Body Swap 97 mountaineer with 95 explorer

[PARTSGURUT]

Call me glutton, but I have found a 97 Mountaineer with a rust free body and no motor or trans for $300 and my 95 explorer is rusted beyond what I would like to repair. So begins the change over.

In order to keep my auto climate control and 4wd transfer case, rather then the awd that came in the Mountaineer, I have decided that I will have to switch the dash and harness out. With the motor and trans swap and the dash and harnesses am I able to reuse the existing diffs or do I need to swap those too?

Are the gear ratio's front and rear the same on the awd vehicles? Am I going to have problems with these diffs with my transfer case? Do I need to swap fuel system or will the 5.0 stuff work with my 4.0?

Any suggestions are apreciated. Thanks.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

Contemplating timing set on the 4.0 OHV while I have it out, it has 296,000 miles on it. Anyone done there's yet? No parts store seem to stock them here.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

82 views and no responses. Nothing huh?

 

[snoranger]

Contemplating timing set on the 4.0 OHV while I have it out, it has 296,000 miles on it. Anyone done there's yet? No parts store seem to stock them here.

Your planning to swap a 300,000 mile 4.0l in!? I would think twice about that.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

I would too if the thing had ever given me a lick of problem. But it hasn't, runs great. I thought about buying another 5.0 for the Mountaineer but then I have to hunt down a trans to go with it. So I am just swapping what I have. There is nothing wrong with the ford other then the body is rusted out way past the point of repair being economically feasable.

 

[my98nnj]

5.0 to 4.0 as well? And almost 300K miles?

Your nuts, buy a different truck and part out what you have.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Did the Mountaieer have a clear title? If you switch the body you will have to title it as the Mountaineer.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

clear title and good body with a good windsheild too.

Question for everybody, the mountaineer has a sunroof and the auto mirror and my EB doesn't, what wiring do I need to transfer to keep these options?

 

[PARTSGURUT]

Cleaned the engine compartment of everything unneeded tonight. Dash is removed from the interior and seats are out. Tommorrow night begins the transfer from ford to merc. Hopefully I can find some answers on my wiring before I am ready for reinstall. If nothing else I will compare the harnesses directly and shake down what wires go to what.

 

[Rudy602]

I don't know about glutton but maybe naive or bored? - and I don't mean it in a bad way, either. That is so much work for a drivetrain with so many miles. How many miles on the '97? I'd be thinking about more than just a timing set at 300K, you know, everything works great untill it doesn't anymore. [What about that glass tranny?] You might be better off spending your money on body work and paint - or is it frame rust, too? That said, and since dreams are seldom practical, search for Cloyes timing sets on ebay or check Rock Auto or other online suppliers. You'll also need the timing tools. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[snoranger]

I don't know about glutton but maybe naive or bored? - and I don't mean it in a bad way, either. That is so much work for a drivetrain with so many miles. How many miles on the '97? I'd be thinking about more than just a timing set at 300K, you know, everything works great untill it doesn't anymore. [What about that glass tranny?] You might be better off spending your money on body work and paint - or is it frame rust, too? That said, and since dreams are seldom practical, search for Cloyes timing sets on ebay or check Rock Auto or other online suppliers. You'll also need the timing tools. Good luck and keep us posted.

There are no special timing tools on a OHV. Unless you count the cam sync tool, which you dont need if your just replacing the timing chain.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

I don't know about glutton but maybe naive or bored? - and I don't mean it in a bad way, either. That is so much work for a drivetrain with so many miles. How many miles on the '97? I'd be thinking about more than just a timing set at 300K, you know, everything works great untill it doesn't anymore. [What about that glass tranny?] You might be better off spending your money on body work and paint - or is it frame rust, too? That said, and since dreams are seldom practical, search for Cloyes timing sets on ebay or check Rock Auto or other online suppliers. You'll also need the timing tools. Good luck and keep us posted.

97 has 174000 on it, but I bought it less motor trans and transfer case. The body on the ford would cost more then a good used car by the time I replaced all the rust and repainted. I am only doing this because I picked the body up for $300 and it has a clean title. I can't repair the other body for that price.

 

[Rudy602]

You're right, I missed the "OHV" - I was thinking OHC since you have to pull the motor to do it and he was talking about doing it while it was out. I'd be even less inclined to drop in an OHV with that kind of mileage without having a look inside, who knows, maybe someone changed the oil every 2-3k and it's still got plenty left - but how likely is that? Way too much of a PITA to be doing it twice. I'd pull the dipstick and if the oil is black, it doesn't speak of longevity to me.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

Wiring is swapped, I found that the dash and underhood harness allowed me to have the automatic climate control and it powered the sunroof just fine and the auto lights from the mountaineer work without any problems. I did find however that the turn signal switch from the mountaineer did not work with the explorer dash. I had to change the switch, but that is easy. Trans and transfer case are 6 bolts from coming out and the motor will follow quickly.

Found that the brake lights and running lights do not work without the driver information center in the center console plugged in. That took me a minute to figure out.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

Engine swapped over last night with little trouble. I have a valve cover leak that will be fixed in short order but decided to leave things alone otherwise. If something happens down the road I will just 5.0 the thing and keep on going. I am saving the 5.0 harness and injection and have already started the search for a motor.

Looks like I will need to swap the front diff to gain the vacuum lockout rather then the all time front end the mountaineer has now. Hope to have her tagged and driving by the weekend.

 

[PARTSGURUT]

Well guys the swap is complete and the truck is drivable again. My props to ford, the wiring was a straight swap in and the 4wd transfer case has a small pigtail harness that the wiring was already there in the mountaineer. Plug and play.

Only problem I am having is the mountaineer, even though it has 120k less miles on it, has a clunk in the front end when you hit a bump. I am going to go back over the sway bar and ball joints tomorrow night.