5.0 V8 2001 Sport Trac

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Dan Long

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After purchasing a new F150 a few weeks ago I've decided to sell my Sport Trac and move on to some other projects. Here are the details....



The truck is a 2001 Sport Trac 2WD (Job 2) that was pretty well loaded with leather, sunroof, power driver's seat, Pioneer 6-disc w/subwoofer, cruise control, keyless entry, power windows/locks, and tilt wheel. I purchased it in March of 2014 at 193K miles with a blown head gasket and swapped in a 5.0 V8 from the 2000 Explorer that I had been driving which had just under 134K miles on it. I had been very busy with work that year and didn't actually get around to the swap until December, but it only took a week or so once I started. Since the swap I've put about 45K miles on this truck, driving it all over the country, as I travel a lot for work and it has never let me down. I've been as far as Nevada, and I regularly travel from Florida to Tennessee/Kentucky/Ohio/Maryland in it.



I've only come across a handful of people who have actually done this swap, and in my opinion, mine is one of the nicest/closest to OEM that I've seen. The 2000-2001 Explorer was the closest match to the Sport Trac possible, and allowed me to avoid having to modify the fuel system at all. Also, since I had a complete donor vehicle available, I was able to just swap in any stock parts needed instead of trying to make the original Sport Trac parts work. Almost everything between the two trucks bolted up with exception of the wiring harness to the motor and the driveshaft due to length.



For the wiring harness, I went to the junkyard and chopped off about 18" of harness from another truck, as the problem was that the connection location had changed and would no longer reach. I cut the end from my 42-pin connector and then soldered and heatshrunk every single connection, then rewrapped it in loom and routed it as the Explorer did along the firewall. I had to change a few pin locations and add a ground connection in the connector as well.



For the driveshaft, I got an aluminum shaft from an F150 and had it shortened by a local machine shop to the length I needed. It's been on my list to have it professionally balanced, but the closest shop to me is 1.5 hours away and would require me to drop it off in the morning, with no guarantee on when they can get to it, and I just haven't had the time to sit around all day waiting on it.



In addition to the motor swap, I completely rebuilt and converted the front suspension over to a Fox 2.0 coil-over setup using a set of the brackets that copy the RCD design. The Fox coil-overs are paired with a set of King 700lb springs and were custom valved for mostly street use by Downsouth Motorsports. The rear suspension is essentially stock, but has a set of Monroe load adjusting shocks with the coil spring.



Due to a leaking pinion seal on the rear end, I took the opportunity to swap in a disc brake rear from a 2005 Sport Trac last year. I also opted to go for a 3.73 rear end instead of the 4.10, as while the 4.10 was fun around town I do A LOT of interstate driving and wanted to bring the cruising RPM's down a bit for comfort.



I could add a ton more detail, but suffice it to say that everything on the truck works as it originally did, with 2 exceptions. All the gauges work, the OBDII system works, the AC works (and is 100% new), etc. The 2 exceptions are that the O/D Off light doesn't light up when putting it in Tow mode, although it's possible that the bulb is just out, as Tow mode does work. The other is that I didn't wire in the old PATS system, as I really didn't care about it and knew I could just have it turned off in the custom tune for the ECU.



I have a detailed spreadsheet of all of the maintenance and work I've done over the past few years, and will gladly pass it along to an interested party. All of the parts I have for the truck will be included, with the exception of the Torque Monster headers, as they will have to be negotiated due to their value.



I've included a few pictures that I took after a quick cleaning recently. The paint looks decent from a few feet away, but there are definitely some blemishes. Interior is very decent, although the driver's seat is pretty rough as usual and there is some fading of the upper door panels. The sunroof cover's headliner material was sagging so I just peeled it off and left it as the black plastic panel for the time being.



Asking $6500.



List of parts replaced/added since purchase:

Black headlights/corner lights w/ SS Ultra bulbs

Black upper/lower billet grills

Fog light housings

Upper/lower control arms

Upper/lower ball joints

Inner/Outer tie rod ends

Sway bar end links

Front/rear brake calipers & pads

Front/rear brake rotors

Inner/outer wheel bearings & seals

Front/rear stainless braided brake lines

Fox 2.0 coil-overs w/700lb King springs

Method Race wheels (17x8.5) w/ Cooper Discover 265/70-17 tires

TCI Deep aluminum transmission pan w/drain plug

Baumann transmission recalibration kit/updated Sonnax bypass clutch control valve

Prothane body mounts

Engine/transmission mounts

A/C compressor, condensor, drier, evaporator core, upper/lower lines

Windows tinted

Dash cluster/climate control lights replaced with Sylvania LEDs

Reverse bulbs changed to Sylvania LEDs

Replaced 3rd brake light w/new F250 take-off

ARE fiberglass tonneau cover - sprayed with bedliner and poly coated for UV protection

WeatherTech in-channel window deflectors

Cam synchronizer

Oil pressure sending unit

Coolant temp sensor

Tensioner pulley

DPFE sensor

Water pump

Upper/lower radiator hoses & bypass hoses

Thermostat

Fuel filter

Spark plugs & wires

Serpentine belt

Magnaflow dual in/single out muffler, turn down before rear axle

Kenwood DNX-5120 DVD head unit with Garmin navigation

Kenwood 6x8 door speakers front/rear

ScanGauge 2 mounted left of steering column

Xcalibrator 2 w/custom tunes from Torrie @ Unleashed Tuning

Ford rubber bed mat

Bed extender

Wheelskins leather steering wheel wrap



Extras included but not currently on truck:

All aluminum, welded radiator w/custom aluminum fan shroud & Volvo S60 electric fan

OEM step bars & brackets (one end cap missing)

OEM roof rails

Extra set of interior door panels

Extra set of lower cab plastics

Front tow hooks

Extra lower billet grill

OEM Pioneer 6-disc radio

OEM Pioneer sub/amp for behind seat

CompuStar 2-way remote start/alarm system

All original torsion bar parts

Torque Monster headers/new ARP bolts/gaskets for split tube (these will be negotiated)

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Thanks Steve!



Those pics are from when the swap was just completed, but nothing really looks any different other than the fan wasn't in place for those. Neither of the OEM fan shrouds would work for the mechanical fan, so I've been running it without a shroud and it cools just fine. I had built a new shroud with a Volvo electric fan and the new all aluminum radiatior but my fan controller crapped out on me and I haven't gotten around to replacing it.
 
Update... The speedometer is now dead on! Using a program called FORScan that I've been playing with on my new F150 I was able to reprogram the ABS unit for a custom value rather than the preprogrammed options that Ford allows in their software.
 
I was very interested in putting in a 5.0 in my sport trac but I'm too dumb to understand all the particulars. For example, I have an 02, so I thought about getting an 02 explorer with the sport trac. The last time I proposed this, everyone seemed to be saying get an earlier explorer. I don't get it. I like yours though. Id have to get rid of my sport trac to get yours.
 
The only 2002 Explorer that could be had with a V8 was the new body style 4-door truck, and it had the 4.6 V8 motor which is much larger, and the two trucks don't really share any parts. The 2002 Explorer Sport 2-door was essentially the same truck as our Sport Tracs, but could also only be had with the 4.0 V6. For this swap, a 2000-01 Explorer is the ideal truck. 1999 and older had some minor changes that can be worked around, but created extra problems.
 
The truck has been sold. Sadly, it didn't go to an enthusiast of any sort, and is going to live out its days hauling a lawn service trailer. Oh well, it was a fun project while it lasted!
 
I'm still running Dan's original, 18" Enkei RT-6 wheels on my '04 Trac. Knock on wood, 'cause they are out of production. His Dad being a trucker, delivered them to me.
I also wished I had installed the pushrod 5.0L (302 cui) Winsdor motor in my Trac. So many easy, nice to the wallet, mods for that motor. It was a proven good simple performance V8, with potential. First version was 1964 as a 260 cui., Then a 289 2bbl and 289 4bbl hi-po. Then the various 302's, that were not a full 302 cui. A little over 300 cui.
I think the 2000 Explorer version, Dan used Had the GT-40P iron heads and the explorer version Gt-40 intake. Better 302 than the last year the SN-95 Mustang came with. Except the FI 'stang cobra
Well I suppose I just let on how long I have been around.....LOL o_O
 
would think that just using existing frame etc, and switching over the cab and bed would be easier if using same years, since ya changed most of drivetrain, interiors are simialiar so then wiring would not change. if you have ever changed over body mounts your basically doing it, and if holes did not line up you can drill some. at least on paper it seems easier.
 
yea not sure, i wished i had the talent to do that or the shop but trying to do a simple 6 cyl conversion on my 70 2 dr nova to a 350 was way more involved then just dropping it in and to do a newer vehicle i could not imagine but i heard theres a guy in wichita ks that dropped a cummins into a 02 sport trac and did see pics and it looked clean.
 
I'm still running Dan's original, 18" Enkei RT-6 wheels on my '04 Trac. Knock on wood, 'cause they are out of production. His Dad being a trucker, delivered them to me.
I also wished I had installed the pushrod 5.0L (302 cui) Winsdor motor in my Trac. So many easy, nice to the wallet, mods for that motor. It was a proven good simple performance V8, with potential. First version was 1964 as a 260 cui., Then a 289 2bbl and 289 4bbl hi-po. Then the various 302's, that were not a full 302 cui. A little over 300 cui.
I think the 2000 Explorer version, Dan used Had the GT-40P iron heads and the explorer version Gt-40 intake. Better 302 than the last year the SN-95 Mustang came with. Except the FI 'stang cobra
Well I suppose I just let on how long I have been around.....LOL o_O
LOL, I've worked on every one of those '50's you mentioned, with every head variant. I had GT's of every year from '87-95, with the GT40's, GT40P's, etc. I owned 5 different '94-95 Cobras, and have heads and intakes in my garage that I'd give away at this point. I never got into self-modding heads. But, back in the day, a 20-30 HP increase from massaging a set of GT40P's was the peak of what a motor could do.

When I build another fox-body mustang, I'm going to either go Big Block, and avoid all electronics. Or I'll go with the 20K+ motor from Ford that they put in the GT500, and call it a day.
 
I'm still running Dan's original, 18" Enkei RT-6 wheels on my '04 Trac. Knock on wood, 'cause they are out of production. His Dad being a trucker, delivered them to me.
I also wished I had installed the pushrod 5.0L (302 cui) Winsdor motor in my Trac. So many easy, nice to the wallet, mods for that motor. It was a proven good simple performance V8, with potential. First version was 1964 as a 260 cui., Then a 289 2bbl and 289 4bbl hi-po. Then the various 302's, that were not a full 302 cui. A little over 300 cui.
I think the 2000 Explorer version, Dan used Had the GT-40P iron heads and the explorer version Gt-40 intake. Better 302 than the last year the SN-95 Mustang came with. Except the FI 'stang cobra
Well I suppose I just let on how long I have been around.....LOL o_O
Second run at you to say, I get it. I prefer the '302/351 motors. But, I'm NOT a big fan of carburation. I just never liked having to mess with jets and such. But, I GET IT from the standpoint of being anti-computer. Real easy to turn a 351 carbed motor into a 400HP beast. My little truck will just have to look the part; doesn't appear I can slap a Kenne Belle on this 281, and call it a day, as I did on my '05 GT.
 
JC, This was my '94 'Stang. Base 302 block 30 over. Massaged heads, extrude honed matched upper & lower '94 Cobra intake. Rewired to use the '93 Cobra ECU, and 24# injectors and maf. Crane cams ignition box & coil. Inside the fender MAC filter. 1;72 roller rockers. Motorsport shorties, Basanie cat-x, & 3" cat back .Some body mods. Lowered with springs.
HP and TQ, I don't know, never did the dyno.
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JC, This was my '94 'Stang. Base 302 block 30 over. Massaged heads, extrude honed matched upper & lower '94 Cobra intake. Rewired to use the '93 Cobra ECU, and 24# injectors and maf. Crane cams ignition box & coil. Inside the fender MAC filter. 1;72 roller rockers. Motorsport shorties, Basanie cat-x, & 3" cat back .Some body mods. Lowered with springs.
HP and TQ, I don't know, never did the dyno.
View attachment 2179
Love the car, Eddie. :) I've had more of the 'bubble-butt', '94-95 Mustangs Cobras, than anyone I know! Now, that's only four, but I don't know anyone else that's owned more than four of the 5.0 '94-'95 Cobras :) I had two red, one white, one black.

I HATED them at first, as I was a fan of the prior 87-93 Mustangs. Then I grew to love them about 5 years later, lol! I wanted the white 1995 Cobra R big time. Couldn't afford it (they were only sold to racers), but couldn't get my hands on one after the fact either. So, built a '95 Cobra R replica, all white, black cloth interior, and had a S1 (or maybe S2?) Vortech on it. If I recall, the pace car used a 351; guess I could have put a 351 in there, but the 302 was okay, with good supercharging.

Very much sounds like you were working with the same mustangs at the same time, brother. I'm a Mustang fan, first and always. Sounds like you're a similar stang man. :) LOL, reading through it, you did every trick there was to do on those '90's stangs, be it '93-prior or '94-post. Then, in '96, they threw all sorts of monkeywrenches in the works :p

After the 15 or so Mustangs I've owned from the '95-older versions (at least four of those were Cobras), I've owned a '99 Cobra with a Vortech, a 2005 GT with a Kenne Bell, an '07 GT500, and a 2010 GT500.

This is the first time that I don't have one in the garage right now. Just trying to figure out what to put in there. I'm thinking it's going to be a Fox-body, with either a big-block carbureted motor, or going the complete other way, with a new 5.0 motor with SC.

BUT!!! For now, I have a 2008 V8, 4X4, Sport Trac. I also have a 2006 Explorer that my girl drives. I'll keep the V8 from now-on. The girl's truck is super-nice; they really did the interiors on trucks really nicely back then.
 
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Yep I have been playing with ford pushrod small blocks, many years. Most of them have been my buddies. Now at 71, I put all my building into my 2012 Harley Road Glide. I have the valve train ready for a cam..
Plus my 2004 Trac. I cant take it farther. My county is EPA stiff on motor swaps. Or even going with a Super Six long block.
So far they dont do sniff test on Harley's.
 

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