Dreaming of one mean 4.0: The Build up - Creager's 1992 Sport

[Creager]

As much as I dream about v8 swaps, and the amount research I force myself to do, it’s almost like I can just tell myself, "I kind of know what I'm doing, I should just do it"

That’s simply bad hindsight,

I need something a tad closer to earth for me. Sure, a carbed 289/302 swap would be legal (as of Jan-01-06), and a much more fun/tad Reliable to drive. It would be awesome, but I've looked into the cost of this, not many old trucks with these drivelines kicking around, and the price of getting it up to snuff (rebuilding), it would of ended up spending twice as much as if I just rebuilt the 4.0

I wish to elude myself into the dream 4.0 owners everywhere has fantasized about. The illusion of your truck pulling 75-90mph, just as quick as it can go from 0-20mpg.

That’s where I lead you my friend

I don’t have concrete plan set as of the moment (...ok lets stop for a moment,) the only prior experience I have with any mechanical work is rebuilding/setting up differentials, replacing a transmission, and all the other little jick jacks.- Never once have I torn into a motor

I’ve researched, I know 80% of the parts under the hood by looks alone, and I’m familiar with about 90% of what to expect inside the block

ROOKIESHOOTER has come a long way to exposing me to the idea; I figured it was time to give his private messages a break

I just would like some opinions among the 4.0 crowd... please tell me what you think. My Budget is ended up being around $3000-3500, for the motor build.


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The Price Sheet... The final total after the finished build.

$300 - 2x Felpro gasket set
$30 - Ford Lower-intake gasket (metal, over Felpro's cork)
$40 - Felpro-PermaDry Valve-Cover Gaskets
$400 - Stage 2.5 heads/intake; CompCams dual valve *Mildly used
$30 - Felpro head bolts
$200 - 422 Comp cam *Forum classifieds special
$100 - Smithbros 5.525" pushrods
$250 - DeltaCams Rocker arms
$400 - Borla Headers & Y-pipe
$150 - Ford Lifters (new, not rebuilt) (Ebay Special)
$40 - Sealed Power Main Bearings
$30 - Sealed Power Rod Bearings
$25 - Sealed Power Cam Bearings
$180 - Sealed Power SOHC Pistons
$100 - Hastings Moly Rings
$60 - Melling Timing Set
$100 - Melling oil pump and Shaft
$60 - Ford 97TM water pump

~$2645 : Total before machine work

$130 : Heads milled, cleaned, and checked for leaks/cracks.
$20 - Hotbathed upper intake
$500

- Lower intake resurfaced, smoothed out the welds around the upper ports
- Block bored .030"
- Crank Magnafluxed, and polished
- Rotating assembly will be balanced.​

~$3295 : Total for the engine rebuild

I spend alteast another $1000 on other things, power steering, steering shaft, air conditioning, cooling system... All my prices were rounded, obviously i didnt include sales tax or the extra .99 cents retailers like to add onto the price =P All these prices are accurate within $100 or so.

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Some of you guys are probably wondering why I’m putting such a high cam on a truck I do wheel. All they thing I got to say, is the 4.0 is lacking something, no its not the torque and it necessarily isn’t power, its missing a wide array of an RPM range! A cam that allows me to utilize the 4.0 at 5k rpms safely will only complement the 4.56 with 32's. And later down the road the 33's

Well yes, this vehicle is my daily driver, and it looks its going to stay this way for a while. I plan on getting all the large/costly issues taken care off so in the future, I can start focusing more of my time on girls.... err I mean school.


Haha, I guess ill update this threads and pics as I go along



02/04/2006 - Radiator/fan/Compressor shroud is out, Working on AC condenser, didn’t realize I need a bunch of crazy tools.

07/14/2006 - IT RUNS!!!

 

[Ronin8002]

I'd say if you're going to do some things to your motor to make it more powerful, do them all at once. Sure your wallet might cry a little bit more that way, but it's better than having to have to tear it down again later to fix something else that's worn out. Also, if you don't go all out with your rebuild, you'll probably wish you had later in the quest for more power.

That being said, I'd go with your mods that add up to 1785. If you're going to get into changing rings, maybe you would want to throw some SOHC pistons in there for not a whole lot more money....they'll bump your compression ratio up to 10:1. Apparently the 422 cam loves higher compression and 10:1 would give you a nice increase in power.

Anyway at with all of those mods at that point you'd have a 4.0 with plenty of snap to it both down low and good pulling power all the way up to redline.

I'm not able to do anything else with my truck currently....but as far as future plans I will build a 10:1 compression nitrous 4.0 or an 8.0-8.5:1 turbo motor. Got a few years to save and plan for it at any rate.

 

[mrboyle]

You didn't mention it, but if you plan to go to the expence of tearing into the engine, I'd recomend replacing the bearings. That said, I'd also recomend having the rotating assembly ballanced. Most machine shops will do this for aprox. $100 and it is the best money you can spend on an engine rebuild.

 

[410Fortune]

the 4.0L is a pretty simple engine to tear down and assemble from what I have seen (only been a helper to date)
If you want to maximize the power you make from your new block with that cam and hardware don't skip the heads. Having the heads ported whether its a small smoothing and porting job or a complete valve job is where your $$$ is best spent IMO.

It sounds like you have a good plan!! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

[unclemeat]

If you decide to do it I hope you do a detailed write up, like with your gear swap. I have a 4.0 motor that I hydrolocked and I am planning on a rebuild.

 

[Creager]

Yes, im completely novice at engine building. Thats why you guys are here, haha. I have a little better plan now, i still havent bought most the parts i need. But i guess its better i dont, until i get the motor torn apart atleast

If you're going to get into changing rings, maybe you would want to throw some SOHC pistons in there for not a whole lot more money....they'll bump your compression ratio up to 10:1. Apparently the 422 cam loves higher compression and 10:1 would give you a nice increase in power.

Hrmm, the SOHC pistons work with the 92 heads? Shoot my heads might even be cracked, if so planned on a set of 93TM or 95TM heads. Would the higher compression help the loss in gas mileage from the overlap cam? What year SOHC pistons? Would using 95TM heads have the same effect as using SOHC pistons?

You didn't mention it, but if you plan to go to the expence of tearing into the engine, I'd recomend replacing the bearings. That said, I'd also recomend having the rotating assembly ballanced. Most machine shops will do this for aprox. $100 and it is the best money you can spend on an engine rebuild.

I guess i was hoping i wouldnt have to, but i guess in reality there would be no point in not replacing the bearings. Celevite 77? Is there any instance where it would actually be unwise to replace the bearings?


From here i just need to make a list of what machine work i should plan for, if indeed i dont need any excess machine work due to unaccountable reasons

1) Chemical baths for heads and block (RUST IN COOLING SYSTEM!)

2) Street/strip Port/Polish/GasketMatch for intake and heads

3) Valve job

4) Rotating assembly Balancing. Would the machine shop need the block already assembled with new parts for this? Or is this something they do with individual parts?

5) Is there anything else i should plan to have done at the machine shop?

 

[1IronMike]

Check with some machine shops in your area, most that I have seen hot tank (chem clean) the heads before they work on them. They may, for a bit more, put your block in too. Also talk to them and ask what they charge for ballancing your crank shaft, rods and pistons.
Remember, do it right the first time. If you do it half way, it will last only half as long.

 

[Ronin8002]

If you go with the 95TM heads and your current pistons then, yes, that will give you 10:1 compression also. Basically you're just going for slightly less volume, either in the combustion chamber or on the piston crown (i.e., SOHC pistons which are flat top, not dished like OHV pistons).

Not sure on the year for SOHC pistons but as far as I know all of them are flat top so my guess is that it doesn't matter.

I am not sure that there is much loss in mileage from using the 422 cam, but I do know that higher compression is supposed to increase your fuel efficiency at WOT and even more at part throttle.

As far as bearings, Sven Pruett recommends using Clevite 77 bearings like you mentioned. Here are the part #'s:

CB-723-P = Rod bearings
MS-860-P = Main bearings
SH-1441-S = Cam bearings

I don't think changing bearings is a bad idea. You might as well do it all right the first time so you don't have to tear it down again in another 30k miles to change out bearings you could have done now. I agree with IronMike.

As far as balancing....the machine shop does it with individual parts...i.e., the rods are weighed to figure out their weight and then the crank is spun on a balancing machine with weights representing the weight of each of the connecting rods. Then they either add weight or subtract it from the crankshaft to get it balanced right.

Short answer, they balance it when your motor is still in pieces.

 

[410Fortune]

the SOHC pistons would put you up alot higher then 10:1. I believe there was a guy here in CO, a member of RRORC perhaps. He had a 4.0L BII with "SOHC internals". I never did get a full story on that engine but apparently it was mean and ran on race gas only. At sea level it would be even worse.

Have you considered running a SOHC 4.0L with your OHV electronics?
I heard it can be done.
Talk about a power upgrade.

 

[Creager]

Have you considered running a SOHC 4.0L with your OHV electronics?
I heard it can be done.
Talk about a power upgrade.

Whooooa, reallly. This is something i need to research more about...

I guess i gotta tear into the motor to decide if its better to go with SOHC pistons or 95TM heads. MaximumViolence, thanks for the information man, i apperciate it. Once i get the block out, ill start getting pictures of how things look inside, hehe.

Would the SOHC pistons be too much with the 90TM heads?

So far i got most of everything labeled up. I still got the exhaust, tranny, and fuel lines to remove. But pretty much all the wires and hoses are labeled and out of the way.

 

[Ronin8002]

The guys on RPS who have done this a few times have told me that flat top pistons (i.e. SOHC) with the early model heads give you approx 10:1 Compression. If you keep the pistons but get the 95TM heads you're also looking at 10:1. Flat tops plus 95TM heads will get you in the 12:1 range.

10:1 is fine from what I understand as long as you feed it 93 Octane. Not boost friendly, but definitely nitrous friendly, especially with the 422 cam

Trev aka Racin' Ranger was making 200rwhp naturally aspirated with 10:1 compression, headers, P+P heads, and the 422 cam. He had a good tune, though.....used the SDS system.

His research also indicated that he reached nearly peak torque (96%!) at 1700RPM with his setup and it stayed above 200ftlbs until 4800rpm.

Check it out: http://members.shaw.ca/rangermates/

I don't know how involved an SOHC conversion using OHV wiring is, but I wouldn't want to do it

 

[410Fortune]

In March there is a 93 Sport getting a complete SOHC drivetrain rfom a 03 Edge with 5 speed using the 93 computer.

I believe Doug (of Bama) has a OHV computer on his blown SOHC
Apparently the SOHC has a one sensor difference in the computer over the OHV.
The camshaft position sensor, which is only used for starting by the PCM and the engine CAN be run without it = OHV sensors, PCM, and wiring on a SOHC 4.0L engine.
The oil pan will interfere with the TTB suspension so likey the OHV pan and pickup is required.

Now like I said we have not done this yet, but he has the Sport and the 03 Edge drivetrain, just waiting on the time to do the conversion, shooting for March.
None of this is confirmed, unless you get all the specs from Doug or anyone else who has done it.

 

[Glacier991]

The 4.0 has a nearly flat torque curve once you get to it at about 1500-1800RPM.

The bottom end (crank and seals and bearings etc) will need proper attention. Be sure and use plastigage during set up. next the heads will certainly need attention.... they are the weak link. Consider new valve guides or knurl the old ones. By all means use new lifters!!!!!!!

The 4.0 is a great engine. Just tend to it's weak areas on a rebuild. (heads mainly)

 

[Creager]

Thanks for the input Glacier; I need as much as possible! Haha.

My focus is to basically have a solid rebuild, with the 422 cam in the mix, hehe.

I haven’t much time to play on the internet; I got to get this sucker done!

Everything is ready to come out, just need to rent a hoist and an engine stand. I might rent a tranny jack, if it makes the job any less cumbersome.

Check out this quote from Bird on Ranger Power sports (by a thread you started Maximum haha)

flat tops + 95+ heads = 11.5-12:1 compression. Pre 95 pistons and 95+ heads are 10:1 and flattops and pre-95 heads are 10:1.

So what do you guys think? 10:1 compression streetable? hehe, i guess ill be running 93 octane, we'll see once i get inside this sucker.

 

[unpredictable1]

If STS Turbos would just make an Explorer kit, THAT would rock. I've emailed them on it but I don't think it'll go anywhere.

 

[unpredictable1]

Trev aka Racin' Ranger was making 200rwhp naturally aspirated with 10:1 compression, headers, P+P heads, and the 422 cam. He had a good tune, though.....used the SDS system.

I have to jump in here because I've been talking to Trev excessively through emails about my Explorer (he is local to me here) and I was asking the same thing about the SDS/ECU or whatever it was he upgraded (I'm talking about the upgrade over the stock computer) because I too am looking in the future, heads, cam etc. Here is the exact quote from him:

I'd leave the computer alone, the factory Ford ECU is a wonderful piece, I ran the stock programming with all of my mods for a couple years with great results. Going to a stand alone was mostly because I wanted to run boost, not because of drivability issues.

 

[Ronin8002]

So Creager I guess there you have it as far as 10:1 and streetability

I ran my truck with the 422 and 9:1 compression before the blower and had no issues associated with that.

It's just that if you're going to have the 422 you might as well up your compression or use a power adder to compliment the added lift and duration, IMO.

 

[Rhett]

I'll stick my nose in this thread just so I can keep tabs on it...all swaps and rebuilds interest me.

I second and third the people that said to replace the lifters when going thru an OHV. You might as well do the rings too, if you're going to tear it apart anyway.

Never heard of using OHV PCM with a SOHC, I'll have to study up on that one. hehe. I can't imagine how that could be better than using the PCM the SOHC was designed for, but then I am not in any knowledgeable position to argue that point

 

[410Fortune]

Rhett, better?
No
Time saving when doing a conversion? HUGE
No wiring to the truck to convert it to OBD-II.
I am talking SOHC into a first gen here, into a 95 its just as easy to bolt in a SOHC or a 5.0L if your truck came with a 4.0L OHV.

 

[Creager]

man if i had the money, id find a 5.0 explorer at auction, cut it up, and swap it in. But i think the rebuilding the 4.0 is better suited for my situation.

If i were to use the 95TM heads, what would need to go with it? Lower intake and fuel rail?