Holy Crap! A unplaned 2001 Explorer 5.0 with the 4R70W transplant

[jonpblewis@yaho]

Well I could use some advice on the project I was forced to start last week after my 69 broke the crank in the carbed 5.0 its been running. I was not ready to start this but the bronco is my only ride these days. My hunt for a new to me used motor last week grew into wanting to upgrade from the 2bb carbed 5.0 HO / C4 / open 4.11 in the 9". I hadn't really thought out what I wanted to do before this and now I was under pressure to pull the trigger on something to get the bronco moving again. One thing led to another and Yesterday I found myself in the garage looking at the 2001 explorer 5.0 with all its components and wire harness along with the 4R70w 4x4 trans and a limited slip carrier for the 9".
The long and the short of it is I could really use any and all the input/advise/ links to info that you guys can offer up to me so I can resource it as I'm trying to pull this setup together as fast as I can. Please don't be shy i you know something about this build or can help by posting some good questions that will generate more good info about it that would be great. Thanks so much.
PS: I may not be able to post back right away as I'm working during the day and then working on the Bronco at night but I will be checking in to see what you guys offer in the way of support. Cheers JL

 

[boonz28]

I'm in the process of doing the same transplant out of a 2000 Explorer. I'm hoping to get the engine swapped out this weekend and i'll probably wait on doing the transmission swap for a while.
I'm going to try and document as much of the process as possible so it will help others if they run into any snags.
Here's what i've learned so far:

1) The explorer engine you have is controlled of an OBDII system, you'll probably want to switch to an OBDI ECU (A9P, A9L, etc) for the sake of simplicity. There are people on here using OBDII but that system wants to control airbags, door locks, alarm, etc. Most members on here stick with the OBDI to save themselves some headaches.

2) The Explorer engine gets spark from a coil pack that won't work with the OBDI system so you'll want to use a TFI Distributor instead. Since your engine is a roller cam engine it will have a steel cam gear so you need to make sure your distributor also has a steel gear and NOT CAST.

3) Your 2001 engine will have returnless fuel rails on it. To make your life a lot easier you can just get some of the '96-'98 (i think) explorer fuel rails that have a return on them.

4) The 2001 engine will also have GT40P heads. These are great flowing heads but have an odd spark plug angle in them. This causes some clearance issues if you want to run the stock bronco manifolds or most headers. You can buy EB specific "P" headers that will clear everything for about $300.

5) You'll need to decide on an EFI harness to make all your ECU talk to all your sensors. There are quite a few options out there the cheapest being to build one yourself or modify an existing harness out of a donor vehicle such as a mustang (this requires a LOT of time and knowledge from what i can tell), or you can buy a harness that is basically plug and play but will set you back some coin. Several companies make one: Painless (http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Painless_Fuel_Injection_Harness_EFI), RJM (http://www.rjminjectiontech.com/collections/50l-efi-harnesses), Ron Francis (http://www.ronfrancis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=TDZ-75)

There are some other things to do with the engine/ fuel system to get it to work but those are the basics. I'm sure someone with more experience can fill in some gaps.

The Transmission will take some effort and quite a bit of money to make work also.

1) If you have it rebuilt its pretty pricey (Most of my quotes were about $1200 and thats me bringing in the trans already out of the vehicle). This is because there are so many electrical components to replace.

2) To control the transmission you'll need an aftermarket stand alone controller such as the Baumann. Expect to pay about 600 for this.

3) You'll also need an adapter to mate the transmission to you transfer case. There are a couple options but expect to pay between $300-$500.

Again, there are is a lot more to it but those are the basics.

 

[bronco loco]

You can use the stock bronco manifolds with a little shaving. I'm using the engine and the tranny from a 98 explorer, with a carb. I'll go FI next year.

 

[boonz28]

John,
Somehow i overlooked the part where you said you wanted to go Carbed.
You can disregard most of my last post. LOL

 

[PaveBronco]

Have you looked into just getting a new short block, would be quicker and cheaper, assuming the old block is totaled from the crank break. maybe a junk yard 302?