98+ 5 speed/302 H.O. Swap

[mastersmith]

I've got a 98 ranger extra cab 3.0L 5 speed. The 3.0L lost oil pressure and siezed up so I decided to swap in a 302. Instead of just using an explorer motor like everybody else, I'm going to use a 5.0 H.O. 'stang motor.
The truck is a 5 speed now and it's going to stay that way. I'll be picking up a M5OD-r2 next week. Now instead of spending thousands of dollars on adapters, I think I've found a much cheaper/easier solution. If it works, I'll definately do a tech write up. The plan is to put the tailhousing/output shaft from the M5OD-r1 in my ranger on the V8 M5OD-r2. Thus creating a V8 transmission that will bolt up in the stock location and utilize the stock transfer case and drivelines. The only problem at this point is the shifter location. Some people have used r2's and just hacked up a new shifter to get it close to the stock location. I'd rather do it using factory parts. I have heard that the r1's shift tower can be modified to fit on an r2 but I have not been able to verify this yet. If not, I will just have to find a shift tower from a 97 or newer M5OD-r2.

I've got motor mounts from an explorer, I haven't decided if I want to get a fan from an explorer or use electric fans, I will be building my own wiring harnes and using a moates quarterhorse to tune it. I don't feel like forking out the money for tourque monster headers, so I'll be building my own (tig welded mild steel 1 5/8" tube)

Now if anybody knows a lot about the factory fuel systems please chime in here. I know I'll need to plumb in a return fuel line since the 98 3.0L was a returnless system. But the returnless 3.0L system would run at like 60PSI right? so can I run the stock in tank pump/regulator and plumb it staright into the fuel rail mounted regulator on the 5.0, cause it runs at like 30-40 PSI right? Also, will the stock pump keep up with the bigger motor or am I going the have to just ditch the stock pump/regulator and put in a bigger pump?

I'll try and keep this thread updated with pics as the swap goes on. Right now I am still just rounding up parts and information. It will probably be a couple weeks before I start wrenching on it.

Lets hear your thoughts, Good or bad!

 

[77'cj7]

Pressure wise, you can just hook the existing fuel line up and run a return and everything will be good.
Volume wise, I would suggest upgrading the pump, not too much work or too expensive.

Also, you will want to swap over to an explorer or (i believe) 94/95 mustang FEAD, as you will be into the radiator otherwise with the explorer engine mounts.

I guess my only other question is why go with the mustang engine over the explorer one? The explorer engine makes more power, has a truck cam already, and the wiring is plug and play.
Part of the reason this confuses me is that i just spend a week or so planning and swapping an explorer motor into a mustang (well, fox thunderbird, close enough).

Chris

 

[Teddyzee]

The Explorer engine is pretty similar to the Mustang, except the cam.

If you want a mechanical fan, use the Explorer front accessories. If you use the Mustang ('93 or earlier), you will need to move the rad under the core support and use an e-fan. But that's easy to do.

 

[mastersmith]

well the main reason I'm using the mustang engine, is that I already have it. Plus I like to do things that are different than everybody else. I guess for the time being, i'll run the stock pump and later on, drop in a higher volume pump.

 

[Mac]

The Explorer engine is pretty similar to the Mustang, except the cam..

And the ease of the wiring and the better intake and TB. Throw some Stang valve covers on it and no one would know. Some of the OD-R2's have the location in a better location that others but can't remember what years.
Dave

 

[bahndrvr]

Well, the intake manifold na heads are better on the Explorer fyi, good upgrade to your stock E7t heads on the HO motor you have, I've ran exploer GT40p heads and explorer intake uper and lower on my stangs in the past with a 45 hp increase at the wheels.

Headers just suck for GT40p's

 

[mastersmith]

And the ease of the wiring and the better intake and TB. Throw some Stang valve covers on it and no one would know. Some of the OD-R2's have the location in a better location that others but can't remember what years.
Dave

yes it's the 97 and newer r2's that have the shifter in the right location, but they are all the wrong bellhousing except the v6 ones which have a small block bell housing. But I have had no luck at all finding a decently priced v6 r2 so I guess what I'll have to do is find a newer tranny (97+) and just use the top cover off of it which will put the shifter in the right spot.

and yes, the explorer motors may be a better engine, but like I said I already have an H.O. so i'm going to use it. As far as the wiring goes, I'm going to be pretty much building a complete harness from scratch so it really doesn't matter.

 

[fordmike1]

Pistons are diffrent on the Ex engines also as they are flat tops with valve relifes instead of the mustang slight dish pistons and the Ex pistons actully stick out the top approx .005 of an inch and all this will give you more compression and compression is power!!! I do like the Mustang HO engines but I will take a Explorer engine over the Mustang engine anyday.

 

[mastersmith]

ok , little update. I got the motor tranny and tracnsfer case out of the ranger and well the tail housings are definately NOT interchangable between and m5od-r1 and an m5od-r2. So now I am thinking i will just run the r2 and try and find a 1356 tranfer case.

Does anybody know if the 1356 electric shift will plug in in place of a 1354 electric shift?

 

[mastersmith]

ok after a bit of research I think I'm going to use a BW4406. I haven't decided if im going to use an electric shift or manual shift. I'll probably just use whichever I can find locally. The manual will require some fab work and the electric will require some wiring changes. From what I understand, I need a front drive shaft from an f150 with a 4.6 and a rear from one with a 5.4? I'll look more closely into this when the time comes.

 

[V8 Level II]

ok after a bit of research I think I'm going to use a BW4406. I haven't decided if im going to use an electric shift or manual shift. I'll probably just use whichever I can find locally. The manual will require some fab work and the electric will require some wiring changes. From what I understand, I need a front drive shaft from an f150 with a 4.6 and a rear from one with a 5.4? I'll look more closely into this when the time comes.

The rear driveshaft from the 5.4 Ex is for swapping the 4406 into a 2nd generation Explorer 5.0. Rangers have 3 different wheelbase dimensions (112, 118 and 126"), none of which match the the shorter Gen2 Explorer (108"?). I have a 4406 in my 2003 supercab and I'm using a shortened Ranger shaft (48" center to center on the u-joint holes).

The clearance from the much larger 4406 case to the left frame rail is very tight in 98+ Rangers and I wanted to avoid notching the frame rail, so I moved the engine/trans/transfer case 3/8" toward the passenger side by slotting and rewelding the engine plates and trans x-member.

Another area of concern is the clearance of the transfer case taihousing and slip yoke to the fuel tank. Here again, the 3/8" relocaion was just enough extra clearance for my peace of mind. I haven't looked under any regular cab Rangers but I have to believe that their short wheelbases would cause worse clearance issues with the transfer case/slip yoke near the fuel tank.

The 97~03 V6 4x4 M5ODR2 is supposedly the same 28" overall length as the Ex AWD 4R70W that I used. The earlier M5ODR2 is about 1 1/2" longer because of the different extension housing. It also uses a different shift linkage to the T/C.

The F150 front shaft should work using a 1310/1330 conversion u-joint at the front diff. The resultant shaft angles are strange up front and can cause some vibration. Because of limited clearance and the mounting points of the IFS front diff, the angles are also difficult to adjust by the traditional method of tilting the diff housing to correct the pinion angle. In the future, I intend to rearrange the mounts to tilt the entire engine/trans/t-case assembly and improve the front D/S angles and then shim the rear axle to match the reangled rear output shaft.

When I started my V8 swap project, I was sure that I didn't want to use the single ratio, full time AWD transfer case that come stock in the AWD version of the 5.0L Explorer. I wanted to have a manually shifted, 2-speed, part time 4WD transfer case like the one that came as factory equipment in my Ranger.

An easy (but expensive) way would have been to get a $500+ kit from Advance Adapters to mate the 4R70W Explorer transmission to the stock Ranger case. The kit consists of a new extension housing and an adapter shaft that steps down from the 4R70W's 31 spline output shaft to match the smaller Ranger T/C input spline.

For my purposes, it seemed like a better idea to substitute a larger transfer case designed for the torque of a V8. Thanks to the guys on ExplorerForum who developed the BW4406 swap into their 5.0L Explorers :thumbsup: , I felt that I had the info I needed to use the larger T-case in my Ranger. So, I picked up a low miles manual Borg Warner 4406 case from a 2003 F150 4.2/4.6.

The 4406 bolts directly to the stock AWD Explorer 4R70W extension housing without modification but that's where the easy part ends. Swapping it into a Ranger adds a new dimension to the clearance issues.

First of all, near the transfer case, a Ranger frame is several inches narrower than a Gen2 Explorer frame. Add to that the fact that the 4406 transfer case is huge compared to either the stock Ranger 2-speed case or the stock Explorer AWD case. It is nearly twice as long front to back and the main body sits about 4 inches rearward of where the main body of the Ranger case was. It is also much wider and would be positioned about 1/4" from the DS frame rail if the stock 5.0L Ex mounts were used. Even worse, the forward U-joint of the rear driveshaft would end up being about a foot farther rearward as compared to the stock Ranger, putting it adjacent and very close to the nose of the fuel tank.

The solution to both clearance problems was to move the entire engine/transmission/transfer case 3/8" toward the passenger side. This was accomplished by welding up the engine plate holes and trans crossmember holes and repositioning them.

These photos show the results of using the modified mounts. There is still not a lot of room but imagine how it would be using the stock mounting position - 3/8" closer!


Transfer case to frame rail clearance:

Slip yoke flange to fuel tank clearance:

This is the modified 97~03 F150 shift linkage mounted to the Explorer transmission extension housing. To get some extra clearance, I reversed and rewelded a pin in the linkage and cut almost 3/4" off the factory mounting bosses on the extension housing. Then I drilled the holes deeper and retapped the 14mm threaded holes for 5/8" x 1 1/4" NC bolts. This mod improved the clearance from the F150 T-case linkage to the smaller Ranger transmission tunnel. Combined with the 3/8" powertrain offset, the shortened bosses move the linkage and lever significantly inward on the transmission tunnel, keeping it from intruding any more than necessary into the driver's legroom.

Here is the 03 F150 silicone inner boot that has been reshaped to fit the Ranger tunnel. The stock Level II shift arm was too short by itself, so I made up an intermediate extension shaft from a piece of 3/4" drill rod.

F150 interior trim boot.

The shifter moved all the way rearward to the 4x4 Low position.

Center console from a junked 97 Mountaineer. It has been repainted satin black to match the rest of the interior. I repaired the broken console lid, then recovered it with black Naugahyde to match the newly painted console.

The lower driver side of the console was heated and reshaped to clear the shifter boot and bezel.

Shortened Ranger rear shaft and factory 97~03 F150 front shaft:

The internal factory Ranger slip yoke was cut off and a new fixed yoke welded in by a driveshaft specialist company. Then a 2006 Expedition/Navigator slip yoke was added before the assembly was balanced. The genuine Ford yoke is the right size for the F150 BW4406 transfer case and it was only $19 brand new on eBay.

A conversion U-joint is used to match the F150 front driveshaft to the stock pinion flange on the D35 front diff.

This conversion works great. The 4406 fits well, shifts well and has the strength to handle the torque of my blown small block. Even the stock Ranger 4x4 dash indicator lights work after wiring them to the switch on the 4406.

Everything combined - the shift linkage, conversion u-joint, slip yoke, j/y 4406 transfer case, j/y F150 front shaft and shortening of the Ranger rear shaft cost less then the AA conversion parts would have.



Alternatives:

I chose the BW4406 because it is readily available, not too expensive and there are still some low mileage examples out there. Of course, there are many other F/S t-cases that can be used with a V8 swap. Ford, GM and Chrysler cases often use the same 6-bolt pattern to the transmission.

There are smaller F/S cases that could make installation easier. A few possibilities are the NP205, NP208 and Dana 20. Since some are from earlier trucks, they might be a little harder to find and may need a rebuild.

 

[mastersmith]

Thanks, that was the thread I just got done reading. I plan to move the bolt holes just bit for more clearance and thanks for clarifying the drive shaft stuff.

 

[FishNC55]

yes it's the 97 and newer r2's that have the shifter in the right location, but they are all the wrong bellhousing except the v6 ones which have a small block bell housing. But I have had no luck at all finding a decently priced v6 r2 so I guess what I'll have to do is find a newer tranny (97+) and just use the top cover off of it which will put the shifter in the right spot.

and yes, the explorer motors may be a better engine, but like I said I already have an H.O. so i'm going to use it. As far as the wiring goes, I'm going to be pretty much building a complete harness from scratch so it really doesn't matter.

An example, I have a 97 Mercury Mountaineer 302, wiring harness and computer that I'm putting in my 98 Ford Ranger. The 5-speed out of a 96 F-150 bolted straight up to the 302. Shifter is a hair forward than my stock transmission. Doesn't hit the dash or seats at all.