Crank Bolt pattern, 6/8?

[Wrath]

Does anyone know when Ford made the transition between 6 bolt and 8 bolt on the crank output of the 4 liter V6 overhead valve engine? Did they go from 6 to 8, or 8 to 6? I recently replaced my engine and had a devil of a time finding one with the eight bolt pattern I needed to bolt up to my flywheel, and it got me thinking if I ever modify my engine that I'll need to know what year to specify. My Explorer is a 98 2-door sport with a 5-speed.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

The switch was made from 6 bolts to 8 bolts in 97', according to Engine re builder mag.
Rebuilding The Ford 4.0L Pushrod V6 - Engine Builder Magazine

 

[Wrath]

Aha! So that guy was trying to sell me a 95 or older as a 98 engine! Thanks!

 

[ashleyroachclip]

Is far as I know , only the Cobra , and manual trans Mach 1 had the 8 bolt crank .
Everything from the rest of the 4.6 engine family will bolt to it .

 

[410Fortune]

He is talking about the 4.0L OHV V6
They switched from 6 bolts to 8 so that both engines could use the same flywheel. The switch happened the same year as the SOHC 4.0L came out, with you guessed it, an 8 bolt crank.
Nice part about a 4.0L OHV with an 8 bolt crank is it makes it very easy to run a larger SOHC clutch in a ohv engine

 

[Wrath]

That is very useful info! There's a kit I found to turn my 4.0 OHV into a 4.3 stroker. A bigger clutch would be a good idea for sure, assuming it'll still fit in the bell housing of my 5 speed.