V8 swap questions thread

Considering the popularity of the ford engines you could pick up the efi donor and pick up a carb intake

thanks for the link, it cleared up a few things but it only works till page 4

So; from what Ive found out I'll need the 302 and all of its wiring, etc. For mounts I'll be getting 1987-1993 Mustang convertible mounts, a T5 tranny, and rad from an early 4.0 explorer, and the short water pump. Is that shopping list correct/mostly complete?
I'll need to fab a cross member (someone told me it can be removed entirely, is that safe?), transmission mount, and driveshaft. right?
What about a fuel pump, can I just install one in-line, and keep the stock mazda carb'ed sending unit so my gas gauge works?

I found a '92 Ford F150 with an EFI 302, he wants $350 for it and it runs. I think I might take it, gut complete wiring harness, and scrap the rest. Hopefully I can get it to run, if the wiring proves too confusing Ill hunt down a carb'ed intake

Hmmm I would do a carbed 305 or 350 I have all the mounts you need for the motor the tranny and a new under cross memeber

well, a carbed 350 would be alot easier to find, but I thought they were harder to install than a 302? Dont you have to cut and weld the firewall for clearance?

no...the answer is no

Re the link, some of the pages don't work (aren't in the cache/snapshot), so try going to page 6, skipping 5 etc.

If you get the short water pump, you'll need to get the entire front accessory assembly (alt, alt bracket, tensioner and tensioner pulley, p/s pump and p/s bracket, crank pulley), as I did, from a 94-95 mustang. If you use the standard water pump, which is 1.75" longer than the short one (which, by the way, is the same as the 94-95 stock water pump, so if you go that way, you're better off just getting the entire setup from a 94-95 Mustang), then you'll have a pretty tight situation with the Rad - you might have to tuck the rad under the front rad support, possibly having to cut it and reweld in some supports etc. Plus, this won't leave you much room for a fan(s) for the rad. I would keep the crossmember - you'll have a lot more weight in the region and removing a structural part might not be a good idea. It's a pretty easy fix, anyway, you just have to cut it and weld it about 3/4"-1" lower - if you don't have a welder, it would be a pretty cheap weld to get done by somebody else - if you were close by, I'd do the weld for free.

For the rad, I used a stock B2200 two-row rad (found on the automatic B2200's) - if you're in a very hot climate, this might not cut it, though - although, IIRC, you're from Ontario, so might not be an issue. The problem with the Explorer rad is that the inlet or outlet, one of the two, is in the wrong place and/or had to be rewelded at an angle. The stock B2200 was much easier since the inlet and outlet were in good positions.

The stock B2200 EFI fuel pump is fine - been working great in my and not having any fuel starvation issues under load/high rpm etc. You'll probably be ok with an aftermarket (walbro?) fuel pump, keeping your stock sending unit. By the way, I found some adapters and kept the stock oil pressure sender and coolant temp senders (the one that goes to the dash), so the dash oil light, and the temp gauge both still work, even though I have separate gauges for each, just in case.

I'll try, once I have some time, to re-create my build thread, somewhat, on this forum, since the MT site is still down, and there's no ETA on its revival.

I won't disagree with you - you don't HAVE to chop into the firewall to put a 350 in, but the simple fact that the dizzy is on the back side makes installing the engine more difficult than a 302. Many people who've put a 350 in have chopped into the firewall, just to get some clearance up front. I think the 302 is easier to install, substantially because of the dizzy placement on the chev engine(s).

I put a TPI 350 in mine. I always thought cutting into the firewall was a hair-brained prospect... at best!
I didn't think the 350 was hard at all, nor do I think a 302 would be.
But... unless you've done both swaps, guessing which one is harder would be just that... a guess!





I kept the damned air conditioning too!
Just had to put the condenser under the bed.

Agh decisions! lol, thanks for the information guys. Top notch as usual.
Well; I wont be undertaking this project for at least a month.. I just started researching it waaay in advance so I have a better idea how it'll go, and plenty of time to change my mind on v8 choice.
I wish I had more friends into working on vehicles, I could probably use the help for this haha!

If I did use a 350 or 305, what manual transmission would you recommend?

I know it's an old thread, but some info I have may be of use. A truck 5.0 has a tall intake on it, and would likely require cutting the hood to clear. A lot of Ford cars came with the 5.0, though, so a car one is not hard to find. If you can find a 5.0 Explorer, snag it up. The "GT40" heads on those are very desirable, not to mention A) they're short like you need, B)you can use the exhaust manifolds that are there because they're already designed for close quarters, C) it's already a rear sump pan, and D) you should be able to reuse the accessories that are on it.. Personally, I'd try and find an EFI unit and keep it that way, yeah it's more wiring but the trade off is far and away worth it. far as transmissions go, if you're looking to go auto, either a C4 or the AOD. The C4 has no overdrive, but is stout and cheap/easy to rebuild. If you're lucky you may find a small block C6. The downside to these two trannies is no overdrive. The AOD is a lock-up converter trans. with overdrive. While maybe not as reliable as the C trannies, I think it's underrated for the most part. Manual, get a T-5.