85_Ranger4x4
Wallers in rivers
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V8 Engine Swap
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
- Messages
- 36,422
- Points
- 2,001
- City
- Frankfort
- State - Country
- IA- USA
- Vehicle Year
- 1985
- Engine
- 5.0
- Transmission
- Manual
I have a huge pile of low performance surplus parts from my V8 swap, namely two SBF's that need completly rebuilt along with other odds and ends. Since I am buying a house and a guy needs a good sturdy end table, why not use a huge hunk of cast iron so it won't blow away?
The plan is to put a shell of an engine (block, crank, heads, valve covers, headers, intake, timing cover, WP, cool squished fan, balancer, extra dizzy) on the cradle, shim above the intake with some sort of a spacer and sandwich a piece of plexiglass between the carb and the intake for a table top. And then have a pipe fastened to a nut screwed on the aircleaner stud and have a lamp above the carb (resembling an air filter) The route the lamp wiring down the pipe, into the carb and out the vacuum port on the rear of the intake.
Between a lopo 1967 2bbl 289 and a 1978 D8VE 302 that I have... the 302 is supposed to be a stronger block and I feel much less bad about sending its crappy heads to the iron pile than the 289's. Mind you both engines need bored (both have a lot of ring groove and the 289 is scored on #4) and the cranks turned (neither have been turned before and are scored)
So I opt to keep the D8VE block in cold storage, scrap its heads and have fun with the 289. I will probably use a deep front sump oil pan but since the dual sump was handy I threw it on.
I had this idea when I saw my first engine cradle at a swap meet, I did a little digging around and I found one I liked better for $10 more at Speedway motors. It has a little more flotation and should be easier on flooring.
As you can see the heads have had a better day, the ends of the valves were mushroomed to the point that they had to be driven out... since about half the valves were rusted in there I wasn't too worried about hurting the guides. You can also see where the rail rockers had worn down enough they were driving on the retainers. They don't have hardened seats... basically they would need a full tour through a machine shop to be operational again.
Everything will be painted to help prevent rust. It is a concern with a table weighing several hundred pounds, I have to take it apart to move it and I don't want to stain anything if I can help it.
My box of tricks. The headers are the factory ones off of a 1994 Mustang GT that a guy gave me for my swap, they did not fit and he didn't want them back. The fan and water pump came with the 289 and the the timing cover is off of my '87 (filled in dipstick and fuel pump holes)
The plan is to put a shell of an engine (block, crank, heads, valve covers, headers, intake, timing cover, WP, cool squished fan, balancer, extra dizzy) on the cradle, shim above the intake with some sort of a spacer and sandwich a piece of plexiglass between the carb and the intake for a table top. And then have a pipe fastened to a nut screwed on the aircleaner stud and have a lamp above the carb (resembling an air filter) The route the lamp wiring down the pipe, into the carb and out the vacuum port on the rear of the intake.
Between a lopo 1967 2bbl 289 and a 1978 D8VE 302 that I have... the 302 is supposed to be a stronger block and I feel much less bad about sending its crappy heads to the iron pile than the 289's. Mind you both engines need bored (both have a lot of ring groove and the 289 is scored on #4) and the cranks turned (neither have been turned before and are scored)
So I opt to keep the D8VE block in cold storage, scrap its heads and have fun with the 289. I will probably use a deep front sump oil pan but since the dual sump was handy I threw it on.
I had this idea when I saw my first engine cradle at a swap meet, I did a little digging around and I found one I liked better for $10 more at Speedway motors. It has a little more flotation and should be easier on flooring.
As you can see the heads have had a better day, the ends of the valves were mushroomed to the point that they had to be driven out... since about half the valves were rusted in there I wasn't too worried about hurting the guides. You can also see where the rail rockers had worn down enough they were driving on the retainers. They don't have hardened seats... basically they would need a full tour through a machine shop to be operational again.
Everything will be painted to help prevent rust. It is a concern with a table weighing several hundred pounds, I have to take it apart to move it and I don't want to stain anything if I can help it.
My box of tricks. The headers are the factory ones off of a 1994 Mustang GT that a guy gave me for my swap, they did not fit and he didn't want them back. The fan and water pump came with the 289 and the the timing cover is off of my '87 (filled in dipstick and fuel pump holes)
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