1992 explorer gets a solid axle and v8 5 speed

[410Fortune]

The plan for a pcm is rather simple, I need a 5.0 pcm for a 3 wire cam synchro with the auto transmission functions removed. I already have one! My daily driven sport Trac has a 5.0 and 5 speed, no egr and no downstream 02 sensors. Plan is to Make a copy (or two) of this pcm, save hundreds in tuning a custom one. So the pcm from my daily driver was packed up and shipped to my buddy in Georgia so he can make a copy. Thanks Greg! (@allmyEXes)
Turns out this is a bit more Complex then we had intended, as the 96-97 pre pats pcm is not that easy to write to. It takes special
Equipment that can burn a chip for the 96-97.5 pcm. Greg was able to copy my pcm
Bin file and save it, now he has taken upon himself to burn our chips! Greg ordered the hardware and chips needed to burn chips for us! Greg was nice enough to turn my pcm around quickly and ship it back to be so I can have my daily driver. We sent 4 computers back and forth along with some super awesome bbq hot sauces from
Georgia!! Thanks Greg yummy

All that and a bag of grits!

So now we wait for the machine shop to finish the pistons. I continue to prep the truck

This truck was to be completed about a week ago now, I am about 1-2 months behind… it’s been a crazy winter and spring. Having pneumonia definitely did not help. I still have a ton of pics to process, I wanted to get this update posted while I had some time. Oh and to top it all off my dad picked up a new elevator job / fun project for a friend… so even though we are “retired” I got called into work for a few weeks hahaha we are working on the future of elevators… we are doing g some traffic studies for a friend with a startup Business ( in on the ground Floor you could say) the elevators of the future have no ropes and no counterweight…. Lookup TKE “multi” or the hyperlyft product for any of you who are interested in what the future of tall buildings and elevators will look like

Stay tuned!!

 

[dvdswan]

Nice. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see complete.

 

[DintDobbs]

This is a marvelous project and we appreciate every step that you share!

 

[410Fortune]

Allright it took a bit but I finally got the right person on the line to help me and I now have hung pistons

Took some time off last week to hang with the family, it was nice to have a break! There is a reason why I try to do everything in house…
Good help is hard to get!

The shop I had them at called last week and said they just can’t seem to get to my wrist pins because some big jobs landed and they are already at capacity (overtime).
So I drove down there and picked up our pistons and rods. Back to square one. Interesting thing is they did finish pressing the first pin for me and they marked all the pistons and rods.. then apparently they ran out of time? Ah well it was nice of them to try and help me out.. they are a local shop and not exactly an engine builder.. we are still friends lol

So once again I needed an engine shop
I called quite a few places around Spokane
Most engine shops up here don’t answer and they don’t call you back for stuff like this… I get it, they are 2 years out around here! Like I said good help is hard to find

I finally found the right dude.. he just answers the phone “hello?” I knew right away this was my guy.. who wouldn’t want to make $100 cash for 30 min worth of work.
Good ol guy with a complete engine shop at his house and only 45 minute drive for me
So now I finally have connecting rods installed on the new pistons = this weekend I can put the engine together
The best part is I now have a engine guy for when I’m ready to build myself a 331 or maybe 400 stroker
He has been building engines since I was 5
He is well equipped and well qualified!!!


He has an actual piston pin oress with all the otc adapters
He also had a connecting rod “fordge” for heating the rods as well as the piston jig that ensures the pins are pressed and centered at proper depth
I don’t have any of that
Without the proper tools pressing wrist pins is best done by a pro. Heating the rod too much with a torch can harm them. And pressing the pins into the piston will deform the piston if you do not have the correct fixtures to hold the rod and allow the piston to float.


While this has been going on I have taken a head dive into the wiring
And my buddy Greg is burning us a chip for our pcm

The pieces are coming together

This is a 1992 explorer under hood wiring harness… complete

Stripped all the conduit and factory tape off

Save the good stuff to be re used

Now step one is to remove a few things from this wiring harness
The 92 v6 eec-iv pcm is for sure not needed

Except I will want to put the v8 pcm in this same spot. So looking forward I know I can keep a few of the wires that come from the truck side of things, like ignition power, ground, fuel pump control, tach signal, etc
So being my crafty self I left those wires in place. I will be extending thr v8 PCM wires to reach this location. So the remaining wires are labeled left to live right where they were put in 92.

PCM plug cut off, remaining wires labeled

The ignition module, under hood obd1 diagnostics port, pcm pigtail and all wiring that went from truck and pcm to engine is cut out

 

[410Fortune]

Now I have a stripped down wiring harness that plugs into the 92, But is lacking all drivetrain connections

Now to grapht the 5.0 wiring in place

 

[allmyEXes]

The forum technical issue has popped up again. I sometimes don't get notifications for threads that I'm watching.
I know that Jamie is currently working on this project, but I had to scan down a list of recent post to see that he had made more posts.
Actually, I'm in way north Alabama about 4 miles south of the Tennessee line. Jamie only missed it by one state, lol.
This past Monday, AT&T discontinued the feature or service that was allowing me to send pictures from a text to email then be able to save and post to threads and such. Maybe Jamie has a minute to post the pics of the J3 chip programmer and chips that I sent him earlier in the week.
I have now started using the word program because these newer technology chips are re-writable. So, you can program the chip then later if you make changes to your pcms "bin file" also referred to as the tune, the chip can be re-written.
I have two more tests before I send him a package with the chips and a '98 pcm with PATS switched off. A test yesterday failed on the '98 pcm. It turns out that I had a "bum" PATS off program and I'm glad that I have the ability to verify that the changes have taken place or not.
I'm able to test the chips for the '97 because Jamie let me keep here a '97 pcm that even though it has "bad part" written inside, it will still start the "test" vehicle allowing me to verify the chips programming is good. I haven't had a bit of trouble with the "new" chips or programming device.
The '98 pcm situation was a separate deal. Later, I'm going to go do a re-test on that one pcm.
Forgive the no pics, I feel like I'm back where I started here in 2016 when I didn't have the ability to add pictures.
@Rick, also my spell check feature is not working but that may be a problem on my end.
ADDED 8:05 a.m. central time: The '98 pcm passed the PATS off test!

Jamie Edit:
Pics added to this post! What did I say Georgia? - thanks again Greg you are awesome! I need these chips! It gives me the ability to Build 5.0 w the manual!!

 

[allmyEXes]

@410Fortune Thanks for adding the pics for me.
Forward progress, looking good!

 

[410Fortune]

Gapping rings
Stock bore is 4.0”
Enginetech carbon steel rings come pre gapped

Math goes like this 0.004” x bore = top ring gap
0.0045 (I use 0.005) x bore = 2nd ring

So results are 0.016” top ring and 0.020” lower ring

Now I know a thing or two about piston rings, after all I am a certified YouTube mechanic
We want to use a larger lower ring just slightly because it keeps from building pressure between the rings which tries to push the top ring out if it’s groove
The minimum for a small Block naturally aspirated is +0.003” difference, in my shop, (based on extensive research)

Larger is better here, too small of a gap and your engine will not survive

I checked each ring in two separate bores,
1” down in the bore
Sure enough the enginetech rings were bang on… 0.015 - 0.017 on the top ring and 0.018 pretty much each lower ring.

I filed them a bit larger then that
My results are 0.018 for the top ring and 0.022 for the lower

Each ring measured before, during and after hand filing
Actual came out to be 0.018-.019” top and 0.021-.022” lower. I’m happy

All 8 top oil rings came out at 0.016” pretty much… way to go Enginetech!

Jewelers File clamped in vise

Hand filed until they measure 0.018”, then deburred. By the time you do all 8 you can count how many seconds each ring needs the file…

No burrs!!! We need these rings to easily
Float in their grooves.. rings rotate as the engine runs

All done
Now lots of cleaning was done and finally the pistons dropped into their bores

 

[410Fortune]

Okay! Finally some updates on this project! It’s been a crazy summer so far, I’m finally getting a handle on things
So I’m back on this 92 determined to complete it

First up the custom tuned pcm chip arrived from Greg @allmyEXes
This chip when plugged into a 96-97.5 5.0 explorer pcm will emulate my sport trac pcm. This basically updates the bin file to be a 97 gt40p engine with 3 wire cam sensor, no auto trans functions (5 speed!) no egr and no downstream 02 sensors
Can’t wait to try them! I am going to test the chips in my 03 sport trax since they are a copy of its computer
Currently my sport trax engine is apart… but that’s another thread

So thank you Greg, hopefully we will be testing chips this week or next

Now back to our 302!
Pistons were “ringed” and installed

I had no issues carefully installing rings.
I was sure to rotate each set of rings so the gaps do not line up. There is no reason to “properly gap” piston rings. As soon as the engine fires up they begin to rotate… people spend waaaaaaaaaay too much time “gapping” rings
Just a simple rotation

All rod bearing surfaces cleaned
All rod bearings installed dry on backside
Fuel line is put over the studs of each connecting rod
Pistons and bearings lightly lubed

 

[410Fortune]

I picked up the correct 4.0” bore piston ring compressor since I do a lot of 302makes installing the pistons straightforward

Shop is a disaster… lots going on! It has been cleaned quite a bit since these pics were taken lol

Alex the shop cat stopped in to say hello. She’s like 9 miles of bad road, poor thing is 18 years young,’older then my son! She’s got bad hips, her eyes are going, her fur is a mess and her skin is so fragile we can’t shave her anymore. She tangled with a fox years ago and walks w a limp. She is the last of her litter, we had her 2 brothers and her sister… good kitty she has a good life now. Fancy feast daily

Pistons dropped in one at a time with the crank set in the lowest position, carefully lined up. Rod bearing caps oiled installed
Motor oil is fine for assembly here

All 8 in their jugs
Rod caps instqlled, all rod bolts torqued, in stages, to 36 ft lbs I think it was

 

[410Fortune]

Cam and timing time!

I love this icon “dial type” torque wrench very good for the $$$ ($99 on sale)

ALWAYS check your cam actual grind matches the box it came in


Cam bearings were blown clean for final time
Cam lobes and bearing journals heavily lubed with engine assembly goo

 

[410Fortune]

Cam in
Cam retainer installed
Bolts get 9 ft lbs

Melling double roller timing set installed
Cyl 1 is at tdc
The keyway in the crank lines up the crank gear, cam gear and chain installed w the dots “lined up”

Cam gear bolt gets red loctite and torqued to 45 ft lbs

Now to clean and prep the next set of parts
Timing cover and Lower intake
Old front main seal pressed out

I need timing cover and front seal installed before I could do the oil pump and new dual sump mustang oil pan and pickup

 

[DintDobbs]

Progress, progress!

Why does every good shop have a cat with an epic story? Alex looks super healthy for her age!

 

[Josh P]

Progress, progress!

Why does every good shop have a cat with an epic story? Alex looks super healthy for her age!

Cause life needs war stories.

 

[MrQ]

I'm still having issues with what I think is the timing on my 5.0 with XE264 cam. Power is down and it sucks fuel.

It looks here like you used stock mechanical timing @ 10* BTDC? Are you going with a tune specifically for this cam?

 

[410Fortune]

No tuning

The cam is mild and the stock pcm can easily adjust for it

Did you change the stock valve springs? What is your setup?
I have setup and running 3 of these cams in stock 5.0 right now all perform great. No tunes no fueling mods
Stock lifters pushrods and rocker arms
Comp cam with comp cam springs retainers and valve seals
Timing is set like stock with the piston 1 at tdc I am pointed at 0 on the balancer

Does your oil smell of gas? Maybe a stick injector?

This cam definitely wakes the stock explorer 302 up.. and it sounds *****in. All of my trucks have headers and exhaust as well as modded airbox and intake spacer… otherwise bone stock aside from the cam

 

[97Sandbox]

I need to hop over to the first gen threads more often. This one is great!

Jamie, boy am I glad you realized the 4.2 flywheel is no-go for the 302...I almost made that mistake on my Mounty M5R2 swap.

Keep up the good work!