SOHC 4.0 B2 swap | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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SOHC 4.0 B2 swap

85-B2

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Year, Model & Trim Level
1985 Bronco II
Hello there. New to the ford world but not new to mechanics or swaps. So far I have put a fuel injected SBC into my S10 and a carbed SBC into a mazda rx7.

I recently aquired a 85 bronco 2 with a very tired carbed 2.8 and a 5 speed. The truck itself is nice, has a 4" rough country lift and 2" body lift, and sits on 32's. But it needs a new power plant badly. So today I picked up a 97 exploder with a rebuilt sohc 4.0 for $200. The plan is to keep my 5 speed and just swap the 4.0 in, then scrap the explorer. Is there anything I need to watch out for?? Any tips you guys have for this swap?? I am quite confident on my wiring skills so wiring should be no problem.

Thanks!
 



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You may want to consider using the Explorer's transmission. Your B2 trans is probably very tired and may not hold up well behind the SOHC. Also, if the Explorer is an automatic, the PCM will be looking for it. You may be able to get away with hooking up just the solenoids or resistors and hanging them out of the way though. Depends. Also don't forget that you'll be needing to make exhaust modifications for all the oxygen sensors. Finally, note that your heater box may not want to clear without modification. If you have AC this can make for a tighter fit but you could always use a non-AC box.
 






I figured there might be some trimming to fit. The motor is much wider than the older OHV motor. A/C is getting deleted. I will take a look at the harness when I get it out to see how i can make it work for the 5 speed. And for O2 sensors I have my trust welder to add some bungs haha.
 






One concern I see not noted is oil pan clearance. The sohc pan hits on the passenger side on a stock pre 95 truck. May have to lift the motor up some.
 






Thanks for the tip about the pan. Will look into it. I was suprised how easy the 4.0 came out of the explorer. 2 hrs and shes sitting on the stand. I will probably do the timing chains as i read they can go bad in these motors? The harness sure looks like a pain to get out of the explorer. Ill start that soon.
 












Grab the rear 8.8" from that Ex before you toss it also

And any interior pieces you might want... Seats, etc (swapping the entire dash in might make the engine swap wiring 1,000× easier... I know it does for OHV 4.0L swaps into the earlier trucks). You may have to weld some tabs onto the BII body to mount the dash though (just guessing, I haven't actually tried to fit a '95+ dash into a <'89 truck but I know there are some differences).


Sounds like a great project though.
Agreed, if you want a manual trans... You'd be best to find a M5OD-R1HD from a '01-'11 4.0L Ranger.
 






The trans and diffs will definately be swapped in the spring. I actually pulled the 8.8 out of the explorer to put in my V8 S10.... and someone stole the diff! The demand for 8.8's in my area is rediculous. And ya I have the dash out of it.

Time to start posting pics soon haha
 






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