3.0/3.2 SHO swap

[holyford86]

I'm currently in the process of collecting parts for this swap into a 3rd gen ranger. I currently have the entire rotted out beyond economical repair 119k mile 1993 taurus with a 3.2 (automatic), A 3.0 Ranger M5OD and a 1996 ranger that currently has a 2.3 (109k miles, the engine is for sale) I have the EVTM and service manual for the car and the Ranger will most likely be getting a 1st gen cab at some point (truck was rolled) but will retain much of the 96 electrical system. I know that this is a somewhat obscure swap and haven't seen much in the way of information regarding doing it but I have always wanted to do this swap and really don't care that much about that. Is there anything in particular that should be saved from the car beyond all of the engine wiring, EEC, and CCRM? This is going to be a budget go fast in the dirt type project and I think that I am going to rear mount the Taurus radiator and fans and may utilize the CCRM to operate the fans, fuel pump, and EEC. Any insight at all would be helpful, even pointing me towards someone who has done this swap.

 

[Roert42]

Seems exciting. Make sure to post updates.

 

[RonD]

Looks like the 3.2l Yamaha SHO used same 3.0l Vulcan bellhousing pattern but double check that when engine is out

 

[fastpakr]

That should be correct, @RonD . This swap has been discussed quite a bit over the years, but to my knowledge no one has ever finished it and reported their results. Good luck! I'm definitely interested in seeing it come together.

 

[holyford86]

@RonD that much I have figured out, they also appear to use the exact same flywheel as a vulcan 3.0 according to the parts catalog. I will be pulling the engine out of the car to store it for the winter and I will be trying the flywheel and transmission before I mothball it. I have seen pictures showing the intake manifold flipped around so it points forward too, I will also be trying that out once it is out of the car. I will update this as I do things to it. I anticipate needing to modify the oil pan and fabricate engine mounts which are not huge issues for me to remedy.

 

[RonD]

If you do decide on rear mounted radiator I would switch system over to Degas type system so the expansion tank/bottle could be in engine bay for easier access

Intake should be reversible but the crossover tube sticks out quite a ways, which wasn't an issue if its over the pulleys
But may mean it won't fit because of firewall if its in the rear

 

[holyford86]

@RonD that's not a bad idea with the degas bottle, I have access to a few 2010 duratec 2.3 ranger parts, one of which is the degas bottle and washer tank, I would assume I will still need to have some sort of air bleed at the radiator in the rear as it will most likely be the high point of the system though. I am unsure what crossover you are referring to, the intake crossover appears to ride right on top of the timing cover, or are you referring to all of the coolant plumbing at the rear of the engine?

 

[RonD]

Degas bottle would need to be high point, so air in the system would end up there, otherwise it would collect in another high point.
Radiator would need a cap with no spring valve or with a spring rated at say 20psi, and degas bottle with a 14-16psi rating

If radiator has to be high point then Degas bottle in engine bay wouldn't work

I was looking at this picture of 3.2l intake manifold: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/93-95-OEM-F...e:Ford&hash=item1a95fcdf76:g:W6gAAOSwiFFelLvC

 

[holyford86]

@RonD I was wondering if that would be a problem but will cross that bridge when I get there, truck will not be super tall, it would probably be about as tall as a stock 4x4 or an inch or two higher so adding coolant directly to the rad wouldn't be a huge issue. This is how the intake looks in the car, you can see the bolts for he timing belt cover halves slightly inside the front crossover, I feel I may need to move the edis module though.

 

[holyford86]

@fastpakr I'm looking forward to seeing what roadblocks I run into, the electrical portion doesn't scare me at all and I'm sure the other issues won't be too hard to figure out once I get it in there. It's going to be a little long winded until it ultimately gets completed but fingers crossed I get it running and driving by this time next year.

 

[fastpakr]

What are you planning to do for exhaust manifolds?

 

[holyford86]

Going to use the factory manifolds to get it running unless they won't fit at all then most likely a set of headers will get made for it.

 

[pjtoledo]

@RonD that much I have figured out, they also appear to use the exact same flywheel as a vulcan 3.0 according to the parts catalog. I will be pulling the engine out of the car to store it for the winter and I will be trying the flywheel and transmission before I mothball it. I have seen pictures showing the intake manifold flipped around so it points forward too, I will also be trying that out once it is out of the car. I will update this as I do things to it. I anticipate needing to modify the oil pan and fabricate engine mounts which are not huge issues for me to remedy.

nope. the Yamaha has an 8 bolt crank. from my long ago memory banks, use the stock 9-3/4 SHO flywheel & clutch, but with a Lumina disk??????
where the M5OD bolts up the the 3.2 you will need to do a small amount of clearance grinding. it will be obvious, no big deal.

 

[rubydist]

I spend a bunch of time on the SHO forums and have looked into this swap myself quite extensively.

The SHO intake can be rotated 180* so the throttle body points to the front of the engine, but it either requires spacers of around 1" to raise it up, or it requires a bunch of modification to make the throttle body fit over the top of the timing covers / belt.

I would throw out the CCRM and use individual relays - the CCRMs are notoriously unreliable and are getting hard to find. Its just a box with a collection of relays inside it.

The other challenge you will have is to get the engine to sit back far enough in the engine bay. In your build that may not be a big deal because you may be fine modifying the firewall and getting rid of heater etc. but the SHO motor being designed only for the fwd platform has a bunch of stuff hanging off the rear of the engine (thermostat housing for example) that become problematic in the rwd configuration.

And since the SHO motors are known for rod bearing issues, make sure you put new rod bearings in the engine while you have it out. Other than that, there is a good chance the engine will run great for another 200k.

 

[holyford86]

@pjtoledo I was thumbing through the service manual and noticed that the crank does indeed have 8 bolts, hopefully someone sells the clutch friction disc for the lumina by itself, or I may just order one from a local parts house and see if it physically fits over the input shaft of the m5od.

@rubydist I have toyed with the thought of deleting that entirely as many of the relays inside it will be useless to me, I had thought it was just a dumb box anyway. I will probably attempt using the fusebox in the ranger to accomplish this, which shouldn't be too difficult other than making the fans work without melting things.

I will see how much interference there is when I try to spin the intake around, if it is minimal and can be modified I would rather do that than add a potential vacuum leak path.

I would like to keep the heat if possible because it would greatly limit when I could enjoy this if I didn't have it. I haven't dug too far into the rear of the engine but if I can shorten or relocate some things I will go that route to minimize the cutting I will have to do.

I'll look at the rods and mains when I have it out and see how bad they are. The engine has 119k on it so they may be okay.