CHIEF Is Almost a 302!!!!!! 91 XLT SAS In the process of 302 and T-5 Swap!!

[Chief34]

Well, I have been through the ringer and called and talked to the smog refs. They specifically told me I could put this into my truck. Basically they just want you to keep the engine in its original state, as far as smog goes. IE; what ever smog equipment it had in the car has to stay with it in the truck. ALSO, in California only, the engine has to be from the same year vehicle or newer. They basically inspect the vehicle changes after it is finished to make sure you have included all the standard smog equipment that came with it then they test it as if it were the year and vehicle that you tell them it was from. If all is well it passes smog. Then they put a certification sticker in the door telling the regular smog station what data to enter when they smog it and that it has been verified. This allows you to take it to a regular smog station in the future.

On the other hand I took some of the engine apart and it had a piston that was melted. It basically came apart from the rod wich was still intact with the wrist pin. The block is cracked of course and the sleeve in that cylinder was ruined, but to my amazment the valves were perfectly fine, which was what I originally thought the problem stemed from. I still havent figured out why that piston broke like that, for no apperant reason.

 

[azexplorer4by]

RE: broken piston

hey there

Sorry to hear about your luck..

Since you didn't have a clue who drove it and how they took care of it before you got it.. I'll lend a little insight. I have raced many ford SB and the main thing to keep in mind is don't like cheap gas, period!!! It is kind of common place that too many revs on an overly hot engine, with cheap gas can cause serious detonation problems. This many times leads to hairline fractures in the pistons that at a laterdate can lead to a total piston decinigration.. That would be my theory anyways..

Kevin

 

[pgrey]

Chief,

I know all about the California smog folks and their requirements. My Volvo is legal and has the sticker. I was asking about whether a "car" engine and smog equipment is OK to use as a transplant into a "truck", since the reverse is not OK as per CARB. IOW, one could not legally transplant an Explorer 5.0 engine and emmisions equipment into a car of the same year. The requirements for cars and trucks are different. Since the car requirements are more stringent, I was wondering if CARB told you that "Car into Truck" was OK. Was the 5.0 available in a truck from '91 on?


BTW, California is not the only state that requires the transplant engine to be of the same year or later. There are a couple of folks on the V8 Volvo board who've done transplants in other states that have the saem requiurement.

Have you gone to the referee yet? I had to go to two. The first declared my car non-compliant when I told him that I bent one of the primaries on the CARB legal headers I'd used in order to provide clearance. I was smart enough not to tell them about the stroker, and the heads, and the cam, etc... Some of these guys have NO common sense and/or consider their job to be ruining your day. The second guy I took the car to deemed the Volvo a "neat piece" and passed it with no problem. A word to the wise; never confess to anything that's not stock.

The biggest issue I faced was the cat con configuration. The stock Mustang had four small ones and I had one big one. The car passed the emmisions test fine but the rules explaining exhaust configuration are hazy. One source said that my car required the configuration of the the donor engine, another wanted the configuration of the car into which the motor was installed. Be prepared to answer the question with authority if the refs ask. Having some documentation or the phone number of someone at CARB will help. They just want to be able to refer to something or someone is authority if their bosses ask.

I did all this four years ago and maybe life has gotten easier since then.

Peter

 

[Chief34]

Well, I have been through the ringer and called and talked to the smog refs. They specifically told me I could put this into my truck. Basically they just want you to keep the engine in its original state, as far as smog goes. IE; what ever smog equipment it had in the car has to stay with it in the truck.

Like I said, They told me I could so deductive reasoning would say that YES you can put a car motor in a truck just not vica versa. Explorer's did not come with v8 until '96. And to answer your other question, the ref told me that I did NOT have to put the 4 cats that came on the mustang onto my truck. He infact said that I could use the original equiment that came on my truck if I wanted or make my own as long as it was at least what the truck had to begin with. Ie; a catalitic convertor and a muffler. The reasoning is that smog laws are not as stringent on trucks as cars.

 

[Nitrous SSC]

This thread is freaking huge!...I started reading it from page 1 at 11:49PM...its now 12:31AM...

Good Luck with the truck!!

oh btw....just a quick question....how come you decided to go wtih a T-5 instead of a Tremec 3550 thats much stronger? especialy with the strain you'll be putting on it with the large tires/wheeling...

 

[Chief34]

Well,
Thats a good question. The answer is My truck is four wheel drive and the T-5 "Worlds" tranny is the only one that Advance Adapter currently makes an adapter for. I might change it later, if I have to many problems. I would like to put an Atlas T-case in it anyway

 

[NOTAJP]

Originally posted by Chief34
Well,
Thats a good question. The answer is My truck is four wheel drive and the T-5 "Worlds" tranny is the only one that Advance Adapter currently makes an adapter for. I might change it later, if I have to many problems. I would like to put an Atlas T-case in it anyway

Actually they have the NV3550 and NV4500 available. I'm getting very tempted now...

 

[pgrey]

If yoiu do have problems with your T5 and want to keep it, see if you can upgrade to the T5-Z internals. The "World Class" T5 is rated for - I believe - 300 ft/lbs and the Z is good for 30 ft'lbs more. As I said, 1st and 5th are the weak points on these gear boxes. If you're on the highway and need to accelerate, shift to 4th. That'll help. Also, if the terrain allows you to shift into second gear while in low range that'd be a good thing to do too.

T5's sure shift nice though. My Tremec is much less smooth. Good luck.

BTW, I just had a thought. I'm assuming you got the ECU for a Mustang with a manual transmission? The last time I had mine smogged, I had to do the rolling dyno thing where a computer mismatch will show up.

Peter

 

[Chief34]

NOTAJP,
They didnt have that when I bought mine. Are you sure that allows the use of the stock T-case though? I dont think it does. I wanted to retain my borg warner T-case because It is easier and I could keep my electronic shift button on the dash in use. Also it is a strong
T-case to boot.

PGREY,
Yes I did get the "standard" ECU. Thanks. Also, If I have a problem I will upgrade the tranny. They make hardened gears for it and Advance Adapters included better 3rd and 5th gears in the adapter kit so I think it is actually stronger than the stock configuration already. This was a nice touch because they lowered the "5th" or overdrive gear, to compensate for people who are running larger size tires. That way you can actually use fifth gear. That was a great thing they did.

 

[mhn3773]

so when are u looking at getting the motor rebuilt? did u decide to stroke it??

sry if i missed the answers...try to keep up with this lol =)

 

[Chief34]

Hello everybody,
I am hard at work on the truck now. So far I have stripped all the accesories of the engine and completely prepped it for removal. It is completely un-bolted and ready. All I have to do is get the bobcat home to pull it out.

Problems still faced with.....
1) Crossmember is in the way of front driveshaft full downtravel.
2) Not satisfied with header locations.
3) Seems that the hydraulic throwout bearing I bought is leaking at the fittings.
4) need to swap the engine for rebuilt longblock.
5) Lowe Radiator outlet doesent come out at a very good angle in relation to the power steering pump pulley.

Solutions....
1) I fixed the crossmember, had to modify it to move it back a little bit and I notched it and re-enforced it where the front driveshaft droops down.
2) I am thinking of heating and bending the headers a bit or maybe making custom ones.
3) I called McCleoud and the tech says that, " They had to change design of the bearings because some were leaking and I need to send it in so they can swap it out for a new one."
4) Order the longblock... not to big of a deal.
5) I am taking the RAD to a shop to get the lower outlet cut off and re-welded in a downward , angled fashion to accomadate better the lower radiator hose without any interference with the powere steering pump.

I'll get some pics soon and it should'nt be much longer at all!

 

[Nitrous SSC]

also I forgot to mention....you could always use a G-force gear set in your T-5 if the World class set goes...

as for the T-5z....I killed one in 1 weekend...they arn't really a buffer T-5...

 

[Chief34]

Well long time no talk, I am back to work on this project. Sory for the delay to anyone who needs info to help them with a swap they are doing. I got the radiator out and I am taking it to the shop tomorrow to get it modified a little bit. I also got the engine out, finally, I should be picking up the new engine and dropping it back in shortly. Wish me luck... Ill get some pics tomorrow too.
-Tim

 

[Nitrous SSC]

May the mustang and explorer gods bless you with good luck!

Definatly keep us updated!

 

[Chief34]

Thanks.... I need all the help and luck I can get!

I got my parts stripped of the old motor today, All but the timing cover because I need to borrow a Harmonic balancer puller, to get those two final things of the engine. Everything is close. I'll try to get some pics on here tomorrow.
-Tim

 

[Chief34]

Ok IT IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I got the new longblock in it and Drove it to the exhaust shop! everything went great this time and I should be getting it back in a few days. I WILL BE AT TIERRA DEL SOL!!!!

Ok now I have been getting some questoins about the fuel lines. so I will try to clear that up right now....

 

[huskyfan23]

Congratulations!

 

[Chief34]

Thanks Husky...

Here is some fuel line info......

The fuel rails are stock. The two hard lines that connect to the fuel rails with " Ford quick Connects" go down the passenger side of the engine and stop with two more "quick connects". I cut those off right there, staggered to make room for the AN fittings. Right here are two " Hard Line to hose end" AN fittings.

 

[Chief34]

These feed and return lines follow the engine crossmember to the driver side frame rail where they continue toward the fuel tank on the inside of the driver side frame rail.... This looks like it is touching the oil pan, but it is not , for anyone who was wondering.

 

[Chief34]

So after the lines go down the frame rail they meet the stock lines coming from the tank. I cut these lines off behind the stock fuel filter where they are hard lines.here is 2 more "hard line to hose end" fittings. On the FEED line there is an inline filter installed.