world!
Hang tight fingers crossed and all that b s

 

[410Fortune]

Found the reason for all the drama
Jegs issued me a credit on the comp Cam springs
They have been discontinued
Don’t you just love it when they claim a part is in stock and in fact it does not even exist and then they hold your money for a couple
Months? I know I do

So spoke w comp cams and ordered the springs directly
The new part number is 26987-16
They are shipping today direct from comp cams

Carry on!

 

[dvdswan]

Did you find those replacements or did Jegs offer them?

 

[410Fortune]

Jegs didn’t say a word except to issue me a “credit invoice” on the day that the springs were supposed to arrive
I had to contact jegs to find out what a “credit invoice” is and the reason for it… I mean it’s pretty obvious but you would think it would include some sort of explanation. The money will be back in my account in 3-5 business days lol.
Then I called comp cams and found the spring that superseded the old one and finally ordered a set
I also confirmed they will work with the retainers, locks, and seals that I already have

I prefer summit and speedway over jegs
I should have known better. Summit, speedway, amazon said “not available” jegs said “in stock” and so I pulled the trigger thinking I scored a set… nope

 

[dvdswan]

I like summit and speedway also. Jegs is last resort.

 

[Josh P]

Summit is great if you know exactly what you want to order.

 

[BKennedy]

Speedway is great if you want something fast. Most of my orders from them arrive within two days.

Get back to work!

 

[allmyEXes]

I'm guessing that you are going to trial fit the Fox body headers during the build? That would be nice if they would fit, even with some
slight frame notching and boxing. I'd already asked you about the aftermarket engine plates to Gen 2 stock engine block plates. I'm
curious about that too.
I know that some people fret about having to go from the 4.5" wheel pattern to 5.5". At least that is the older Ford F150 wheel bolt pattern
so, stock and aftermarket Ford truck pattern wheels are available new and used.

 

[410Fortune]

I have built a few ttb 5.0 trucks so I know how most things fit

The headers will require a notch in pass frame rail the top, like this

The drivers side is tight but will clear

I can manipulate the steel engine mount plates as needed for oil pan and header clearances
The engine and trans test fit will happen as soon as the valve springs arrive
I’m prepping the frame for the new suspension goodies
Next two weeks will see huge progress
Even when I’m not working on the truck I’m researching and getting all ducks in a row.. you know how it is, I eat sleep and live with my projects… daily puzzles to solve

Pics are of My buddy’s 94 5.0 explorer his build thread is right here

Poor Man’s RZR build

In the fall of 2017 the state transportation department decided to use salt on the highways instead of sand. My daily driver is a ‘71 F250 4x4 with a Cummins that I am slowly fixing up. Driving it in the salt would destroy any progress I could make. So I decided to buy a salt eater beater. Forum...

www.explorerforum.com

Thanks Scott!!

The pcm tuning is happening now, we are deleting the auto trans functions, the egr and the cat monitor 02 sensors from a factory pcm. @allmyEXes is my helper for that magic to happen, making a copy of my 03 sport trax pcm

 

[BKennedy]

The wheel pattern on on the new axle should be 5x5.5. The C-clip eliminator kit for the 8.8 has both the 5x4.5 and 5x5.5 pattern holes in the axle flanges. As a bonus, it's 1" wider per side, which gets the rear axle to an inch narrower than the early Bronco D44 front, which is 3" wider than the TTB.

 

[410Fortune]

Thank you! Yes we are setup for 5 on 5.5 both front and back
5 new method wheels here are the larger f150, fsb, rest of the world, 5 on 5.5 bolt circle

Friend of mine is running same 37 kantai tires they do well on and off road. He is using 12 oz of bird shot to balance them

Really looking forward to completing this rig!!!

 

[410Fortune]

So we have had some Major delays!
I’m in a Holding pattern waiting on machine shop

So as you know I am refreshing the 5.0
Engine with all new bearings and some new pistons.
First thing to do after the engine is stripped down is to hone the cylinder walls
This went very well! This engine is in very good condition

The hone is done in two stages, first with a flat stone cylinder hone which makes sure the cylinders are still round, the flat stones will expose any low spots… which we have none (good news)

Drill is set on low speed and about half throttle is used. The clutch on my dewalt drill was set to 5 so that if you dive too deep with the hone it will stop on any ridges at the bottom of the cylinder jug. Each cylinder is given the same amount of strokes and time… basically I counted to 25, one second equals a full stroke up and down. The hone and cylinders were cleaned after each session. Cylinder walls coated in diesel oil as was the hone. Each cylinder got two sessions. This engine is in excellent condition I did not notice any higher or low spots in any cylinders … an indication that this engine was well kept, they must have done regular oil changes!

Before

During

After

Now to get a good set of crosshatching, so the new rings have a good surface for break in.. out comes the ball hone. Now that the flat stone has ensured our cylinders are still cylinder shape, the Ball hone is great for final smoothing and crosshatching.

Again, I counted to 15 this time (15’strokws per cyl, clean, oil repeat. X2)
Each cylinder same exact routine, heavy on the oil, light on the throttle, same pattern x 8
The Cylinder and hone were cleaned after each hole

All done and extremely happy with the results

Now it’s time to install the new cam bearings. A simple cam bearings install tool was used, with steep learning curve, first used to remove the old ones and then press in the new

 

[410Fortune]

Old Cam bearings removed one at a time. The rear cam freeze plug was first popped out of its hole, this gives clearance for the tool to grab and pull the rearmost cam bearing

After all the old bearings are out the block is cleaned and cleaned some more. All oil
Passages cleared and the cam hearing bores wiped clean (lint free rag and alcohol)
Time to press in the new bearings. Careful here it is very easy to screw up

You can see this Allen wrench fits the oil notch perfectly. So if it fits in the hole without catching any edges then you know you have the bearing pressed to the correct depth. Cam and crank bearings are installed dry

The bearings are marked and pressed in so the oiling holes line up with the block. A small Allen wrench is used to check the clearances. The Allen wrench can tell you if things are centered properly because you cannot see in there.

Whoops installing the 4th bearing the tool slipped inside the bearing and destroyed it

Great!


Here is cam bearing 4, completely destroyed by botch install… whoops

The Dura bond bearings pictured here are the replacements. More delays waiting for parts!!
After I screwed up one, I had to order a new set. So I ordered these ones and they are coated, a slight upgrade. So we started over again.. and realizing I needed to use a different adapter ring on the install tool.. the second time around install went perfectly smooth

Finally happy with the cam bearings, the stock cam was used to check runout and bearing locations.. we are good to go

 

[410Fortune]

Now time for the crank bearings, crankshaft and then press the new wrist pins into the pistons and through the connecting rods

Crankshaft journals were cleaned with scotch brite and engine oil

Crankshaft bearings cleaned, oil passages cleared, new bearings pressed in… crank and bearings oiled with assembly
Lube. Crank and bearings cleaned caps installed and torqued to 68 ft
Lbs in 3 stages. Crank is in!

Don’t forget to clean and prep the are under the rearmost main cap, it gets a dab of permatex so oil does not seep
Past the rear main seal

Crank in
Time for connecting rods

The old pistons and pins were removed on the 20 ton shop press. New engine tech hyperutectic pistons are balanced with their perspective pins. The connecting rods are heated gently with map gas while the pins were put in the freezer

The very first piston i
Tried was the last one… the pin went in 3/4 of the way and stopped dead. Here is where I got stuck. Now I do not have the correct fixture to support the connecting rod while the wrist pin is pressed. So after much debate I enlisted the help of a local
Machine shop to finish the wrist pin install.
Now that was 3 weeks ago. I was finally told yesterday that they will be done this week.
So I have been waiting!

While waiting I turned my attention to the

Sob!! Not enough heat and the first pin did not go smoothly… an engine shop has a connecting rod forge they would use to get this exactly correct. Now with the pin 3/4 the way in I am screwed

So on the truck side of things I have plenty of work to do. I needed to cut all the rivets holding the stock coil buckets and beam pivot brackets to the frame.

The 1992 wiring harness was cleaned and stripped down to bare wires, many connections labeled so I can begin to remove the old and grapht in the new obd2 5.0 pcm functions

The rear axle was also removed and prepped, we are installing the “super 8.8” c clip Eliminator kit as well as refreshed arb locker and new Yukon 5.13 gear set

Meanwhile I am working on getting a tuned pcm for this build.