daily driver project

[mikeinri]

Hey cybergasm, thanks for that picture. Someone finally made a Tahoe look like a TRUCK, as opposed to a giant station wagon!!! I would love to see an Excursion lifted like that!

Mike

 

[UKExploder]

Why not just put a new set of heads on your 'new' Explorer?......why go to all the work of a complete engine swap? Is there something special about the other engine? I'm just confused why you would want to do so much more work......

 

[410Fortune]

is one full day really that much work? I can yank an OHV 4.0L in 3-4 hours myself....some people like to pull engines

 

[UKExploder]

Hell, just put a piece of plexi-glass on your old explorer and fix window you are talking about and drive it! That's what I'd do.... Unless it just wouldn't be pretty enough for you that way.......hahaha....

 

[R.J.]

haha hmm.. plexy glass, as long as i don't get a ticket then maybe.

i wanted to swap them cause i didn't think it ws really that hard. i didn't see why the work and money of fixing one engine when i have a perfectly good engine with less miles in the other car. and then it would suck to do the work of fixing the black engine just to have the tranny go out :/

i thought i could take a few days and swap both engine adn trans and have a reliable drive train that i know the history of and a good body.

am i talking crazy, cause no one seems to get it and it doesn't seem that hard to me to swap them, just need the equipment adn some who knows what they're doin

the engine is good and the tranny is recently been rebuilt in the white

the black??? i don't know anything about

 

[FROADER]

I would love to see an Excursion lifted like that!

Mike

Come to SoCal, they are all over the place.

 

[410Fortune]

what do you plan to do about the 2wd and 4x4 issue?

It is alot of work to do this, but it can be done.
If you plan to trash the white truck after you can make things ALOT easier on yourself by cutting out th eradiator core support, it will allow you to pull the engine and trans as a single unit.

You need to make some decisions before you turn a wrench though.....
the white truck is 2wd the black is 4x4, the tailhousing on your good transmission is for a 2wd

 

[R.J.]

so you can't take them out as a unit unless you cut? damn it

if i cut to get them out as a unit on the white, i won't be able to put them in as a unit in the black?

as far as 4x4 goes, i could car less. i have a 4x4 for offraoding, this one is just an onraoder to get me to work and back.

 

[R.J.]

Hey cybergasm, thanks for that picture. Someone finally made a Tahoe look like a TRUCK, as opposed to a giant station wagon!!! I would love to see an Excursion lifted like that!

Mike

seriously they're everywhere! over here, anywhere i look i can see one lifted as high as humanly possible on like 39's with twenty inch rims and the shinyest parts you can find

 

[410Fortune]

you are missing the point.

Your black truck has a 4x4 front end

You can leave it in place and not use it, that is true (leaves alot of moving parts and un sprung weight for a 2wd, you cannot run the d side beam without the diff attached, the diff is a structural part of that beam)
Or
You can remove it and replace it with the 2wd front end from the white truck

Either way you have some work to do and decisions to make regarding this.

No you cannot install them as one unit, you will have to seperate the trans from the engine.

Have you researched any of this? you may be in over your head already?
from the pictures and your plans I assumed you were used to doing this sort of thing

 

[R.J.]

nah i don't know anything about it, i just like to get dirty and take thinigs apart

in over my head? i guess thats one way to put it. to me its just work adn time. the more "over my head it is" the more time it will take, but its all pretty much things i could figure out.

but for time and easyness, i think im gonna replace the head gasket and drive it how it is for a while, but i plan on swapping trannys eventualy.

and i would put the whole 2x4 drive train on, front end, rear end trans, drive shaft

 

[410Fortune]

cool

Nothing wrong with tackling big projects, that is how I got to here.

Your 2wd transmission must be completely dis assembled and re-assembled in order to use the 4x4 output shaft and tailhousing, just FYI this is the biggest obstacle

 

[R.J.]

pfffff!!!!!

ok, 2wd it is

hey then i can get a cool autofab econo 4" lift

 

[410Fortune]

4wd is ALWAYS better in the sand then 2wd
Anyone who says different is 2wd

 

[R.J.]

ehem, i have a wannabe prerunner 4x4.

like i said, this is JUST a street truck. a/t's and a little lift would be just to make it look cooler. if im gonna drive it around all the time and try to get chicks, why not just make it look cool? but i am DONE offroading my dd. i've had way to much dmage done to my old truck from offroading it. which is pretty dumb, because me and my uncle have the navajo we built just for offroading

 

[mikeinri]

Sorry if I missed this, but what year is the black truck? The white is 92, correct?

The reason I ask is, there were changes made between some of the years to the wiring harness, sensors and computer. You'd have to do some searching of this forum, but just be aware that to change motors, you might have to also change the other stuff.

Mostly, this was for emissions, so I think you could also get away with changing just the block, etc. which sounds like more work than it's worth. it has been covered here though.

Mike

 

[R.J.]

black=91

white=92

looks like i most likly won't be changing the blocks, just fixing the one thats in it right now

 

[Murgatroy]

If you are set on swapping the 'good' 2WD drivetrain into the 4WD chassis and swapping it over to 2ED in the process, as mentioned, you would want to use the entire suspension assembly as well. This would remove all the 4WD components from the black truck and give you the drivetrain you would trust more.

I am not trying to be cruel, but if splitting the transmission from the engine scares you, this is going to be way over your head. It is basically an unbolt and rebolt affair. As for the wiring issues mentioned, as long as you reuse the sensors for the motor in the black truck, the donor engine from the white truck should go right in without a hitch.

If you find a Chilton's it should show you an exploded view of the 2WD and 4WD front suspension, memorize it and utilize it like a set of instruction for a model car. It is the easiest way I can imagine to give advice on how to do it.

If you are going to reuse the rear end from the 2WD truck as well, it will most likely eliminate the need for a new driveshaft. If the tranny and engine mounts are in different locations, you might not be able to use the 2WD driveshaft. The 4WD driveshaft is going to be too short, as it was made to run from a transfer case to a rear end.

My advice would be to fix the head gasket on the 4WD, and if you are that set on keeping the engine and transmission, find a 2WD to swap it into.

 

[R.J.]

splitting the engine and tranny doesn't scare me at all, it just seems to make more sense to me now to keep the original engine in the black and swap trans and 2wd into it. i don't know much about swaping engine's and transmissions, but i know about the suspension on an explorer. i own a 2wd and a 4wd, i have books on both, and have taken both apart several times. i've taken the 4wd front end apart and back together more times then i can remember (probably like most of you on here) and i've taken the front end apart on my 2wd before too (replace axle pivots, r/a brackets, lift springs)

thanks for all the help from all of you though

 

[cybergasm]

Hell, just put a piece of plexi-glass on your old explorer and fix window you are talking about and drive it! That's what I'd do.... Unless it just wouldn't be pretty enough for you that way.......hahaha....

It's not about the looks over here it about slightly over zealous cops who like to bust you for the silliest things. I was driving yesterday to go pick up my rear bumper for my Explorer and i got stopped for having a taillight out(no ticket tho just a warning) I know someone else from here who got stopped for no front plate yesterday too: So oh yeah RJ would defintly get stopped for having that busted windshield Cops here love busted front windshields.