First question: I came across a couple sets of heads at the junkyard from 5.0 Explorer motors. They all had the front two intake bolts twisted off in them although they look in pretty good shape. Is this a common problem, perhaps because they are right next to the coolant passage? What do you think a shop would charge to remove the bolts and fix any damage to the threads? Second question (ok it's a lot more than two): I was looking at an EFI swap. I came across several donors in the salvage yard. What do you think is the best bet? Should I mix and match intakes, computers, harnesses, etc? Price is $100 for a whole engine, it doesn't matter if the parts came from 1 car or 10 cars. Should I grab the heads from both Explorers and sell the ones I don't use? Buy two engines and use the best parts? Forget EFI and just get the heads? Grand Marquis intake appears not as tall but is on the wrong side. Can it be flipped around by using the Explorer lower intake? -Wrecked 98 Explorer (GT40P), passenger fender damage and airbag deploy, not pushed in so far that it is touching engine. -Not wrecked 96 Explorer (GT40), not sure why it's there, can't turn crank because someone took the pulley, is there another way to check the engine health?. -Rusty Grand Marquis, I think it's an AOD tranny which I might grab too. -90 Thunderbird, no engine but has computer, harness is chopped up. Lets just hope it's all still there when I go back.
Ask them why it's there. If it's a cash for clunkers deal I would stay away from the bottom end but would snag the heads and intake.
Broken bolts in the heads are somewhat common. Easy enough to remove with proper tools. Best bet is have a machine shop remove them when they rebuild the heads. For junkyard swap EFI, I would avoid 96 and newer computers. for the 96 model year the EPA required Catalyst monitors and OBDII compliance. While the OBDII compliance isn't a bad thing (easy code reading and data stream gathering) 4 heated oxygen sensors and 2 catalytic converters kinda sucks.(could use cheaters for the rear HEGOs) Make sure all sensors and computer comes from same type of system. If it has a mass airflow sensor it is a mass air system. no mass air, it's a speed density system. Mass air tends to take mods a little bit better.(not much though). Best bet is use the best sensors from any car and use aftermarket tunable computer(i.e. Megasquirt). You can turn the engine with a fit-all(adjustable wrench) sized to crank snout and turn against crank key. Or, you could hook a good battery to the starter if it's good and installed. Can't help you on the intake. Never looked at those parts like that to see if that would somehow work.
Well I ended finding another wrecked 90 Thunderbird with a 5.0L HO that I could turn over. I pulled that motor and grabbed the GT40 heads. The trans was gone so the flexplate was missing and I didn't have time to get the whole wiring harness so I'll have to go back if I want the EFI. It doesn't have a connector at the firewall like I was expecting so I'm not sure exactly how to go about removing it without damage. I got the upper/lower intakes and the part of the wiring harness that is attached to the engine. I may shelve those parts for now and put an intake and carb on it. With the Explorer heads on the Thunderbird block/camshaft will there be adjustments I have to make as far as the pushrods are concerned? I've rebuilt top ends once or twice, but always with stock parts. I was going to find a machine shop to remove the broken bolts from the heads. While I have the stuff there I was going to have them clean and magnaflux the heads. Should I keep the bottom end together and use it as is or should I brake it down and rebuild it while it's not in the car and I have the top end off anyway? The tag on the car said it had 122k miles on it. If I have the block hot tanked, how hard is it to replace the cam bearings?
to pull the harness out you go inside the passenger side and pull the kick pannel. the computer is mounted there. pull out the compter, unplug it from the harness. that takes a 10 mm socket. then un plug every thing from that harness. you can push the large grommet out of the fire wall from the inside of the car. then you can pass the harness through the hole into the engine compartment.
rebuild the short block. Definitely. I always bring cam bearings and freeze plug with the short block and have the machine shop install them. The cost is negligible with the other machine work. Just recently have a 302 short block cleaned, bored, etc for $683 including the gasket set, freeze plugs(installed), crank cut, all bearings(cam bearings installed), resized the rods, cast flat top pistons, and installed pistons on rods. Broken out of that price for cam bearing and freeze plug install was something like $20. Worth every penny.
I went back this weekend and picked up a complete 8.8 rear from the explorer with discs, 3.73, limited slip for $70. I was thinking about going back saturday for the AOD and flexplate from another Thunderbird with a 5.0 that I came across. Unfortunately the car I pulled the motor from has been crushed since I was there so I'm still computerless, but I can sort that out while I rebuild the engine. I know that a common upgrade to the GT40 heads are 1.7 ratio rockers. I was also considering a new cam since I will be tearing down the shortblock anyway. I'm starting to get into things that I'm not very expirienced with. First off the car will be driven for fun/weekends and occasionally taken to the drag stip (once or twice a year). I thought I'd shoot for somewhere around 350 hp give or take. I would like to eventually use the EFI setup, but right now I'm trying to focus on the block and heads. Will the stock bottom end work for these goals or are there some changes I should look at?
the stock bottom end should work just fine for what you want. you just need to make sure that you dont choose a cam that is too big with the 1.72 rockers that will cause the valves to hit the pistons. fords e and b cams both work well with the 1.72 rockers on the stock pistons.
