2002 4.0 auto to M50d-r1

[Goose7810]

Hey all,
New to the forum as a member but have been reading for years. Love it. Anyway, my girl (02 4.0 XLT 2WD) rolled 200,000 this year and was promoted from daily driver to weekend warrior. Since I can now be without her for a while now it's time for an overhaul. Before I ask, I know the common answer around here is cut your losses and find one in better shape. But I've had my Ex since day 1 and am emotionally invested.

I'm looking to put a brand new motor in, swap the 5speed auto for the M50D-R1 HD, and convert to 4x4. I found a donor 02' with the trans and 4x4 and presumably most everything I would need for the conversion, but am not quite skilled enough to take this on alone. Firstly, does anyone have any experience/advice that could help move this project along? And second, can someone in the Louisville,KY area recommend someone who would take this project on that you have had success with? Thanks for any input.

 

[mendy]

the amount of money this would cost in labor alone would be phenomenal.
Use the donor car and fix it up

 

[2Trux]

If the donor running gear is in good shape the first step might be to swap bodies. You keep your "lover truck" but now have 4x4. You now have your original engine to rebuild and can start researching the manual trans swap (the hard part). Since you have a donor you will have all the switches/wiring/relays/ECM that are needed for the 4x4 functions.

As a side note paying others to do this type of work will turn your XXL wallet into a S wallet. If this is truly your desire I would suggest getting another DD and taking the time to learn how to do this on your own. The bonus is saved cash and knowing that it is your work that modded it.