My 5.0L Swap [Archive] - Ford Ranger Forum - Forums for Ford Ranger enthusiasts!

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Psychopete

06-04-2009, 03:02 PM

I wasn't intending to have a thread on my build because it's so common, but I figured that this might help a bit.

My truck is a 1988 Ford Ranger XLT long bed that was equipped with a 2.9L V6 and A4LD transmission. It has a lot of history, it was my dad's, and I have owned it for 7 years. The notorious head cracking happened to me around 98K miles, which I rebuilt the 2.9L with aftermarket heads, cammed, MAF conversion, the works. I planned a S/C swap, but changed my mind and decided 5.0L would be best.

Engine is a low performance 5.0L from a 1987 Grand Marquis with 120K miles. Transmission is an AOD from a 3.8L 1990 SuperCoupe.

This is it torn down:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/50BlockDirty.jpg

The specs on the engine are:
.030" over forged pistons
Stock crankshaft (turned)
Stock rods with ARP rod bolts
GT40 heads
B303 Ford racing cam
1.6:1 Crane Roller Rockers
Weight and crank balanced
Duraspark dist with GM HEI module
Headman Headers
Dual plane polished high rise intake
Holley 600cfm vacuum secondary
150amp chrome alt, new ps pump, aluminum brackets
Aluminum under drive pulleys

Engine is pretty much "new."

Here are some build pics:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/50ForgedPistons.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/GT40.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/GT402.jpg

Finally:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/Engine.jpg

Took some time, but engine eventually went in:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/50InTruck2.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/50InTruck1.jpg

That's it for now, I will update more this weekend.

Pete

bluesplash94

06-05-2009, 07:17 AM

looks good so far this will be my next project for my 94.What mounts did you go with?

dranger

06-05-2009, 07:42 AM

hey how much are heads i have just had my heads crack and it looks like its going to cost me 750 to replace them. got any ideas?

Psychopete

06-06-2009, 05:51 AM

looks good so far this will be my next project for my 94.What mounts did you go with?

Thanks. :) I forgot to mention mounting, when I bought my headers used, they came with AA adapter plates. They are about $60 from Summit. The actual motor mounts I used were from a 1980 Bronco w/ 302. I tried using stock 2.9L mounts with 1/4" steel plate, but I ran into a problem with the header fitment that would take away from strength. The engine also sat up kind of high. '94 is a good year for the swap since it's still ECC-IV and it's an older truck. A lot of people are recommending drilling/slotting the factory cross member and using mounts from a Convertible Mustang, but switching them from side to side.

hey how much are heads i have just had my heads crack and it looks like its going to cost me 750 to replace them. got any ideas?

I paid $450 for mine off of Ebay, but the seller only had them for a short amount of time. That wasn't including top end gaskets and head bolts though. I would offer to sell you mine for pretty cheap (6 years old), but someone has been calling dibs on them for at least the past 6 months :). Another option might be to go find a 2.9L Ranger or BII with factory upgraded heads. They are still prone to crack, but not as bad as the older ones. There is no specific year that these came on, there's a lot of assumption that 89+ had these heads, but is not the case. I think the later heads had square rocker mounts and a 10mm vs 8mm hole for the alternator bolt. I think 91-92 - good chance that it has the better heads. But also is a crap shoot, a lot of shops don't look for cracks where these heads typically crack. Make sure the cooling system is all in good working order before running again, just a slight overheating is what causes them to crack.

Pete

Psychopete

06-08-2009, 07:21 PM

Been busy and got pre-occupied with another project, but some progress made. Most of all of this stuff has been done for some time now...

Core support, I cut out the bottom of it and use some angle iron to reattach it through some factory holes in the frame:

Before
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/CoreSupport1.jpg

After - Lots of test fitting and cutting
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/CoreSupport4-1.jpg

Angle Iron Pic
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/P6070004.jpg

And heater box notch is needed - I had to notch quite a bit for these valve covers. I cut it with an angle grinder, block sanded it flat, cut a new piece out of sheet metal and fastened it into place. And yes, the blower still works. :)

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/notch.jpg

What I've got done recently is the fan and shroud are installed:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/P6070011.jpg

Built a box for the ignition module:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/igbox2.jpg

Gotta keep it cool.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/igbox1.jpg

I also have divorced the NSS circuit and reverse light circuit from the 2.9L main harness. It plugs in like factory, but no pics. Only way I was able to know what was what is from a 1988 Ranger EVTM from Helm Inc.

More to come, lots already done.

Pete

rangerout

08-20-2009, 09:59 PM

Psychopete

08-25-2009, 12:02 PM

how much space did you leave on the cooling fan for engine mount flex and fan blad flex that looks really close like to close dont want you K.O. a RAD. looks nice
here my truck with a 5.0
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/288444

It is awfully close, but the instructions said an inch clearance for it to work the best, and the adapter put it right about there. You have me thinking about that, I will definitely verify.

Thanks for the comments, really like your swap. Sorry to hear that your dog has bad hips, and that your truck for sale. :(

I should be finally firing it up this weekend hopefully, but still need a drive shaft. Missing quite a bit of updates on here.

Pete

Jay FX4

08-25-2009, 01:57 PM

Looking good, Pete! Great work.

mr.ranger

08-26-2009, 03:03 PM

nice pics and looks good
im sure that the truck will have lots of power with the 5.0 engine

4evermodding

08-27-2009, 08:32 PM

oh so nice for a 5.0 swap. the hell with cali laws although it can be done; so long as it is the same year or newer. lol

CALI-RANGER

08-29-2009, 03:48 AM

oh so nice for a 5.0 swap. the hell with cali laws although it can be done; so long as it is the same year or newer. lol

Yeah but sucks for us '01 CALI Ranger owners.. cuz all we can put in is a 4.6L since the 5.Oh! stopped being produced a few years before! :(

4evermodding

08-29-2009, 01:02 PM

who told you that. the 5.0 where still produced in the 00-01 explorers. i actually have a o1 5.0 explorer engine. just have not made up my mine.

rangerout

08-31-2009, 01:34 AM

just make sure if your shaft is over 4 FT MAKE IT A 2 PIECE dont let ANYONE tell you diffrent it will BE WEAK and shake look at semi's and other trucks if its over 4 feet they make it 2 pieces with a carrier i made that mis stake and i paid for it. took out the yoke sleeve put a groove in the yoke and broke one u jount at the drag strip.. have fun

rangerout

08-31-2009, 01:42 AM

hoo thats right
mine is a one piece at 5 feet but went to a good drive line shop and the order me a no welded pipe its all on piece construction with laser balanced that it cost me $589 for a steal drive saft with yoke and ujoints this was cream of the crop the guys said.he said if this one brakes or shakes bring it in with the truck and they will fix it.... NEVER shook or broke so well wearth the money. but was 3-4 times the weight of the other one and 2-3 times thicker pipe then the other one drive shaft that broke. good luck have fun

rangerout

08-31-2009, 01:47 AM

Psychopete

08-31-2009, 07:13 AM

ho ya use a shroud it will work the best in a shroud and not open then you can take it away from the rad. and still get the air flow through the rad. that what all the factory cars do must work and be cheap or they wouldnt do it..LOL

+1 on the shroud. I used one from a 4.0L with the 4.0L HD radiator I am using. After I installed, then picked up the fan. I really want to run an electric at some point, I just didn't have enough room to use a 16" I already had from when I had my 2.9L. I am either going to have to find a really slim one that can pull some CFM or upgrade to a later model FEAD. My FEAD is brand new now :) since I converted over to reverse rotation, so I went with the flex. Terrible planning on my part.

Good news is that I fired up the engine this weekend and got the cam broke in. It is a mean sounding son of a bitch! Great to hear something you've been working on for so long (1 year). Oil pressure and temp all look good, I do have one wiring quirk - I didn't think that the fuse box would be off when the key is on 'Start'. This is what triggers the relay for the ignition module and coil. It would fire when you stopped trying to start it, and I confirmed with a DMM. I wired the fuel pump relay trigger off of the run only circuit, so I temporarily aligator clipped this to the signal from the fuse box to the ignition module/coil. Just need to use that same trigger on the other relay, should take a half hour to correct including time to heat up the soldering iron.

Other than that, with my custom cluster and everything consdered with all of the wiring that I did, everything worked! :) I anticipated issues with the starter since I used a custom ebay aluminum inspection plate, but it turned right over! I was amazed to see the duraspark distributor and GM HEI ignition module working together.

What's left is to set my AOD transmission pressure/kick down and getting a drive shaft! :D :D :D :D

Here is the most recent pics, but there are more to come (running video):

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/P7060008.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Dash.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/pic1.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Build/P7060007.jpg

New speakers while I was in there, too:
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/psychopsychoticpete/Speaker-2.jpg

Pete

Jay FX4

08-31-2009, 09:50 AM

I'm loving that gauge cluster, Pete!

Psychopete

08-31-2009, 01:50 PM

I'm loving that gauge cluster, Pete!

Thanks! It isn't perfect, but I think it's OK for what little tools I made it with. :) Big thing is that it fits and holds the gauges securely. Didn't have to ruin anything, can go back to stock which was a big plus for me.

CALI-RANGER

09-01-2009, 11:51 PM

who told you that. the 5.0 where still produced in the 00-01 explorers. i actually have a o1 5.0 explorer engine. just have not made up my mine.

Oh yeah, i totally forgot about those.. I stand Corrected! :o

TS6034

09-07-2009, 09:17 AM

I like the custom cluster too! How do those speedometers hook up? I thought about doing this with mine because the fuel gauge and tach gave me trouble...

Psychopete

09-07-2009, 10:50 AM

I like the custom cluster too! How do those speedometers hook up? I thought about doing this with mine because the fuel gauge and tach gave me trouble...

Man, your truck is freaking awesome. :)

I am not sure about how that works on a manual (some recommend using a vintage C4 cable?). I used a Lokar cut to length speedometer cable. The down fall is that it eliminated the speed sensor on my Auto, just had to swap the gear onto it from the vss and the end went right into the side of the transmission. Threaded right on the other end of the speedometer. Even the box that the cable came in was high quality, I thought that was pretty funny.

Lokar SP1502U - Lokar Speedometer Cables - Overview - SummitRacing.com (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LOK-SP1502U/)

I sort of lucked out on the gauges, I would have used the stock cluster, but the guy I bought my heads off of slacked big time - like over a month before he shipped them after I paid. Ebay surprised me and sent a coupon that basically paid for the gauges. Used, but they work. Sometime in the late 80's they switched the ohms on the fuel level senders, these were used on a 85ish Stang, I was hoping it would be compatible since my truck was built in '87, but I was wrong. :( Not sure if I am going to try and change the sender in the tank, or just buy the other gauge that's compatible with what's there.

Pete

rangerout

09-07-2009, 06:12 PM

yes, cluster is awesome man good work!!!!!!

jackson2dope

11-05-2009, 10:31 AM

Psychopete

11-13-2009, 09:23 AM

hey psychopete, your truck looks awesome so far, i have a question tho, is yours an extended cab? and if so what did u use for a driveshaft? im doin a similar swap and i want to use a one piece driveshaft but im not having much luck finding one long enough (67") good work on the truck, looks like that thing will fly!!

No, it's a standard cab w/ long bed. IIRC, my measurements were pretty similar from the flange on the rear to the seal on the transmission - Long beds have a longer wheel base. I had an A4LD and the yoke did not fit into the AOD. Sometimes I get frustrated trying to save money and I just took my old shaft to a drive line shop and had a brand new one made. It was a little under $300, but it fit right and the tube diameter was the same (fuel tank clearance).

They gave me a yoke to try to verify that it fit, and I had to measure the bolt holes on the flange. Then I gave them my measurement and they figured out the rest. Apparently someone has used one from a Econoline van, but I am not sure what year and if it had to be cut down. Getting one too long and cut down would definitely be cheaper than having one lengthened.

It is done for now and I have probably put only about 500 miles on it. I just bought an '88 Stang w/ 5.0L (EFI) and have been driving that lately. Getting cold, need to it out more often before it snows, but next summer should be a lot of fun. Wish I could have had it done earlier in the year.

Hope everything goes smoothly with your build!

Pete