Junkyard engine from a 1996 Ford Explorer 5.0L V8, aka Ford 302, aka Ford small block.
No idea on the condition of this, but it was all there and it was cheap.
Picked up a T5 transmission world class real cheap and got work lights. Also just moved.
Got right into tearing it down to rebuild.
Wanna-be photographer. Rockers and valve springs had some serious baked on oil.
Oil pan off.
Colorful oil on the main journals, connecting rods, and crankshaft.
No garage to work in so everything is outside.
Bare block.
Cylinder heads disassembled, in dire need of cleaning.
Valve springs, rockers, and valves all kept in order up to this point.
Bought some new pistons, took them and the old connecting rods to get cleaned and inserted. Black sharpie is to mark the front direction.
Dash removed and unleashed the rats nest of wiring.
Everything had been cleaned and new bearings arrived. Assembling crankshaft.
Took the front subframe to weld on some reinforcements around the engine mounting points to handle the extra torque.
Beginning of wiring adaptation between BMW and Ford.
Snapped a screw on the lower intake into the cylinder head. Never got that out.
First attempt at welding thin gauge metal on an oil pan. Needed this to clear the steering rack.
Short block assembled.
Torqued down the cylinder heads.
Soaking the new lifters before install.
New push rods didn’t match the original size. Valves wouldn’t have been able to close.
Lower intake, lifters, push rods, and rockers installed.
New pickup for front sump oil pan. Needed to relocate the pickup since I modified the oil pan. Dimensions here are critical otherwise you end up with an oil starved motor.
Oil pan, engine mounts, and valve covers installed.
Taped up and put on short tube headers. Original plan was to rout the exhaust around the front and dump down passenger side.
First time test fitting.
Oil pan clearances.
Hydraulic throwout bearing.
Upper intake on, some hoses and tubes routed.
Decided against routing the exhaust around the front. Found some long tube headers that fit and avoided many problems with the front dump exhaust idea.
Headers in the way of the steering shaft, made an offset to work around. No binding and the strength has been tested. My life is on the line with this and I know this will not fail.
Good amount of wiring done here, accessories on.
Brakes are now manual (non power assisted). Fabricated mounting of fluid reservoirs.
Custom drive shaft.
Electric radiator fan setup.
Water pump pulleys for the Ford Explorer water pump are non existent. Machine shop quoted way out of budget, decided to make my own. It won’t be balanced but should do the job temporarily.
Creative Frustrations 