347 RE-Power 1996 Limited AWD | Page 9 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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347 RE-Power 1996 Limited AWD

As things are getting closer and closer thought I would update.

Started late last year, reading posts and asking questions. I decided to go ahead to drop in a built 347 into my 1996 explorer which has over 300,000km (almost 190,000 miles) on it. The truck still runs great BTW, and has been in the family since new and its been in my hands since last Oct.

First impulse was a cheap 1996 complete 1996 5.0L Explorer motor on fleabay. Shipped it to the engine builder to use as a donor.

It is a 347 built by Fordstrokers with a custom cam from Camshaft Innovations.

- Scat rotating assembly
- Mahle pistons
-Trick flow fast as cast 190cc heads
- comp gold rockers
- trick flow Track Heat intake.
- Torque Monster Headers built with the correct exhaust flange.

Other items of note
- 1" phenolic spacer
- 70mm accufab throttle body with modified throttle arm
- 30lb injectors
- 255lbs/hr fuel pump
- re-use the explorer intake elbow 70mm dia.
- black trick flow valve covers
- utilize some of my MAC intake

Supporting items
- 75mm Prom M MAF (Henson Performance)
- Wideband 02 sensor (Henson Performance)
- tuning (Henson)

Other to-do's
- exhaust will be re-done from the headers to cat back with mandrel bent tubing and new cats. Larger mandrel bent intake tubing to match larger diameter of MAF and TB.




This motor is being bolted to a Lentech 4R70W with 2600RPM 11.5" stall converter.

I'd like to thank many people for advice and tips but especially Don - CDW6212R for pointing me in the right direction with Fordstrokers and equally important was providing me with a custom made 28oz balancer with the explorer timing ring machined and pinned on there.

2010man for selling me his 1994 Mustang Cobra OEM crank pulley. This part is not made by ford anymore and has the same diameter of the explorer pulley but bolts to the custom 28oz balancer that Don sent me.

Also Turdle and tmsoko for answering some questions.

here it is at the engine builder


here it is at my shop, patiently waiting. mocked up driver's side header and intake.


Here is a used 70mm accufab throttle body next to a stock explorer 65mm TB. I modified the arm on the TB to match the location of the stock explorer linkage so both the throttle and cruise cables/linkages with match up.


I will post more updates as they come.:thumbsup:
 



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See if you can still buy the front inner fender aprons. I got them a long time ago for about $15 each from Ford. They look much better when new(pitch black).
 



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Thanks for the tip Don, I put a nice coat of black Krylon Fusion on mine which turned out great. Combine that with gap gaurds from performance accesories and it looks good as new.

So today I went to get tires, turns out they won't fit due to UCA clearance and sway bar clearance. I was aware of rubbing the front swaybar with my 265/65R17's and I also saw that it was close to the upper control arm. A few days ago I had already ordered a set of wheel spacers and thought I could at least get the tires mounted and install the spacers when they came in. I guess I was too hopeful.

Was really excited about getting tires done today, but i'll have to wait a bit longer. The guy from the tire shop was asking me questions about my truck. He liked what I had done to it. I guess you don't see or hear a 1996 Explorer like that everyday. haha
 






Very good, and did you have the alignment done with the old tires/wheels? If the clearance is too little with the tires you want, it may take a different wheel to get it to clear. What kind of spacer did you buy, and is that going to be enough?

My spacers are 1/4", and with these aftermarket wheels, there isn't enough threads left in the back to use the spacers. These wheels are thicker at the lug nut/hub area, just a bit too much. I have longer studs in the front, so that I could use the spacers, and the wheels.
 






No I didn't get the alignment done it seemed like a waste of time right now. All that was done was an oil change. I got spacers from http://www.wheelspacers.ca . I called them up and they make them to order right on site in Canada with quality components. Unlike those cheap eBay Chinese ones. The spacers I ordered are 1.25" thick so stud length is not an issue as they come with studs of their own. I should be safe with 1.25". I am going to put them on the rear as well. I also noticed that my drivers rear tire was rubbing the sheathing on the e-brake cable. I have tied back the cable but those goodyear duratracs have an aggressive sidewall tread making a wide tire even wider.

Just heading out to the garage to start the 4406 swap. Wish me luck. Probably be a late night.
 






Tcase in

It was a late night as I predicted. Got the tcase in. What a beast bench pressing it in with the tank and front tank bracket in place and my magnaflow cats in the way. Had to abort first attempt. Luckily I have exhaust band clamps just forward of my cats that I loosened and slid forward so I could push my cats out of the way. 2nd attempt at bench pressing the 4406 worked:thumbsup:

I can see why the body lift helps for this swap. Next I will get the gas tank down so I can trim the plastic shield. The plastic shield on the tank should have been cut first to clear the tail of the tcase before installing the tcase The front gas tank bracket bending went good with heat and the bracket clamped to a table then bend over with big pipe wrench. Took 10 minutes for that step. It clears first try. I also need to cut off two more tabs on the passenger side of the tcase for cat clearance.

I think it looks good after that........ famous last words. ;)

Access to top 2 bolts of tcase
accesstotcaseboltsandlinkage.jpg


top 2 bolts removed. lots of room in there with the body lift. I also took this as an opportunity to remove the top 2 front driveshaft bolts from here.
removingtoptcasebolts.jpg


BW4404 removed
BW4404caseout2.jpg


I've seen a few of these comparison pictures of old and new, but they never get old.
BW4406comparedtoBW4404.jpg

BW4404onleftBW4406onright.jpg


Front gas tank bracket bent over. can't get a good shot on your back 3" away. haha
gastankbracketbentoverforclearance.jpg


BW4406 in!! I used RTV and the paper gasket to seal the tcase and tranny mounting surface.
BW4406installed.jpg



Good night.
 






congrats! you dont really think that case is that big till you lay em side by side then reality kicks in! and heavy, like really! i was lucky in two ways when i did mine. i had a gutted case that i did mock up with, then when it came time to put it in, the truck was on a lift. even still, holding it with both hands and lifting up in place was not enjoyable. do me a favor. when you have it all buttoned up and take it for a drive, post up if you have vibrations or not. i cant figure out why i have a vibration in mine even with a DC front drive shaft in.
 












Well done. I should get on mine sometime this decade.

What else do you need to trim from the BW4406, you mentioned on the right side? I trimmed the left tabs I recall posted about from Aaron's thread.

For that rubbing parking brake cable, R&R the left rearend strut rod. Move the cable to the inside of the rod while you have it out, then the rod protects the cable from the tire.
 






Well done. I should get on mine sometime this decade.

What else do you need to trim from the BW4406, you mentioned on the right side? I trimmed the left tabs I recall posted about from Aaron's thread.

For that rubbing parking brake cable, R&R the left rearend strut rod. Move the cable to the inside of the rod while you have it out, then the rod protects the cable from the tire.

Thanks a lot. I'm going to call you out to get yours done soon.:salute:

I trimmed tabs on both sides of the case while it was on the work bench flat. I didn't realize or factor how much the case is "clocked" over when in its finally position. So in other words I trimmed tabs off that were not necessary and left the one that was. The one in question is right where my exhaust runs. Thankfully a quick cut with the reciprocating saw with get me the clearance I need for the exhaust then Bolt the band clamps back on and I can check that off the list. The. Get the tank down further to hack away at the plastic shield with a 90* die grinder and cut wheel. Thankfully I ran my tank empty before I started.

I really like your idea on the parking brake re-routing. Have to give it a try.

I would like to go work on it now, but i am looking after the kiddies as my wife is out. Might get to work on it late tonight after hockey. Depends how many beer I have....:bdrunk:
 


















BW4406 Completed

Had a little set back with the linkage. Found out I had to get a different shift linkage. Once I got it today I was able to finish and finally put my interior back once and for all. Hooked up the indicator lights and they work too. Test drive went great, low range works, got into and out of low range from neutral and fully stopped.

Here is inner boot installed. I re-curved the inner boot to contour the explorer trans tunnel. Drilled into the sheetmetal and tapped M6 x 1.00 threads. Once I had all four holes drilled and tapped I put a ring of foam tape just inside the perimeter to seal it up. Also drilled a large hole for the transfer case shift indicator wires in the cover plate on the trans tunnel. It has the wire loom covering.
shifterinnerboot3.jpg


Outter boot on. trimmed some of the plastic base so it sits tighter to the console. I'm happy with how it turned out. Due to the fact I have a body lift and the shifter sits lower in the cab, I trimmed about 3/4" off the shift knob so it didn't crush the rubber boot too much.
shifterboot1.jpg

shifterboot2.jpg

shifterboot3.jpg

shifterboot5.jpg


Next Tuesday is tire time.
 












:thumbsup: Any report on vibrations from that front drive shaft? I read on here on other threads that the F150 front d-shaft causes some vibrations on the highway due to it not having a double cardan u-joint at the T-case. I went with a stock explorer front d-shaft and used an adapter to make it hook to the 4406. The adapter adds about an extra inch of length which helps out a lot. I've put over 2,000 miles on mine now and no vibrations.. Just a thought if you end up having problems.

If you're worried about strength of the double cardan and/ or the stock front d-shaft, rest assured its up to the task.. I'm putting out around 400 crank hp and have done 4x4 racing lauches with no problems.. knock on wood..
 












Thanks guys ! No vibrations to report yet. I havn't had any chance for highway speeds yet. I will report back in a few days or if something else comes up. I had some concerns of my leg hitting that shifter while driving and its really not bad at all. I have enjoyed on a few occasions of laying rubber, especially when I know new tires are going on next week.

ahodges - I will keep that in mind if vibrations become an issue. I have read a number of vibration issues regarding 4406 swaps and that concerned me. I had taken both driveshafts to a driveline shop to be balanced with new U-joints. Hoping that is good enough and I never have to go back to the driveline shop. I wonder how many people who have had vibration problems didn't get the shafts balanced? That is a rhetorical question, doesn't matter.
 






Wow you guys (ford99 1979 ahodges vroomzoomboom cdw6212r turtle boominxplorer ect) are my heroes :dpchug: im trying to catch up with mine but I just got the wife a 99 mounty and already started playing with it and my buddy's wife just blew up her 03 sohc and he's working out west so I gotta take care of that but at least I can get a little fix watching you guys:D
 






as for vibration, i still have it in mine, even after getting a new(er) driveshaft made, and blanaced.

IMG_1255_Large_.jpg


however, i am also wondering if the run out on it is too much.

DSC09844.jpg
 






So Tim, just to confirm you had a old shaft rebuilt with double cardan on the tcase end and balanced and it still vibrates?

By run out you mean the slip joint is extended too much?

Driveline shop should know how to make a shaft the right length. If I remember correctley the measurement from the tcase flange to the u-joint saddle mount was about 33.625". Actually it was 33.5" measuring to the bottom of the tcase flange and 33.75" to the top of the tcase flange.
 



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Stupid question but are the front yoke and t case flange on the same plane? Perpendicular and parallel? Cause that can cause problems
 






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