Soon to be in a ST again! - take 2... aka Project 5.0!!

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Dan Long

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So, a few weeks back I posted that I was going to soon be rejoining the ST family with the purchase of a 2001 Sport Trac from Vic up in Maine. Unfortunately, a few days before I was set to fly up there to pick it up Vic emailed me and said that he thought something in the rear end had gotten damaged and he wasn't comfortable with selling it until he knew more. Luckily, I was able to cancel the tickets for my wife and I without any penalties and we weren't out any money.



Since then I've been keeping my eyes open on Craigslist and various other classifieds sections in search of another ST for sale, and I wound up seeing po-man's (Allen) thread about the motor in his 2001 ST overheating and blowing a head gasket. Low and behold, he was in Panama City, FL, which is only about 3.5 hours away from me, and I happen to have a 2000 Explorer with a 5.0 V8 that would love to get transplanted into a needy Sport Trac. :grin:



I emailed Allen about it and once he finally decided to sell the truck we hashed out a deal, then yesterday my dad and I took a drive over with his trailer and brought the truck home. It's going to be several weeks at the earliest before I get started on the project, as I have a kitchen remodel that needs to be finished first (well, at least if I enjoy sleeping inside the house rather than in my shed out back, lol), but there will be a motor swap happening!



My plan is to do the swap, get everything sorted out and working, then eventually pull the motor again for a rebuild, some minor upgrades, and maybe a 347 stroker kit to really up the fun level. I will definitely try to document as much of the swap as possible, and will post updates as the project goes on. For now, here's a pic of "Project 5.0" all loaded up and ready to make the trip to her new home! Try to ignore the fact that she's being towed by a Dodge... :cry:

[Broken External Image]:
 
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Very cool Dan, looking forward to your 5.0 conversion. Seems you really like Oxford White ST's, huh? Me too! LOL



Good luck and please take LOT'S of pics from the start. I'm certain you've seen this EF thread, but just in case.
 
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347 stroker, HMM! I see traction bars, carrier bearing support cap and drag radials for the rear.:banana::supercool:



Doesnt, the 5.0 ex, have the iron gt40 heads? just do a 3 angle valve job. Port match intake and extrude hone the upper plenum.



Maybe Im just dreaming for you....:bwahaha:
 
It's definitely going to be a fun project, and I would hate to see a truck in this condition get scrapped or parted out. It needs a little TLC and cleaning up, but overall it's a very solid truck. Zero rust underneath, although I got under it this morning and checked out the body mount bushings and a couple of them are completely gone and a few others not far behind, so I also foresee a Prothane kit in the near future.



Steve, I haven't seen that thread in particular, but I have done a little reading on a few others and it looks like it should actually even be a little easier than I had initially thought it would be. And yes, I love the Oxford White trucks... my first 2000 Explorer was white, my first 2001 ST was white, my 2006 F150 was white, the second 2000 Explorer was white, and this 2001 ST is also obviously white! The ex-wife's Lexus was also white, lol.



Eddie, yes, the Explorers did have the iron GT40 (GT40-P, I think) heads in them, and the good upper plenums. They make a very solid starting point for a moderate build up without spending tons on aftermarket parts. A set of roller rockers, an intake spacer and proper cam upgrade also do wonders from what I've read... Not so sure about the traction bars and drag radials, we'll see if I actually need them, lol.
 
Contact member Don Donaldson from Boca Raton, FL for tips on this swap. He did a 5.0 V8 swap a few years back, and last I heard, it was still his daily driver.
 
Here's a more detailed and recent ST V8 swap thread.
 
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Dan,

I have used the 1:72 roller rockers on a '94 stang cobra motor, stock cam. Good addition.

Dont know what cam the Ex used. You may have to use 1:6 roller rockers dependending on the cam you use.

You may need some shims for the roller rockers. I have a new set, still in the package, you can have for free. You may need them for proper pushrod set. If you want them send me an email, with your address. If you dont use them pay them forward, to some one else. I will never need them.



Imo, for street service the spacer between the plenum and lower intake is useless. I have ran with and with out. On the GT40 intake design and the standard design. They are good for track use to keep the upper plenum cooler. When you use a bag of ice, on top between runs.

If you do use a spacer. FYI, use the thick felpro gaskets and stick to the lowest torque settings. Retorque after warm up, if needed. I have seen too many of the rear left plenum ears break off. Especialy with the thin paper gaskets.



Your right about the heads, GT40P. Iron version of the aluminums. I think the intake and plenum is the GT40 layout, depending on the year. The individual ports are more direct feed to the intake valves. Get rid of the oem headers also.



Im probably telling what you know. If so, sorry. I have always liked the 5.0L push rod motor. So easy and cheap to build performance.



Email me for the free rocker shims. I also have a bunch of used header bolts, free.......

I wont be building another 5.0L.......
 
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A 347 would be nice, but a 5.0 with bolt ons is nice also. A cam, roller rockers, headers, ported lower intake would all be nice bolt ons. It shouldn't be to hard to squeeze around 300 ponies out of the 5.0 GT40/GT40P setup since many mustang guys have already done it.
 
Steve, I do remember Don doing that swap awhile back and would be curious to talk to him about it. The thread you just linked to is a very good and detailed one, and I actually saw it a couple of weeks back as I was researching the swap a bit again before pulling the trigger on the truck purchase. One question I would like to see answered is regarding the power brake booster... on the 5.0 Explorer, there is a sticker on the top of the booster that says "5.0L", which leads me to believe there is something specific about that booster and I'm curious to know what it is.



Eddie, that would be great and I'd appreciate those shims, I'll send you an email. I believe the 1.6:1 rockers are what most Explorer guys normally use. The cam was Explorer specific and there are a few good torque grinds out there that have been proven to work well on a fairly stock GT40 5.0. Good info on the spacer, I may skip that...



Chad, you are correct, and I don't think 300hp would be tough at all from this motor, and would be lots of fun. 350-400 would be even more so, lol. A set of Torque Monster headers are definitely on the list as well. Sucks that I had a brand new set for my last Explorer that I never installed, and had only paid about $450 for them but sold them after selling the truck. Prices now have gone up to around $800 on them.
 
Here is a good link that summarizes what is required.



The only issue I see is that in the stock configuration the 5.0 v8 only makes 10 hp more than the SOHC V6. In fact, an Explorer with the SOHC V-6 has a faster 0-60 time than the V8.



You will have to spend some serious bucks on the 5 liter to make substantially more power.

Like new heads, etc.. Granted there are plenty of Mustang parts that are easily available.

The problem is that the ones that really make a difference are expensive.



In any case i still wish you the best in the effort you are about to undertake.
 
Dean, you're correct that in stock form there is only a marginal difference between the motors and I'm not surprised that the 4.0 might be a hair quicker from 0-60, as the 5 speed transmission does wonders for that motor and keeping it in an optimal RPM range. However, serious bucks are not required for substantial upgrades, unless you're talking about the 4.0... dollar for dollar the V8 will benefit far more from bolt on upgrades than the V6, and the heads and intake are fantastic on this motor and can easily support 300+ horsepower with a little reworking.



Thanks for the link, but it doesn't cover much of the swap at all since the page isn't complete and it isn't really all that applicable as there are differences from the Explorer Sport to the Sport Trac. Read through the last link that Steve posted about for a much better guide on the swap...
 
Dan, "new heads" I equate to "serious bucks" upgrade.



But I agree if you want to make some power you are better off with the 5 liter.



In your state are you going to get in trouble with emissions testing and the fact that a Gen 1 Sport Tracs never came with a V-8?



In PA, I think I might run into trouble doing this.



Don't get me wrong, I would love to do this swap. I see 5.0L 1998-2001Explorers on Craigslist all the time going real cheap, not to mention Sport Tracs with bad engines! Seems like a marriage made in heaven.



Keep us posted as you go along.









 
Dean, no new heads are required, just a good 3-angle valve job and a little port matching, as the GT-40P heads flow quite well in stock form.



Thankfully, we have no emissions testing or stickers required where I live in Florida, so I won't have any issues. Technically, it's not a legal swap due to the engine being from an earlier year vehicle, but like I said, no one will ever know or have any reason to question it here.
 

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