When I first thought 5.0 swap...I was thinking 5.0 mustang engine....but after being on here, I noticed yall are taking 5.0s out of a lot of stuff for your swaps.

Whats the difference? Are some easier to swap than others? Whats the easiest for a 2wd set up? More specifiacally a 95 2wd 5spd? Whats the best value in your opinion? Also, my friend has a bunch of spare cobra stuff from his fox body mustang that he replaced when going turbo, would that fit on a 5.0 out of an explorer or whatever?

I understand if yall dont want to waste your time typing pages and pages...links will sufice. I just dont know very much and get easily confused/lost when googling for answers. If this has been discussed, can someone link me to that thread(s) please? Thanks for your time.

 

a 5L is a 5L is a 5L... they are all the same, VIRTUALLY! there are some major differences between them, but as far as what would fit, they should all bolt up to the same things... there are differences in the 351's (windsor, cleivelend ect.) the main difference, imo, that people are putting exploder and f-150 5L's in their rangers, are they are low rpm high torque motors, designed for hauling heavy loads over a long period of time, perfect for playing in mud or climbing long hills... pop er in low and let it idle up the mountain... mustang motors are not good at this, infact, idleing in 1st in my mustang, i had it stall on me a few times, on hills that weren't that steep, but if i layed into it, same hill, just before she stalled, about 3/4 throttle, when i got to about 2000 rpm, those back tires would start pouring smoke! which you couldn't do with the afrore mentioned motors... mustang motors are high rpm high horsepower motors... the torque bands are much closer to the redline, which is where the horsepower is created, which will make it a good acceleration car, but put a load on it, and you have to keep the rpm up past your regular shift point to even keep the motor running

hell, my old f-250 with the 460 in it, that was such a low rpm high torque motor, i had the long box loaded to the top of the cab with asoaking wet dirt/clay mixture, and A) didn't change my shift points at all, nor did it change my fuel economy...

in short, if you want the 5L to push you through anything and do it with ease (dirt, mud, rocks) explorer/f-150 motors is the way to go... if you want to smoke the tires and laugh at camaros, mustang motor... there are a **** tonne of differences in the internals of the motor that will give compatability issues, but i don't think that is what you are asking about...

 

Awesome, thanks!

Is there another car I can get a 5.0 HO motor from other than the mustang?

 

ummmm, don't think so... there were 5L's in the crown vic's and some t-birds i think, but they weren't HO's... maybe a maurader, but i don't think they went back far enough to use the 5L... i don't think mercury had a comperable model with a 5L EFI motor...

just make sure, my opinion, that you get a MAFS engine, rather than speed density, it will allow you to farther mod the motor down the road, without the tuning problems.. (the change was from 88-89)

 

If you look at my 5.0 swap there are alot off differences listed in the 5.0's from the stangs and the expos.
From what ive been told the 94-95 stangs are the same as the explorer 5.0's except the stang has a little hotter cam.
Explorer 5.0's are also better then the 5.0 from pickups because of the gt 40 heads and intake.

 

Cougars or T-birds, but they both used difference PCMs, SN-95' upper intakes, different front drive, oil pans, cams and emissions.

The first thing you need to do, before we can fully help, is state your budget. Do you want to build a built/forged stroker, a mild 302 to DD, or a junkyard build for under $500-1xxx? This will play a major role in what parts/application is best suited to your needs.

 

Definately want reliability, being street legal isnt really a concern because we dont have emissions.

I dont really have a budget, I want as cheap as possible and I'll be modding as I go, as of right now I basically want a stock 302, preferably that will be compatible with the parts im getting off a 91 mustang. My main concern is simplicity. I don't know a lot, this truck was meant to be a learning truck from the time my friend bought it (I later bought it from)...

What I was planning on doing was getting an old junkyard engine and having it rebuilt, then putting it in with a friend. Then adding on to it until I was happy as funds allow.

 

the biggest difference between the 302's and the 302 HO's is the firing order, the 302HO does not use the 302 firing order, it uses the 351W order, this is due to the stresses put on the crank, therefor everything that is connected to timing, (cam, ECM, distributor, ect) needs to be changed to the correct one... the ECM from the 91 mustang, will not work with a truck motor!

and as far as i know, the cougars and t-birds, used the 5.0 motor, not the HO motor... but i might be wrong on this

 

If you plan on rebuilding the short-block then the car/year won't be a huge factor as long as it's in good shape and preferably as low miles as you can get. 302's had forged pistons (I think 86' had the decent valve relief pistons) until 92', then hyper's from 93'-01', so if you plan to spray/boost is later, without boring to a larger cylinder, a forged piston would be most ideal.

My suggestion for engine/trans:
86-xx' block in good condition,
Expo/Cobra GT40 heads (non-P),
Expo/GT40 upper & lower intakes (with injectors & elbow),
Expo front accessory drive,
Fox body or SN-95' vert engine mounts,
89-93' Mustang ECU & harness & dizzy,
4.0 radiator,
90-93' Mustang T-5(WC) trans (other years will work, but have technicalities),
classic Mustang Tri-Y headers,
70mm MAFS, in your injector size calibration.

Both the cam and throttle body will be of your choice, as if you're going to all this work you may as well do a slight power upgrade when apart. Keep in mind though, that if you get a cam with much more than stock lift, or a stock cam with 1.7's, anything over that is pushing the limits of the stock valve springs. Also, depending on the year of block, you may have to do some work to run a hydraulic roller cam, I'm not sure on that area.

Just my $0.02

 

to build on what kyle posted, i would recommend making sure that the motor you get/build is NOT an interference motor, (if the timing chain were to break or any other horrible thing to happen, which would not allow the proper operation of the valves opening and closing, that the piston WILL NOT make contact with the stuck valve, this will save you thousands, if this problem were ever to occur!) this clearance is usually allowed by the valve reliefs in the piston heads

for the motor mounts, i would STRONGLY recommend moroso solid motor mounts, they look like steel blocks, with bolts sticking out of them... i put them on my 89 stang, and LOVED them, they will give you a slightly more vibrating ride, but i drove mine every day for 3 years with them... you don't really notice it except for idle, and if the car has a smooth idle, it won't be that bad

roller rockers (1.7) i would recommend (stock i think is 1.6) i have not heard of anyone having the problem with the stock valve springs with 1.7's, but i was recommended to put new ones in when i was looking at them (i think it was a set, maybe moroso again?)

here are the motormounts i am talkng about

 

Thanks a lot guys. Very good at explaining this. Yall got me stoked...I cant wait to find an engine now.

My suggestion for engine/trans:
86-xx' block in good condition,
Expo/Cobra GT40 heads (non-P),
Expo/GT40 upper & lower intakes (with injectors & elbow),
Expo front accessory drive,
Fox body or SN-95' vert engine mounts,
89-93' Mustang ECU & harness & dizzy,
4.0 radiator,
90-93' Mustang T-5(WC) trans (other years will work, but have technicalities),
classic Mustang Tri-Y headers,
70mm MAFS, in your injector size calibration.


Is that all I need to get it running? I know i should change the rear end and stuff, but if that isnt absolutely crutial, I can wait for that. I think I'm getting my friend's heads, valve covers, intake, radiator, alternator and fan from his cobra. I dont know what else he has for me...

 

I have read some people have used the stock 7.5 and that there supposedly good to like 300 horse. I personally wouldn't trust it though.

 

the 7.5 will be FINE, i know they were putting 302's in the mazda b2200's back home, with their stock rear, i don't know what it was, but i would think it would be around 6.8? smaller than our trucks... and the guy was saying that the diffs would be fine, as long as no one put wide tires on the truck, because that's where all the stress would come, with the traction... so if you are going to run 225's (226/60-15 is stock on the 89 mustang 5L) you shouldn't have a problem, i wouldn't go wider than that though...