Engine swap questions...followed with a trans question.

[aelli614]

Ok so I have a 1991 GM with the 5.0. I would love to get more power in this car. Ive been looking at a lot of engine ideas, but I'm kinda stuck on what I should do.

My ideas have been.

H.O. 302
351
or go old school maybe a 400?

I would love to get around 300hp and somewhere around 350-400 torque one day.

Now as far as my transmission goes. I have no reverse I dont want to believe the transmission is bad with only 54k miles but it could be. Is there anything I can check that would be easier and cheaper than a new trans?

Thanks
Anthony.

[86VickyLX]

Ok so I have a 1991 GM with the 5.0. I would love to get more power in this car. Ive been looking at a lot of engine ideas, but I'm kinda stuck on what I should do.

My ideas have been.

H.O. 302
351
or go old school maybe a 400?

I would love to get around 300hp and somewhere around 350-400 torque one day.

Now as far as my transmission goes. I have no reverse I dont want to believe the transmission is bad with only 54k miles but it could be. Is there anything I can check that would be easier and cheaper than a new trans?

Thanks
Anthony.

An otherwise stock explorer motor with a T5 and 3.73s and some mild portwork to the intakes will do very close to that. With an automatic, you need a little more. There's a guy on here with a screwed stock AOD that does really well.

As for your transmission, is the fluid level topped off? Any noise when you put it in reverse? Any discoloration of the fluid? And what makes you think the car only has 54k miles on it? I'd be willing to bet it has 154k or even 254k.

[aelli614]

No noise... fluid level seems good. Prob needs to be changes.

I know it has 54k cuz its been in the family since new. Twas my grandparents car till they passed. Now its mine. Was mostly a grocery getter/pick me up from school.

[gadget73]

Honesty unless you have a lot of coin, I'd skip the 400. They can be made to run, but its not real cost effective. You'd have much better results with a 351w build, and it wouldn't require altering the motor mounts or any of that.

The HO works. Its no rocketship, but its significantly better than stock, and it makes it perform on par with a stock 90s model. Do that, the exhaust stuff, better gears, and its really quite drivable. You can make more power with a 351, but its gonna cost a little more. If you happen to live in an emissions area where you have to keep the EFI, or if you're like me and don't want to mess with a carb, then it gets more expensive. Bottom line is the more power you want, the more it will cost you. I would probably advise building the car backwards though. Do the gears first, then mess with the trans / converter, upgrade the exhaust, and last of all mess with the motor. If the engine runs good now, it will benifit from the other upgrades, and any real motor you put in the car is going to require that stuff to work right anyway.

[johnunit]

The explorer motor will get you close.

If you don't mind going carbed, a 351 with 180+cc heads and a 600 to 750cfm carb will get you there or very close.

[aelli614]

my question would now. be 5.0 from a explorer seems to be the engine to get...if im not mistaken they have the 4r70 trans...would it be worth it just to grab both at the same time?

Or would it be better to work with the trans I have for now since every thing else works fine?


Also as far as gears go I'm thinking 3.55 but (i know this is a very noob question) How can I tell what its working with now?

[aelli614]

opps found it car has a open 3.08

[86VickyLX]

my question would now. be 5.0 from a explorer seems to be the engine to get...if im not mistaken they have the 4r70 trans...would it be worth it just to grab both at the same time?

Or would it be better to work with the trans I have for now since every thing else works fine?


Also as far as gears go I'm thinking 3.55 but (i know this is a very noob question) How can I tell what its working with now?

You can't use the 4r70w from the explorer unless it's a 2wd model. The 4wd model uses a different output shaft. You'd have to disassemble the entire transmission to change the tailshaft. First part in, last part out. If you're planning on running a 4r70w, which sounds awesome in my opinion. You can get one from a v6 car, and it should have the same amount of clutches as the v8 counterpart, and it will have the proper bellhousing pattern, just change the converter you could run the one from the explorer in place of the V6 converter if you choose to do so. You will need a computer to run it since it's an electronic transmission. You basically have 3 options...

1. Here's the one that I figure will do the deed. A 1994-1995 Ford Mustang with AODE computer should control the transmission and the engine both. It's a step over the older computers because this one has livestream data, and a better ability to alter fuel trim. It still utilizes the distributor instead of the coilpacks of later year 302s. Though extensive wiring modifications will be needed to have everything work properly, since the 94 and 95 mustangs are wired completely different than those of the years past.

2. Your other route is an OBD-II swap, which I know of one person who is trying it right now. Your hangups there are, the harmonic balancer, or coming up with custom lines and stuff to make everything work with the explorer belt routing. Somebody has made the magic balancer that allows you to run panther accessory layout, but also keep the crank position tonering from the explorer for the OBD-II computer. You would run the coil packs from an explorer, cam position sensor, crank position sensor etc, a wiring harness from an explorer modified as needed so everything reaches everything it needs to. You could run the computer from the Explorer as well.

3. Your final choice is a stand alone transmission computer. Which is a bit pricey, however, you can program the shift points to however you see fit, which I think is pretty cool.

[Crownvicman289]

Route #4: similar to route 1, is to use a T-bird EEC of a certain year. I believe the last 5.0 T-birds had AODE's or 4R70W's and have the same wiring setup as a 94-95 stang, just opens the options a little more.

[aelli614]

Im going to guess 2 and 3 are the ez ones as far as wiring goes. Im thinking 2 since the engine will be from a donor explorer.Assuming I use a 2wd explorer engine/trans/and computer wich I see running around 1k used. Sounds like it wont be to hard to hook up. Any idea how hard the wiring would be?

[Crownvicman289]

You just guessed wrong. The wiring is time consuming. It's simple but can be overwhelming due to sheer quantity. I've done a number of EFI engine swaps myself so I never let the wiring stand in my way. If it's your current DD, plan on it being down a for a while or better yet have a friend who knows what he's doing, not a friend who just says he knows what he's doing.

[86VickyLX]

Im going to guess 2 and 3 are the ez ones as far as wiring goes. Im thinking 2 since the engine will be from a donor explorer.Assuming I use a 2wd explorer engine/trans/and computer wich I see running around 1k used. Sounds like it wont be to hard to hook up. Any idea how hard the wiring would be?

I forgot to mention, the truck transmissions are a tad bit longer, so you'll need to shorten your driveshaft. The wiring is the biggest obstacle, but if you're good with diagrams, and you have patience, it can be done. I'm in the middle of an ABS swap in my '86 and let me tell you making that harness fit my car was time consuming and not easy.
Number 3 is the most expensive
Number 2 second most
Number 1, cheapest.

[Crownvicman289]

You're retrofitting ABS ONTO your car? I went junkyarding for prop valves so I could get rid of mine, ABS is the devil.

[86VickyLX]

You're retrofitting ABS ONTO your car? I went junkyarding for prop valves so I could get rid of mine, ABS is the devil.

Yeah, I guess you didn't see the thread? I could've sworn you posted in it. Y'alls can lock up your brakes in wet weather, I'm tired of it.

[Crownvicman289]

LOL, I probably did post in it and said the exact same thing. It's amazing that I can be as vehicularly versatile as I am and yet so dumb at the same time.