Swap 4.0 engine

[mcusin]

Hey,
I have a 2003 Mountaineer with roughly 130,000 on it. I am looking in the next year to swap out the current 245 engine for either a 302 or a 351. I was curious to see whether the 351 with the higher deck height would fit in the engine bay, or would I have to stick with the 302 as it was an engine that came with Explorers and Mountaineers before. I am not looking to get rid of my truck as I just recently replaced the entire front and rear ends (expect shocks) an have kept the car in excellent condition. Any suggestions? I have a few 351 blocks laying around and access to a 302 engine.

 

[Joe in NY]

Ummm, the 302 will fit in a 2nd gen... But a third? Everything is different. I would be amazed if anyone could ever fit a 351W in there... It it quite a bit wider than the 302/289 block...

I think your confused with the 4.6L?

302W and 351W are the Windsors from the 60's. Great OHV V8's. Simple, reliable, loads of torque.

4.6L Triton. From early 90's. Replaced the Windsors. SOHC that ford dropped the ball on. They lost the bottom end torque of the OHV W's and didn't gain the high end HP promised by SOHC...

 

[Ronin8002]

A 5.4 will fit. Apparently this isn't too hard on trucks that originally came with the 4.6 since there isn't a tone of modifying to make it work, but with the 4.0 trucks you need the whole 4.6 wiring/engine harness.

 

[mcusin]

Yeah I'm not really looking for a 4.6L engine which I know for sure will fit, because I sell auto parts and no one ever has good things to say about them. Thats why I want to toss in a 302. Everybody loves them, except for the gas mileage, but I only get 11 to the gallon anyway. I was just curious to see if, as I toss money into rebuilding the engine, a 351 windsor would fit. The one I would toss in would be out of a 96 250. Otherwise the 302 would be from an Explorer laying around my buddies shop.

 

[Ronin8002]

Yeah I'm not really looking for a 4.6L engine which I know for sure will fit, because I sell auto parts and no one ever has good things to say about them. Thats why I want to toss in a 302. Everybody loves them, except for the gas mileage, but I only get 11 to the gallon anyway. I was just curious to see if, as I toss money into rebuilding the engine, a 351 windsor would fit. The one I would toss in would be out of a 96 250. Otherwise the 302 would be from an Explorer laying around my buddies shop.

Anything is possible, but what you're proposing will likely be a bit of a challenge. I imagine for the level of work it would take you might as well put the biggest motor you can in there. All I can suggest is compare what you want to put in to a 5.4L because like I said, the 5.4 will fit.

 

[jacoby0419]

The biggest issue would not be fitting it, both the 351 and 302 are a good deal smaller than a 4.6, but adapting it to the driveline.

I don't think anyone make an adapter to the 5r55s transmission in the exp. If you want to go 2wd and drop in a hydraulic c6 you'd have something pretty neat, but a lot of custom work there.