Sport: V8 swap and 4WD conversion. What do I need.

[DocVijay]

Ok, I've tried seaching and I'm having trouble piecing together the info into one cohesive idea. I'm going to do the engine swap first and save the SAS for a little later.

If I find a V8 Explorer of the same year (1999), how easy would it be to drop in the engine. I should be able to use all the parts (motor mounts, harness, computer, tranny, etc.), right? As engine/tranny swaps go it should be rather easy. The driveshafts wouldn't be an issue since I'd be getting new ones made.

The front of an Explorer is the same regardles of model. There shouldn't be any clearance problems involved. What about the tranny and the t-case? Would they also fit on the shorter Sport frame? I assume that a shorter rear driveshaft would fix any issues.

Now, for the 4WD conversion. If I have a nice donor Explorer, I should be able to remove all the front bits and just bolt them up to mine. Are the 4WD Sport and 4-door front suspensions the same? Should I use one over the other, or does it matter? All this would ideally be from a same model year donor. The only custom parts I may need would be the driveshafts, since the Sport never came with the V8, or are the trannies the same length.

Finally, I see that Skyjacker has a 4" lift for the 4WD Explorer. I would have to get this since the 2WD spindles I have wouldn't work. Would swapping to a 4 door leaf pack and shackles add an inch of lift in the back? I already did an SOA, and it's nice and level now with 3" spindles, so I'd need naother inch in the back.

Any other advice would be very helpful. I'm pretty handy with cars, but here is plenty I don't know. If there are an obvious mistakes I'm making or things I'm overlooking, let me know. Thanks.

 

[section525]

Bjorn.. all the 4WD components will bolt right in to your current setup. Just bolt in the front diffy, half shafts, and knuckes (along with the tcase and driveshaft).

I just went out and looked at my GFs 98 Sport VS my 99 AWD and everything seems to be identical. The only thing different is obviously the motor mounts but it appeared that they would be easy to swap over. Also, the placement of the tranny/tcase cross brace is in the exact same place between the V8 and Sports. So that'll work out good for you.

As far as Skyjacker having a 4" lift.. I think you're confused. You'd want to go with the Superlift if you're planning an IFS lift kit.

If you have anymore quesitons.. I'll have both the Explorers in my driveway this weekend so I can get pics or whatever else you want.

 

[DocVijay]

Whoops sorry, you're right. It is the Superlift kit. I've been reading so many web sites and magazine articles they're all kinds melding together.

Otherwise that's all good news. The rest should be a "plug-and-play" operation. I'm hoping I'll find a decent '99 donor with good running gear. The body doesn't matter obviously.

Thanks for the info.

 

[nization]

Manual tranny

Okay, rather than posting a new one, I will bring this thread back to life for a bit (I hope).

I plan to eventually do the V8 swap on my Sport, however, I was wondering, will my 5-speed manual transmission be cabable of handling the added power the V8 will supply?

The reason I plan to swap is because I would like to upgrade the suspension and engine so that I can tow a full trailer with my RX-7 on a regular basis without having to buy a new truck, as I really do quite like my explorer sport I currently have. I have been towing various vehicles with it recently, however, it's always been with a 2 wheel dolly. It seems to be fine with the ranger and 626 so far, however, my father's aerostar (fully loaded with tools) was quite a haul for the 4.0L V6.

Any additional information/details will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hokie]

I believe that when you do the swap, you use the Ford 4 speed auto that was mated with the V8. man, just think of a Sport with a 302 and a T5... anybody want a SOHC with 69k on it?

 

[nization]

I am not going to play that game. It would be like removing my own testicles to do a manual to auto swap!

I was not aware that ford made explorers with a manual tranny untill I found this one. And then I bought it. I don't feel that it would be much of a truck for me if it was an automatic. I am not knocking on anyone with an auto at all, it's just not something for me, ya know?

I understand there were 5.0L XLT models that also had a manual tranny, I am just wondering if my current one is any different from those, possibly just call for a better clutch?

 

[Robb]

No V8 Xs came with manny trannys.

 

[Texplorer]

Wouldnt you also have to get another adaptor to run a true 4wd transfer case instead of the AWD transfer case that comes with the V8's?

 

[T Hull]

V8 swap and 4WD

If you have the 4.0 engine you cannot use your tranny, the bolt pattern is not the same and the tranny won't hold up to the V8. You can get a lot of good swap info from either James Duff or Advance Adapters, you have to look at the Ranger/Explorer swaps. Unless you are ready for a lot of hard work I would recomend getting a new explorer with what you want in it. My 91 was a 4.0L, 5 speed, 2 WD and now it has a 351W engine (which is harder to put in than the 302) 4 inch suspension and 2 inch body lift, automatic with overdrive. If you really want to do the conversions be ready for a lot of hard work and headaches. But if you like donig this kind of stuff HAVE FUN.

 

[nization]

Yeah, now that I think of it, I believe that was a V6 XLT that I saw (did not get too close to it, I was just talking with someone at a wedding about theirs with the manual tranny, but we didn't talk about the engine).

I kinda had my doubts that this particular manual tranny would work out, hence my questions. I just started thinking about this project recently. I am doing an engine/tranny swap with my RX-7, but I somehow feel it'll just be the begining of my fun with this stuff!

I learned long ago that it's almost always better to buy a new vehicle than to swap an auto to manual or vis-versa...

Thanks for the info guys. Any further suggestions would be cool too!

 

[Eddie X]

T Hull, do you have any pics of the windsor swap?

 

[T Hull]

sport v8 swap

Not yet, but I'll see what I can do.