A buddy of mine is selling his 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis to a friend as a Demo car, and wants to know if I want the engine( the guy is putting a chevy crate engine in the Merc). Its got 80k miles on it, only thing it needs is a new thermo stat. He said he'd sell it to me for $300 maybe $250. Oh and it was his Grandmas car for the majority of the miles so it wasn't abused. Main question is Will this engine work in a Ranger since the intake comes out on the opposite side compared to the Explorer and Mustang 5.0s? I told him to hold it for me and he said he would, cause I can't do anything til fall/winter. Any help would be awesome!

 

i say get it i have a 5.0 out of a 85 grand marquis and i plan on using it

 

Yeh it actually may work out better you wont have to worry about clearing the ac box.. Although i could be wrong..

 

I am just talking here so there needs to be some checking out.

Depending on the year of the truck it will be going in, will dictate the year of the Donor Vehicle/Engine you need or at least have the least amount of trouble; computer and PATS stuff.

Also, the “Grandma” Car is not the best engines to get, slow driving causes a low ridge to form at the top of the cylinder, engines that have been pushed some have a higher ridge.
This ridge unless removed during a rebuild can break the top ring and cause the engine to burn oil.

If it was free it would be something to consider for a rebuild, but $300 for something that may not last through the first blast through a Mud Hole, not sure.

IMHO, these are just things to be considered… no more.

 

Thanks for the help guys, I definitely am going to need more input on this before I decide to pull the trigger on it. And it was my friends for the last 10k so I know he didn't drive it like a grandma would, so maybe that might help disprove the Grandma theory. Anybody else??

 

That motor is a very good base to start with. They were the same 302 HO as the Fox body mustang up until 93. They have a roller cam that is pretty darn good for stock, and they were rated for just over 200 horsepower. Its the same basic motor as I have in my truck. If your going to put it in your 99 you will have a little bit more trouble than the explorer motor since the front drive is different.

 

What transmission would I use with this? An Explorer Tranny?

 

For for wheel drive you could run an AOD, but I hate them with a passion. The explorers 4R70W trans is great imo but you need a stand-alone kit to run it since it is controlled by the explorers PCM.

 

C-4 Auto w/adapter for the Ranger T/C if 4x4, if 4x2 just a plain old C-4.
Get an earlier one and there is no computer control.
Only problem with the C-4 is no OD.
I’m hoping for a 5-sp in my next swap but not sure what is available.

 

I'm gonna have to go back and read up on some 5.0 swaps, cause I feel like I'm reading a different language all of a sudden lol. What is a stand alone kit, and a C-4 auto? where can I get the adapter from?

 

a A4OD is a very strong tranny but!

you must have a professional transmission rebuilder to overhaul it

they have the info about defects in any transmission

and they re-build tranny1`s with stronger parts than factory

 

A C-4 is am older Automatic Transmission that does not have nor does it run by a computer.

You should read up on the How-To’s on a 5.0 Swap, get all of the info you can and read and re-read it just to be sure.

Check out info from “rwenzing”, he is a good source
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/727284/1
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/727284/6

check out these two pages on rwenzing - Cardomain.

Luck