Bronco 2 engine swap Help!!

Grant.tyler · Sep 29, 2016

I have an 85 bronco ii will the original 2.8l and 4 spead with overdrive. The motor is real rough and I want to do an engine swap. I found 2 ford inline 6 4.9l motors is what I think they are. I think there in good condition.. How hard would it be to do this swap?? Would it bolt up to my tranny?? Or could I use to tranny and engine out of donor truck... They are a 89 f-150 an 87 f-150 motors seem to be good.. This truck has been in family sense it was new and i want to bring it back to life and thanks for all your comments.

adsm08 · Sep 29, 2016

Generally speaking the 4.9 is not a worthwhile engine swap into an RBV. The engine is a much longer than most and doesn't fit the engine bay very well. It's a 42" engine and a 44.5" engine bay. It is a very tight fit, that doesn't even leave much room for minor unimportant things like fans and radiators. It also doesn't produce the power or fuel economy of other engines like the 4.0 or 5.0.

As for your transmission fitment question, do you also walk through the apple orchard looking for oranges on the trees?

As for your edit for misspellings, you still have words that are spelled wrong.

broncobuckinaround · Sep 30, 2016

agreed. the 4.0 swap is easier and fits right in. and will bolt up to the trans.

i just did a 4.0 swap in my 86 b2 along with the dash and column. wiring wasn't fun but wasn't hard either most wires were color match. i also did a 5 speed. tk5 trans out of an 85 b2 and has the 83 b2 4 speed shifter. not the best but has handled the 4.0 very well. lol my drive line and diff have suffered pretty bad. those would have to be swapped as well if you are going to put a larger motor in it.

Grant.tyler · Sep 30, 2016

Thank you for the comments. Should the 4.0 be out of an early 90's model ranger or Explorer?

BlackBII · Sep 30, 2016

Grant.tyler said:
Thank you for the comments. Should the 4.0 be out of an early 90's model ranger or Explorer?

Yes. Good 4.0's are easily found in Explorers with Automatics, as usually the transmission will go out and people will send the Explorer to a junkyard or sell it on Craigslist. Getting the entire vehicle will make the swap easier; you'll have the harness, computer, fuel lines, etc. :icon_thumby:

Click on the following link. There are tech articles on doing a 4.0 swap.

http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-engine-fuel.shtml

Grant.tyler · Oct 1, 2016

Thank you this has helped alot

85_Ranger4x4 · Oct 3, 2016

BlackBII said:
Yes. Good 4.0's are easily found in Explorers with Automatics, as usually the transmission will go out and people will send the Explorer to a junkyard or sell it on Craigslist. Getting the entire vehicle will make the swap easier; you'll have the harness, computer, fuel lines, etc.

Click on the following link. There are tech articles on doing a 4.0 swap.

http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-engine-fuel.shtml

And when you are done, throw the 2.8 in the back and you really didn't hurt its scrap value. :icon_thumby:

You will still need the fuel tank, pumps/wiring and lines from a fuel injected (86+) BII though.

Grant.tyler · Oct 4, 2016

When you say the wiring out of an 86+. I need to get the whole wiring harness and everything and that will work with the 4.0? Engine that I'm putting in it

BlackBII · Oct 4, 2016

Grant.tyler said:
When you say the wiring out of an 86+. I need to get the whole wiring harness and everything and that will work with the 4.0? Engine that I'm putting in it

You'll need the '86+ Bronco II tank, fuel pump, fuel pump harness and fuel lines because your '85 is carbureted and the current setup won't work. The fuel pump wiring runs along the drivers side of the fame. I recommend you go with an '89-90 fuel pump, as there is only the one in the tank. The '86-'88 trucks used two pumps; one in the tank and one on the frame. Good luck. :icon_thumby:

Bronco 2 engine swap Help!!

Grant.tyler

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adsm08

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broncobuckinaround

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Grant.tyler

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BlackBII

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Grant.tyler

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85_Ranger4x4

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Grant.tyler

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Ranger Custom

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