Crankshaft main girdle with 5.0 Ex pan

[V8 Level II]

Are you going to use a main girdle? If so I will also be watching to see what pieces you use with it, oil pan, fasteners, pick up tube, etc. I am curious what pieces will work together but not interfere pan clearance and so forth.

I used a generic 302 main girdle in my 99 Ex engine with its original stamped Explorer oil pan and Explorer pickup tube. This pan is heavily contoured to clear the AWD front differential (not sure if the 2WD Ex 5.0 pan is the same or not).

Using the unmodified AWD pan with its angled side meant that some of the edge of the girdle needed to be milled away. There was also some hand grinding done on the curved rear corner of the girdle. The result is a large bevel along much of that side of the girdle. Obviously, it is not as strong as before. However, most of the cross-section remains and the girdle should still be a worthwhile improvement over an unbraced block.

Up front, the girdle did not quite clear the Melling oil pump, so that section also needed some work.

The girdle I used was surely intended for a 302 with a front cover dipstick since there was no provision for the Explorer's mid-block stick. Had to mill a slot in the girdle for that. IMO, there is enough meat remaining and it should not be a problem for a fairly mild driver like mine. The windage tray in the second photo is from Canton Products and it also needed to have an opening cut for the dipstick to pass through.

I had to go through much of the extra work because my 2003 Ranger is 4WD and needs a pan contoured to accommodate the same front diff arrangement as the AWD 5.0 Explorer. For a 2WD Ranger/5.0 Explorer swap, it might make sense to research using a different pan and possibly avoiding most of these girdle mods/compromises.

 

[Jbrown1238]

I used a generic 302 main girdle in my 99 Ex engine with its original stamped Explorer oil pan and Explorer pickup tube. This pan is heavily contoured to clear the AWD front differential (not sure if the 2WD Ex 5.0 pan is the same or not).

Using the unmodified AWD pan with its angled side meant that some of the edge of the girdle needed to be milled away. There was also some hand grinding done on the curved rear corner of the girdle. The result is a large bevel along much of that side of the girdle. Obviously, it is not as strong as before. However, most of the cross-section remains and the girdle should still be a worthwhile improvement over an unbraced block.

Up front, the girdle did not quite clear the Melling oil pump, so that section also needed some work.

The girdle I used was surely intended for a 302 with a front cover dipstick since there was no provision for the Explorer's mid-block stick. Had to mill a slot in the girdle for that. IMO, there is enough meat remaining and it should not be a problem for a fairly mild driver like mine. The windage tray in the second photo is from Canton Products and it also needed to have an opening cut for the dipstick to pass through.

I had to go through much of the extra work because my 2003 Ranger is 4WD and needs a pan contoured to accommodate the same front diff arrangement as the AWD 5.0 Explorer. For a 2WD Ranger/5.0 Explorer swap, it might make sense to research using a different pan and possibly avoiding most of these girdle mods/compromises.

Thank you Sir! I wanted to use a girdle on the first 306 I assembled for the Ranger but decided against it at that time. Like you I also feel it is a worth while investment and plan to add one to the next build. At this time I am just collecting the information needed to consider all obstacles before any work is started. You were very helpful with recommendations with my build over the past five years and I am pleased that is still the case as I move into the next chapter.

Jeff

 

[Junglejoe]

Good info!! Me and Jeff was just talking about this . Good stuff if you will be putting it to the test with 400 plus horsepower and high rpm's. Might go this route on mine since it will be on the bottle.