So on with another customer's build, an 88 bronco 2 2WD 2.9L auto that has just about been restored to original has now decided the 2.9l needs to be replaced with a 5.0. This was a father/son project, but he was sent to Rhode Island for being a bad boy in the army (actually is over there for training), so he contacted me to finish the swap for him, and delivered the B2 and parts to me from Chicago, IL. The B2 came to me as a running/driving vehicle. The donor was a low mileage 2000 explorer, converted to 97 specs to work with the fuel system and to avoid pats. One with todays progress...
I started with removing the 2.9, I won't go into too much detail in the removal. I did protect the hood by using 5/8" heater hose slit down the middle and placed over the edge of the hood to protect the paint while unbolting. Paint's in pretty good shape, so I'm trying to protect it as much as possible...
Wouldn't you know, it started raining. But it wasn't a constant rain, it'd rain for about 3 minutes, then stop, 20 minutes later, it'd start raining again for a few minutes, then stop again, did this for about 2 hours, then finally stopped for the rest of the day. So, I grabbed a tarp to cover the engine bay...
So I run into my first issue, the fuel lines. On the B2, supply line uses a 3/8" male fitting, the return uses a 3/8" female fitting. The 5.0 uses a 1/2" male supply fitting the return uses a 3/8" male fitting. After going through all the parts, I found the correct fittings, so I just gotta attach the correct fittings on the fuel lines. Battery died on my phone, so no pics of the correct fittings today...
After finally getting the fuel lines disconnected, the engine harness removed, and the engine and trans prepped for removal, I was ready to remove the drivetrain. Before I did, I measured the height from the front fender to the ground, to see how much the front will drop. The owner installed airbags inside the coils up front, and airbag assists out back, so if it drops too much, I can compensate by adding air to the front bags...
Engine lift in place...
And the drivetrain's out....
Hey Dave! Someone stole your motor!
Onto some of the parts list. The owner bought a set of L&L mounts, which I will NOT be using on anything but a buggy or bouncer, they are solid mounts and are overpriced for what they are. I wasn't impressed with the fabwork either...
Here is the 90* block adapter, transdapt part # 1413...
Transdapt's dual filter relocation kit, part # 1227...
New set of Autolite double platinum plugs...
New set of 4 bosch oxygen sensors. Only 2 will be used, the rears will be deleted in the tune, so the other two will be lost in my shop/collection, Dave just doesn't know it yet, lol
New wires...
Not pictured, but new air filter, new belt, and a few other new parts are used. A 4.0 OHV power steering pressure line will be used, more info on that later. Since this vehicle will be in the colder climates, a block heater was opted for use. It's a 120 volt, 600 watt heater...
Here is the location its going, passenger side, middle freeze plug...
And here it is installed. Its straight forward, uses an O ring to seal against the block, and has a butterfly nut on the backside to hold it in the block...
Time to install the plugs, they come pregapped at .048...
The explorer ignition system on the 5.0 needs the gap between .052-.056, so the gap was set at .054....
Prior to installing the plugs, a healthy dose of antisieze is used to prevent the plugs from rusting to the head....
And here is where the battery died in my phone. Got the plugs installed. Took a look at the oil filter block adapter, and the block, and realized the original explorer female adapter was still installed. I will have to grab one from the junkyard before I can install the 90* adapter. I will also need a throttle cable, and I'm gonna grab a trans shifter cable while I'm at it. The stock trans shifter arm comes down almost in the middle of the trans tunnel, so in its current state I doubt it will work or even clear with the larger 4R70W installed. I'll work on that later. I bolted the trans to the motor, torque converter bolts installed, and started to install the starter. Didn't have the correct bolts for the starter, so I'll have to get a pair of those as well. I'll be grabbing new bolts for the motor mounts as well, as the originals are pretty rusted. Thats about all the progress today. Tomorrow will be a junkyard day. Stay tuned...
SVT
I started with removing the 2.9, I won't go into too much detail in the removal. I did protect the hood by using 5/8" heater hose slit down the middle and placed over the edge of the hood to protect the paint while unbolting. Paint's in pretty good shape, so I'm trying to protect it as much as possible...
Wouldn't you know, it started raining. But it wasn't a constant rain, it'd rain for about 3 minutes, then stop, 20 minutes later, it'd start raining again for a few minutes, then stop again, did this for about 2 hours, then finally stopped for the rest of the day. So, I grabbed a tarp to cover the engine bay...
So I run into my first issue, the fuel lines. On the B2, supply line uses a 3/8" male fitting, the return uses a 3/8" female fitting. The 5.0 uses a 1/2" male supply fitting the return uses a 3/8" male fitting. After going through all the parts, I found the correct fittings, so I just gotta attach the correct fittings on the fuel lines. Battery died on my phone, so no pics of the correct fittings today...
After finally getting the fuel lines disconnected, the engine harness removed, and the engine and trans prepped for removal, I was ready to remove the drivetrain. Before I did, I measured the height from the front fender to the ground, to see how much the front will drop. The owner installed airbags inside the coils up front, and airbag assists out back, so if it drops too much, I can compensate by adding air to the front bags...
Engine lift in place...
And the drivetrain's out....
Hey Dave! Someone stole your motor!
Onto some of the parts list. The owner bought a set of L&L mounts, which I will NOT be using on anything but a buggy or bouncer, they are solid mounts and are overpriced for what they are. I wasn't impressed with the fabwork either...
Here is the 90* block adapter, transdapt part # 1413...
Transdapt's dual filter relocation kit, part # 1227...
New set of Autolite double platinum plugs...
New set of 4 bosch oxygen sensors. Only 2 will be used, the rears will be deleted in the tune, so the other two will be lost in my shop/collection, Dave just doesn't know it yet, lol
New wires...
Not pictured, but new air filter, new belt, and a few other new parts are used. A 4.0 OHV power steering pressure line will be used, more info on that later. Since this vehicle will be in the colder climates, a block heater was opted for use. It's a 120 volt, 600 watt heater...
Here is the location its going, passenger side, middle freeze plug...
And here it is installed. Its straight forward, uses an O ring to seal against the block, and has a butterfly nut on the backside to hold it in the block...
Time to install the plugs, they come pregapped at .048...
The explorer ignition system on the 5.0 needs the gap between .052-.056, so the gap was set at .054....
Prior to installing the plugs, a healthy dose of antisieze is used to prevent the plugs from rusting to the head....
And here is where the battery died in my phone. Got the plugs installed. Took a look at the oil filter block adapter, and the block, and realized the original explorer female adapter was still installed. I will have to grab one from the junkyard before I can install the 90* adapter. I will also need a throttle cable, and I'm gonna grab a trans shifter cable while I'm at it. The stock trans shifter arm comes down almost in the middle of the trans tunnel, so in its current state I doubt it will work or even clear with the larger 4R70W installed. I'll work on that later. I bolted the trans to the motor, torque converter bolts installed, and started to install the starter. Didn't have the correct bolts for the starter, so I'll have to get a pair of those as well. I'll be grabbing new bolts for the motor mounts as well, as the originals are pretty rusted. Thats about all the progress today. Tomorrow will be a junkyard day. Stay tuned...
SVT