Finally, More Power!

[DFG 5OH]

Well I talked my dad into doing an Explorer build up with me, and he agreed to help. I've been waiting on doing much to my car, cause late spring of 05 i'm going to buy a complete Explorer 5.0, and rebuild it, and then swap it in my car, after i rebuild my T-5, (if i've got the money i'll get a better tranny) Anyways, we're going to start looking for one, junkyards, sale ads, things like that. What would i be paying for one of these? And other than the motor, would i need wiring harnesses, computers, or anything like that???

BTW i'm going to do a new motor because i cant have my car out of comission for that long, and i can work on it as i get the money. Plans are to tear down, clean everything, bore .030, and new gaskets, and seals all over. Any tips or link that i could get mor info with this? I want a pretty fast car, but nothing over a 302 for now, i'd like to push the GT-40p heads and explorer block as long as i can.

 

[302fordracer]

I am reasonably certain that what I have heard is that the explorer motors for 96-98 were a direct swap for our cars....so happy building and good luck man

 

[DFG 5OH]

i cant wait, i just need the money

 

[Darkhorse845]

Congrats!

 

[blksn955.o]

I priced out the cost of buying a pre-built shortblock and doing it myself, and the cost of pistons, rings, rods, machining, ball., bearings, main support,ARP bolts and such. The cost made the pre-built shortblock a better money buy. I mean if you want to build your motor thats fine, that is what this hobby is about, having fun and learning things. Just from a parts/BS standpoint the bought shortblock can be a very good choice.

 

[donjohn]

OK, this was written i believe by GreenMustangGT... the guy with the multicolored car. I thought it was a pretty good writeup so... anyways, this is what HE WROTE:

EXPLORER MOTOR SWAP
ive decided to make a list of what you must go through.
first find a sutable motor, 1997.1998 motor, make sure it has gt40p heads.
you can find a low milage motor for cheap money, mine is a 4thmonth> 1997, has 50,000 and i got it for $650, complete.

When you get your motor, you must pull your old one to to get the swap on. Start on your explorer motor by pulling the oil pan, and the pickup. Install those from your origional motor., get a new oil pump, teher only like $30 and whell worth it. Next, remove the crazy oil-cooler thing the explorer has, and swap out the nipple from your stock block so you can screw the filter directly to teh block.
Moving up, remove all the brackets if there on there, and all the coil packs, the explorer wiring harness, and dist pickup from the hole. replace with all your brackets and your fuel rails, and your dist. now you will want to change your cam, due to the explorer one blows, this is the same as a cam swap on a reg motor. basically that is it. The explorer motor has great heads, and Intake setup, whick actually slightly out-flows a cobra. its all pretty easy, as the block is exactly the same as your old one, just take your stuff off and put it on the explorer block. oh, also if you have a five speed you must install a piolt bearing, and swap flywheels, bam easy. I installed some trick flow valve springs when i did mine. with a crane cam 2031, and 1.7 rr. btw i needed some 3.500 pushrods, but tahts cause of the cam.

hope that helps... you could probably search for the original thread with his sn

 

[DFG 5OH]

Well i would like to learn, with building up and all, i dont know if i'm going to replace much, just clean up, but if i dont replace much, i doubt it will cost more than the price of a re-built shortblock

 

[blksn955.o]

Your right there, I was going with forged pistons, rods and stuff so they had to be bought anyway. I am going to try and build a spare 302HO from the stock stuff off my 94 for the Bronco if I decide to keep it (going to try and sell it for now). with only needing a hone, rings, bearings, gaskets it should be preaty cheap to do if you plan on re-using as much as possible.

 

[DFG 5OH]

i'd like to have more HP. I know about engines, but i'm not extremly familur with cranks, rods, and pistons. Could i get 250RWHP with an Explorer motor build up? What all would i need, W/O stroking, or power adders. I'm going to work on it as i get the money, so its going to be a slow project.

 

[wytstang]

Could i get 250RWHP with an Explorer motor build up? What all would i need, W/O stroking, or power adders.

Yup that's pretty simple to reach with the right parts. Buy good rebuilt kit (summit has one) choose a mild cam or keep the stock cam and use 1.7RR for the added lift. You should look into rio's set-up his is mild and he's using the stock ported with a steeda 19 cam.

 

[DFG 5OH]

i'll definatly go cam, and if needed, port heads and intake, RRs...either tremec tranny, or rebuild my T-5, or keep it till it busts

 

[wytstang]

Check out www.stangpro.com go to the article section they have a awesome write up on gt40p heads in there.

 

[blksn955.o]

Well I got a 231rwhp with unported gt40 heads, tmoss gt lower, TFS1 cam, and no tune pig rich and on only 7cyl. I would think 250rwhp is do-able.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I would say it is doable. I made 250rwhp 292rwtq with stock untouched heads and cam

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

hey man, if you need any info on an explorer motor, ask me. I used stock heads, infact i dident even unbolt them, i just added some trickflow valve springs, and a stock explorer intake. Basically i have a stock 55k explorer motor, with valve springs, a 2031 cam, and 1.7rr's. ohh and its super cheap, i got my motor for $650 complete. if you need any info, IM me, or lave a private. Its actually a really simple swap, due to its the Exact same block as our car's.

 

[DFG 5OH]

Is there a write up about how to go about doing it?