explorer 5.0

Mr. Rustypwnz · Mar 18, 2008

you have to get the stock unit off the old block and swap them, so the ole' fl1a will screw on.

that was not removeable?

oh yes it is, I believe that it is a hex pattern inside the hole on the stang unit, get the breaker bar on it, and just try and budge it, because they break easilly!! get a set of huge visegrips and and crank down on the exploder unit, and back it out, then put the fox unit in tighten it down and your golden, I didnt notice this until I went to fire my engine!! that will piss ya off in a hurry!!

oh yeah, you can use the tfs cam with these heads, you 'might' want to swap springs because they are good to .500 and the tfs cam gets to .510....

myslo50 · Mar 18, 2008

-im looking at a spring kit in summit by trick flow, that has springs, retainers, keepers for stack iron heads.
-i didnt see any spot on it to remove. the block is gone, used it for a core. i know the explore motor im able to put a socket on it and remove from the block. the block is gone, so now what do i do?

LiquidGT · Mar 18, 2008

I did this same swap a couple of months ago block and all, I would've chimed in earlier but my computer was down for a week. From what I researched the exploder 5.0 has 9:1 comp, but if you put the Explorer GT40 heads and put them over Mustang pistons you'll lose compression.

Swap those puny Explorer springs for something else I used the TFS spring kit, the TFS stage 1 works great with my motor.

To my surprise the Explorer GT40 heads arent drilled for the smog pipe in the back, but I passed my final emissions test without it.

myslo50 · Mar 18, 2008

there is no smong holes is the head, which is good, so i dont have to plug them. not like its hard to do. i still have a problem with the oil filter to block problem

im using the explorer block with the gt-40 heads

LiquidGT · Mar 18, 2008

I unbolted the Explorer oil cooler because it has a hex head. The Mustang style has no provisions for tools (at least the ones I encountered) so I took off a regular oil bung from a '78 3.8L something with vise grips from a junk yard.

I think I used one of the Explorer oil cooler parts to screw the Mustang one on.

BlownFiveLiter · Mar 19, 2008

Oil filter adapter on eBay for $6.29:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD...288QQhashZitem310032771650QQitemZ310032771650

That's the guy I ordered mine from when I put the '00 Explorer shortblock in my 95.

Blown331LX · Mar 19, 2008

2000xp8 said:
A 96 explorer more than likely has gt40 iron heads, similar to the cobra, not the p's.
Basically you can use the long block with the intake, everything else has to come off your blown engine.
Budget money in for new gaskets, new water pump, and a new timing chain. No sense re-using these things.

$350 is a very good price

The Cobra's and the Lightning have the GT40'S, All Ford Explorers have GT40 P's and you will need different manifold or headers to match. You will get a bump in power, but you will also need to swap oil pan, dizzy, remove the knock sensor from the rear and replace it with the plug from the Mustang engine. Theres some minor additional things you have to change but everything is going to just swap right over. I would advise you to go ahead and replace the head gaskets and reseal the intake and other items like rear main seal while you have it out. You can get a complete engine gasket set from Mr. Gasket for about $70 shipped. Good luck

LiquidGT · Mar 19, 2008

fabfordtech said:
The Cobra's and the Lightning have the GT40'S, All Ford Explorers have GT40 P's and you will need different manifold or headers to match. You will get a bump in power, but you will also need to swap oil pan, dizzy, remove the knock sensor from the rear and replace it with the plug from the Mustang engine. Theres some minor additional things you have to change but everything is going to just swap right over. I would advise you to go ahead and replace the head gaskets and reseal the intake and other items like rear main seal while you have it out. You can get a complete engine gasket set from Mr. Gasket for about $70 shipped. Good luck

No the 96-97 1/4 Explorers came with GT40 heads, I bought a 96 Explorer motor and I got the GT40 heads, internal egr in the intake and I was even lucky enough to get a Lightning 65mm tb with a pcv elbow. I dont know about the GTP engines, but I didnt have a knock sensor on Explorer engine.

myslo50 · Mar 19, 2008

the motor was a 96 block. it has orignal gt-40 heads on it. they have the 3 vertical bars on the heads.

2000xp8 · Mar 19, 2008

fabfordtech said:
The Cobra's and the Lightning have the GT40'S, All Ford Explorers have GT40 P's and you will need different manifold or headers to match.

No, they don't, as liquid said the earlier 5.0's had regular gt40 irons.
I know, i'm a moderator on an explorer message board. (ya, i know, who the hell would give me a moderating job, perk of owning a saleen explorer i guess).

myslo50 · Mar 19, 2008

what is a stantard thickness of a 5.0 headgasket?
i gonna check piston clearence with my trick flow cam tomorow, do u think there will be issues with clearenes? i plan on changing springs anyway.

2000xp8 · Mar 19, 2008

I doubt you will have any clearance issues.
Look up the specs on the ford gaskets 9333pt1, those are the ones i would use.

LiquidGT · Mar 19, 2008

myslo50 said:
what is a stantard thickness of a 5.0 headgasket?
i gonna check piston clearence with my trick flow cam tomorow, do u think there will be issues with clearenes? i plan on changing springs anyway.

You should be ok, I have the TFS stage 1 cam, TFS springs, 1.6 rockers, and the Ford racing pushrods. It’s my DD and I haven’t had any reliability issues with it.

The 9333 gasket is .047, I think that’s what I have, can’t remember.

On a side note when I had my machinist put on my TFS spring kit, the springs wouldn’t fit on the exhaust side without shimming the hell out of them (IIRC he said .100 worth of shims). So I did some research and it turns out Ford made some funky tolerance exhaust valves on some GT40 irons. A few people ran into this issue with GT40s and TFS springs. Since my machinist refused to use a bunch of shims (good man) I had to get some -.050 valve retainers for the exhaust side so they would fit correctly. I still have a half a set of these retainers if you go the TFS spring route and you have the weird heads like mine.

myslo50 · Mar 19, 2008

trick flow must have known from the beginning because i think the kit comes with shims. thats kind of funny. would i still be able to use the stock rocker arms and pushrods with the tfs spring kit?

LiquidGT · Mar 19, 2008

Yeah I do have a bus load of shims left over, you should be fine with the stock stuff as far as fitment goes.

myslo50 · Mar 19, 2008

i just wondered, cause im running a little low on my buget. i also was tossing around the idea of puting a stock cam back in. so i dont have to change the springs. what do u guys think?

LiquidGT · Mar 19, 2008

I'm not 100% sure, but the Explorer springs looked smaller than the Mustang springs. The cam is sooo much eaiser to change with the engine out, you'll be kicking yourself later if you dont. I can understand the rockers because they arent too hard to change with the motor in the car.

myslo50 · Mar 20, 2008

i just got done checking piston clearences, and there ok. ill buy a spring upgrade kit for my tfs1 cam. i used a wire wheel on the block, now ready for paint. i might have the heads cleaned , but i dont know yet. i still have to mess around with the oil filter portion. once i figure it out it will be down hill from there.

2000xp8 · Mar 20, 2008

Since you are getting new springs, i'd suggest letting a head shop valve job the heads and set the spring seat pressure.
It's worth a noticeable amount of power.
I know it's more money, but the heads are off now.

myslo50 · Mar 20, 2008

ill have to check into that

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