Swapping 4.0 for 5.0

[FHBasketball]

A couple of questions. My buddy just totaled his '96 svt cobra, and said I could have the engine if I wanted it.

Right now I have a 4.0 with a manual trans. Will I the engine fit in my X and will I need to get a new trans?????

Another thing. I am getting his chrome cobra R's too, but the tires that are on them now will look goofy on the X. What tires do others have that have cobra R's???

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[BeauJ]

You can't use the same trans, and yes you can swap but it will cost a lot. Do a search on it, there are HUNDREDS of threads on it, but only a few people on here have actually done it. I have 18" Cobra Rs on mine, they look nice.

 

[Silver X]

If its a '96 Cobra and not a '95, it'll have a 4.6L DOHC engine, not a 5.0L.

I don't think you'll want to adapt the 300hp 4.6L to the 4.0 trans. Even if you could make it work, it wouldn't last long.

Plus the engine is extremely wide and I don't think it'll fit in the engine bay anyway.

 

[Rick]

But if you could make it fit it would be awesome Especially if you set it up with a Mach 1 Shaker scoop

 

[CDW6212R]

For tires, look at 255-275/60/17's, or 255-275/55/17's. These are 29-30" tires, like stock 15's and 16's. Good luck,

 

[FHBasketball]

I'm not sure what.....

.....the cubic inches are on the 4.6l.

Does anyone know?

And since I have a manual, would I be able to use the cobras manual trans but change the shifter?????

I just want to know befor I get in over my head.

And I am going to attempt the swap with my buddy. Him and his dad have a cherry picker, so he says that if everything will fit, then he should be able to do it.

 

[FHBasketball]

Another question.....

.....would you suggest putting the 4.6 in it or just getting a 5.0 from another explorer???

And again, if I got the 5.0, would the trans from my 4.0 work???

Thanks for your earlier replies.

 

[FHBasketball]

And to rick.....

.....no offense or anything, but the Mach 1 shaker's are probably one of Fords biggest mistakes ever.

The inlet size is great on them, but then all of the air going in through the scoop ends up being forced into a hole about 1/2 inch big, then straight down, and then through another hols smaller than the first, heading back towards the front of the car.

The scoop's don't really help the engine at all. Car & Driver had a great article on this problem in one of their issues, but I am not sure which one.

I was thinking about taking one of '99-'04 mustabgs hood scoops and puting it on my X though. The guy from ExplorerStreet.com did it to his. It would just be for show though.

 

[rcpasq]

.....the cubic inches are on the 4.6l.

Does anyone know?

And since I have a manual, would I be able to use the cobras manual trans but change the shifter?????

I just want to know befor I get in over my head.

And I am going to attempt the swap with my buddy. Him and his dad have a cherry picker, so he says that if everything will fit, then he should be able to do it.

A 4.6 liter V8 is 281 cubic inches.

 

[Silver X]

I'd just get a 5.0 explorer powertrain and swap it in. Don't waste your time and money trying to squeeze the 4.6L DOHC in there. It won't fit. Ford widened the frame rails and engine bay of the current generation Explorer to fit the 4.6L SOHC and that's a much narrower engine than the DOHC (but still wider than the 5.0L OHV). The displacement of the engine doesn't really matter here (4.6L vs 5.0L), its calculated using measurements inside the engine. Its the outside dimensions that are the problem.

If your buddy wants to give you his parts, take them....then sell them to fund your 5.0 swap. You can usually get good money for the DOHC stuff.

The Mach 1 scoop wasn't a mistake. It was intended to be mostly for looks and Ford didn't expect much of a power increase.

 

[Rick]

The scoop's don't really help the engine at all. Car & Driver had a great article on this problem in one of their issues, but I am not sure which one.

I somewhat agree, they don't offer a big improvement, but they do bring more cool air into the intake stream than if they weren't using the scoop. The scoop isn't the only source of intake air in the stock set up. Air is also pulled from the wheel wheel area, into the air cleaner box, where it's mixed with air from the scoop. When you change the air filter you can see a pattern of dirt on the filter where it's been ejected from the scoops air path. It definately does pull air from that thing.

Even if it doesn't make it faster, it looks good and runs 13s right out of the box so I ain't complaining

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, forget the DOHC idea. I would love one also, but the width would take out your air conditioning, and the steering shaft for sure. The trans must be what came with the donor engine. The PCM's control the trans, so for the Explorer 302, you would have to have a 4R70W.

Find a donor Explorer with the V8, etc. For your 96, you would do well to only use a 96-98, because the later PCM is for a different fuel system than the pre 99 models. Good luck,