Curious about the real cost of a 6 to 8 swap

[Curious Hound]

Red

 

[adsm08]

View attachment 52692View attachment 52693

Maybe I ought to think about painting it Blue .. huh ? The truck that is ...

Paint it black.

 

[Alan_nc]

The "Cost" post was ment as a joke. Sorry if it upset anyone.

 

[sumncguy]

The "Cost" post was ment as a joke. Sorry if it upset anyone.

Naaa .. cant hurt steel man ! ... was just sayin' ...

 

[Junglejoe]

It's like the menu in a fancy restaurant that doesn't have prices......if you got to ask you can't afford it.

That is 100 percent not true. Basically people ask about these swaps because they want to know how much money are they going to need to put in a Ford Ranger truck that are a dime a dozen. They want to know if the money they sink and sometimes waste on the truck is worth it..simple answer..Sometimes you can get your money back if you decide to sell. It all depends how crazy you get. What direction you want to go. In my opinion, leave it bone stock.. you can start it right up and drive it across country if you choose. No tune.. no nothing. Plug and play(almost) if you choose the right year truck

 

[Junglejoe]

View attachment 52692View attachment 52693

Maybe I ought to think about painting it Blue .. huh ? The truck that is ...

I know its off subject.. but how are.you liking that 124? I may go that route once my motor decides if its had enough of the 6600 rpms, wot powershifts , clutch dropping banging the rev limiter and tire smoking rides. I do ride it normal when the boss is on back..lol
I swapped in S&S585 cams fuel motor x pipe and thunderheader slip ons and tune. did 100/111 on otherwise stock 14 street glide. Bought it brand new and 4 months after I had it tore the engine apart.

 

[MikeG]

It's a hobby.... pour time and money into it, till you get bored or run out of either

 

[gaz]

sumncguy:

I vote "rebuild a donor 4.0L". An expense often not considered is fuel economy, while the 4.0 isn't known for outstanding fuel economy, it does usually net better than even well maintained V8's.

So if you do not need to tow with your vehicle perhaps consider a rebuild for fuel economy, here are my suggestions and what it cost me:

-multi angle valve job ($125+parts)
-flow bench port/polish intakes/heads ($700+parts)
-custom cam regrind ($159)
-T/B bored to 64mm ($200)
-SOHC pistons ($120)
-hardened rocker set ($150)
-adjustible push rods (($150
-engine decking/bore/assembly ($150)
-crank polish ($80)
-bottom end balance ($145)
-gaskets/seals ($150)
-oil filter relocation kit ($45)
-engine oil cooler ($60)
-electric fan/shroud ($120)
-headers ($500)
-custom dual 2" or single 2¾" exhaust ($250)

So, $2,800+/-

This project, a 1994 4.0L OHV, is still in-work but I expect over 30mpg highway and not less than 25mpg towing with approximately;

239 hp (at crank)
311 tq (at crank)

 

[sumncguy]

I know its off subject.. but how are.you liking that 124? I may go that route once my motor decides if its had enough of the 6600 rpms, wot powershifts , clutch dropping banging the rev limiter and tire smoking rides. I do ride it normal when the boss is on back..lol
I swapped in S&S585 cams fuel motor x pipe and thunderheader slip ons and tune. did 100/111 on otherwise stock 14 street glide. Bought it brand new and 4 months after I had it tore the engine apart.

No prob .. 124 Zippers with all the trimmings. Its an animal ! the only thing I'm not to crazy about is the redshift 468. I wanted more torque while swinging through the gears .. shift point for all gears is about 3000 but things die off quickly around 4500 .. but she'll git up and go ! although If I had to do it again .. Id probably go S+S. I wanted the HD 131 .. but the Harleys are snapping springs on their M8 stage 3s 107 to 114s. Figured couldnt be any better with the 131. Ive read about some skepticism about the cylinder wall thickness on the 131.

 

[sumncguy]

sumncguy:

I vote "rebuild a donor 4.0L". An expense often not considered is fuel economy, while the 4.0 isn't known for outstanding fuel economy, it does usually net better than even well maintained V8's.

So if you do not need to tow with your vehicle perhaps consider a rebuild for fuel economy, here are my suggestions and what it cost me:

-multi angle valve job ($125+parts)
-flow bench port/polish intakes/heads ($700+parts)
-custom cam regrind ($159)
-T/B bored to 64mm
-SOHC pistons ($120)
-hardened rocker set ($150)
-adjustible push rods (($150
-engine decking/bore/assembly ($150)
-crank polish ($80)
-bottom end balance ($145)
-gaskets/seals ($150)
-oil filter relocation kit ($45)
-engine oil cooler ($60)
-electric fan/shroud ($120)
-headers ($500)
-custom dual 2" or single 2¾" exhaust ($250)

So, $2,800+/-

This project, a 1994 4.0L OHV, is still in-work but I expect over 30mpg highway and not less than 25mpg towing with approximately;

239 hp (at crank)
311 tq (at crank)

Thanks Gaz .. this was pretty much what I was looking for. Based on some of the things Ive read here and on other resources, its a greater expense to go to a V8 then either rebuilding a 4.0 or buying a re-manufactured. .. and althought this truck is turning into a bit of a toy, its real use is the workhorse around the house out here in the country.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I wasnt interesting in wasting time rebuilding my 2.8. The A4LD was nothing spectacular either.

I stuck in a $200 used 302, I have obviously have more than that invested (different heads, cam, belt drive, intake, carb etc). No regrets, gets better milage loaded on trips than mom's 4.0 Explorer ever did, actually pretty close to what the stock truck was rated. It can actually get out of its own way and sounds good while doing so.

No regrets here. Absolutely none.

 

[TonkaMan]

2019 Civic ... 2019 Harley Street Glide (124 ci rebuild with all the toys) .. house paid off .. kids living here but bascially "doing their own thing" ... six figure Sr Network Engine Salary ... RN wife near six figure salary.

I can afford it. It's a matter of how much I want to spend on my new toy !

Also depends on how anal you are about things. I'm in the middle of planning an Ecoboost swap in a couple years for my 1997. Of course being an engineer, I'm currently reverse engineering the factory gauge cluster to build a go-between electronics module that'll get the factory gauges to talk to the crate motor ECU, and I also have the truck's frame drawn up in CAD to verify fitment before I take anything apart. You can quickly fall down the rabbit hole.

 

[Shran]

I had a good running 2.9 in mine...but it had a tired FM-145 behind it and it needed a clutch. I had just completed a solid axle swap in the front and an 8.8 swap in the rear, with 33" tires. I had 4.10 gears which were just barely adequate for that tire size on the highway, let alone offroad... I was either going one of two ways, a V8 swap that would gain me a real transmission with a granny low 1st gear, or a clutch replacement and much deeper gears in my axles. Either way was going to be $1000+. I opted for the V8. The engine, trans and t-case ended up costing me nothing after some careful buys and horse trading, but I definitely do have somewhere between $1000 and $2000 into a radiator, clutch, fans, and a lot of misc parts. Gears and install kits would have been $500-700 per axle plus some labor and additional cost for lockers... I stuck with the 4.10s which I still have, and am running 35" tires comfortably at this point.

I have no regrets either. The V8 has had plenty of stupid quirks but it's very reliable and is still running great after 10 years of merciless abuse.