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

[Creager]

haha, i knew you were out there somewhere 410!

Yeah ive been hesitant towards the higher compression, but since im using 90/93TM heads, the compression doesnt raise that much. 9:3:1 to 10:1. The 91-94 pistons have a 'small dish' design, so going with flattops doesnt change too much.

10:1, which is still steetable with 93 octane. hahah, so aslong as gas prices stay around $1.99 im straight! haha yeah, i've researched the crap out of that idea, BIRD (doug904's head man) on RPS swears up and down 10:1. Ill take his word for it, the guy does (or used to) build these things for a living. SOHC pistions + 95TM (or 98TM) gives you upward 12:1 compression. My ported heads are 90/93TM design.

Well see, i guess the worse that can happen is i have to run $3.99 a gallon gas... and ill be telling myself, "shoulda gone with the v8 they said." hahah

 

[410Fortune]

been in your shoes, went 5.0L, but the trans had alot to do with my decision

 

[Creager]

i'm not big on automatics, if i was an A4LD fan id probably gone the same route you have. If this 5-speed blows up, maybe ill look into a c4/c5 hybrid, maybe a M5R1HD, but if i can adapt a t-5, that would be prefered. If this 5-speed blows up, consider this build up a success, haha. But with only 15k miles on it, i hope it will last a lil while. The M5 might not be as weak as we all think, according to people on RPS the M5 is prefered for what im trying to do. C4 is next in line.

Bascially, i'm want a v6 with v8 power (doesnt everybody?). If i put this much effort/time/money/parts into a v8, imagin the possibilities. But the v6 is lighter, and even with 10:1 compression and an overlap cam, its still possible to get 15+ miles per gallon... well see on that

If the tranny blows, i know i did something right. And im out another $750, but atleast the 5-speed is cheap compared to an A4LD. ($750 to $2000... hrmm)

 

[Ronin8002]

Cast aluminum heads? hmm, an easy way to tell would be to see if one of those heads is lighter.

I wish my explorer had come with a manual. Not that I dislike my 700r4 but since I miss shifting I think I may install a reverse pattern full manual valvebody with a ratcheting floor shifter so I CAN shift it....without a clutch too

Don't forget that with this setup that you're doing, if you get hungry for more power, the 10:1 compression/422 cam/ported head/header combo is great for nitrous.....couple of guys on RPS run that setup and it works great!

Looks exciting...can't wait to hear what you think about the results!

James

 

[Creager]

haha nitrous. If i did that i'd have to go to homedepot, put some wood in the back, and race civcs. One guy was claiming 300 hp at the wheels with this setup and nitrous. But I dont think im going to go that far, or alteast at the momment i dont think so, heheh.

I like that colecraft intake you got, very clean looking. Is that something they sell regularly? or is custom?

Welp, im outta here, on my way to wilmington. See yall in a couple days when i finally get this show on the road.

 

[Ronin8002]

The colecraft intake is something that he plans on making with some regularity...only problem is he is so busy that he hasn't made any production copies yet....I bought the prototype from him after he blew his motor. So, as of now, it's custom, but he has all the specs to make more.

 

[Creager]

New pictures:

So, im kind of confused on this one. if you look closely at the water-holes in these head gaskets, you will notice that maybe 25% of them are complelety blocked with sluge/rust. I was having a problem with the engine running cold before this, something isnt adding up...

1) 66.666% clogged

2) 33.333% Clogged

3) On a different note, look at the cylinderwalls in this picture. Thats the factory cross-hatching! 200k miles, believe it or not. and the last 100k were definatly the hardest haha. i mean, i dogg this sucker around.

 

[inh]

man.. when i pull my engine to put on new heads (which i have yet to find, because i dont want to pay $800 fro stock ones so if you know a place to get heads lemme know please..) along with all new vavletrain (410 cam, delta rockers, new springs and pushrods) i hope i dont have to do anything to the bottom end... i drive the thing pretty hard and its got.. 154k on it.. :/

 

[Creager]

1) Heres a pic of everything comming off, im going to paint most of it. I just gotta make sure to stay away from the sealing surfaces =)

2) I think i might hit use the wirewheel on the valve covers and oilpan seal surfaces to clean up all the rust/old gasket, but im afriad it might take too much meterial off. Freegin steel wool wasnt getting everything, haha and i wanna get IT ALL!

3) I got my heads back from the machine shop yesterday, unfortunally they were warped .. HAHA BY TEN-THOUSANDS OF AN INCH! Warped my ass =) here they look nice and cleaned up

4) I took the liberty to paint of the valve covers, im gonna paint the valve covers, the heads, the oil pain, and the transfercase red. The rest is going a combination of grey and black. The only thing thats going to be grey is probably the short block and the transmission. The rest shal be black.

5) Oh, and my pilot bearing? maybe this is why i was getting so much noise in my driveline...

more pics later...

 

[Creager]

man.. when i pull my engine to put on new heads (which i have yet to find, because i dont want to pay $800 fro stock ones so if you know a place to get heads lemme know please..) along with all new vavletrain (410 cam, delta rockers, new springs and pushrods) i hope i dont have to do anything to the bottom end... i drive the thing pretty hard and its got.. 154k on it.. :/

Alabama cylinder head. They use the MHALE (SP?) castings, which are FAR superior to the factory castings... $800 is WAY high for stock ones. $400 is what alabama quoted me... for fresh rebuilt ones.

MaximumViolence runs 422 cam, ported heads, and the VORTEC supercharger on his stock bottom end. As by the way mine looks, i wouldnt need to replace much either. Of course you would need to examin it, but if you take good care of your 4.0, dont be surprised if the bottom end looks like the day it came out of the factory

 

[inh]

i emailed them but never got a response. ah well guess ill try again, thanks creager

 

[Creager]

Ebay even had some decent deals on heads. To be honest, jsut get yours rebuilt when you take em off

I got my new ones cleaned, milled, new valve seats, and seals... $130. That might be even kind of expensive... i dunno i liked the shop and the guy doing the work.

 

[inh]

I have an inkling my head is cracked... hence the full spead ahead charge to just buy new ones, plus i cant really have the engine outta my truck for that long. im hoping to swap in all the new stuff over a (long) weekend

 

[410Fortune]

The bottom end on the 4.0L should be good for well over 200K miles, they are stout. This is assuming it was never overheated and routine maintenence was kept up.
I have seen 4.0L blocks opened up after 250K miles you can still see the factory hone marks on the cylinder walls.

VERY reliable workhorse of an engine the 4.0L is.

 

[Creager]

The new cast-iron heads should definatly benefit over the cast-aluminum ones that came with my truck.

Hopefully that the bore's are still within spec so i can use the SOHC pistons without overboring. The SOHC pistons are a TAD smaller then the OHV pistons, so might need to overbore anyway.

EDIT: I think my information is wrong, according to Federal Mogual, SOHC pistons and OHV pistons are the same boresize. So i might not overbore afterall, just hone... if i can


92' OHV piston

3.9527 Bore Inches
100.4mm Bore MM
1.441 Compression Distance
.9447 Pin Diameter
.001 @ 2.31" from top of head Minimum Clearance
.040" Pin Offset
1-1.60mm Ring 1
1-1.75mm Ring 2
1-3.50mm Ring 3




97' SOHC piston

3.9527 Bore Inches
100.4mm Bore MM
1.452 Compression Distance
.9447 Pin Diameter
.0007 @ 2.16" from top of head Minimum Clearance
.040" Pin Offset
1-1.60mm Ring 1
1-1.75mm Ring 2
1-3.50mm Ring 3

 

[inh]

hey creager, not sure if you mentioned this, but what are you doing abotu lifters? New ones? Reusing stock ones? I want to replace the ones in mine when i do the top end replacement, but napa wants $41 a piece for them :X and i havent been able to find aftermarket ones

 

[inh]

oh and hey while im at it, where did youfind the clevite pistons, rings, and bearings? Also, where did you find the transfercase overhaul kit? thanks creager

 

[EMG7895]

When you get to installing/ removing the rear main seal can you post some pictures and tips, also for dropping and replacing the tranny. Im doing mine this summer and that would be a huge help. If you need anything out of the service manual let me know.

 

[Creager]

Yes, the lifters are rediculously expensive... to the point where im not buying new ones =) My stockers are in prestine conditoin, but im going to have my local machine shop rebuild them for me for less then a hundred bucks. All the aftermarket companies cost closely the same price. Ebay has a set of lifters going for 90 bucks, rebuilt.

The clevite pistons, rings, and bearings i found at advanced auto, which coincedently had the best prices. Actually, you can probably find the pistons cheaper, but i havent found anywhere else that sells clevite for the same price as federal mogul (Sealed power/pro power/Felpro), most people sell clevite for mucho more expensive.

Check out this link for dropping the 5-speed tranny http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107024

 

[inh]

only thing about rebuilt lifters is i read its not a goo didea due to small channels in the lifters that are nearly impossible to get clean... thats why i was hoping to get new ones