Anyone interested in swapping in an explorer motor: here is what youll need.

OrangeMustangGt

Founding Member
Mar 7, 2002
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Cape Cod, MA
ive decided to make a list of what you must go through.
first find a sutable motor, 1997.1998 motor, make sure it has gt40p heads.
you can find a low milage motor for cheap money, mine is a 4thmonth> 1997, has 50,000 and i got it for $650, complete.

When you get your motor, you must pull your old one to to get the swap on. Start on your explorer motor by pulling the oil pan, and the pickup. Install those from your origional motor., get a new oil pump, teher only like $30 and whell worth it. Next, remove the crazy oil-cooler thing the explorer has, and swap out the nipple from your stock block so you can screw the filter directly to teh block.
Moving up, remove all the brackets if there on there, and all the coil packs, the explorer wiring harness, and dist pickup from the hole. replace with all your brackets and your fuel rails, and your dist. now you will want to change your cam, due to the explorer one blows, this is the same as a cam swap on a reg motor. basically that is it. The explorer motor has great heads, and Intake setup, whick actually slightly out-flows a cobra. its all pretty easy, as the block is exactly the same as your old one, just take your stuff off and put it on the explorer block. oh, also if you have a five speed you must install a piolt bearing, and swap flywheels, bam easy. I installed some trick flow valve springs when i did mine. with a crane cam 2031, and 1.7 rr. btw i needed some 3.500 pushrods, but tahts cause of the cam.

take a look at this : http://forums.stangnet.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30235
 
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this is an OLD thread......but yeah explorer motors are key. In fact they alone are a good arguement for buying a 94/95. What other car can you get a motor from the JY for ~500$, and has more power from a newer year car?? that will bolt right in!!! great!
 
the biggest gain is beacuse of the gt-40p heads, more flowing and lower compression ratio than our E7's, You can pick up a set of gt-40p's off of ebay for $200-400, but you will still need special headers for the p heads, ethier way with or without the entire engine swap.

Just save you money for afr's if your shortblock is in good shape, If your motor is on its way out it'd be worth it though for a budget build.
 
tjh566 said:
the biggest gain is beacuse of the gt-40p heads, more flowing and lower compression ratio than our E7's, You can pick up a set of gt-40p's off of ebay for $200-400, but you will still need special headers for the p heads, ethier way with or without the entire engine swap.

Just save you money for afr's if your shortblock is in good shape, If your motor is on its way out it'd be worth it though for a budget build.

Actually gt40p's have a higher compression ratio than e-7's...
You wont need special headers....i diden't.

95snoozer made 295rwhp with gt40p heads/typhoon intake/comp cam?!!!

it is a very good swap.

I made 275Wrhp with gt40p heads/explorer intake/ crane 2031 cam....but the intake was holding me back a bit!
 
GreenMustangGt said:
Actually gt40p's have a higher compression ratio than e-7's...
You wont need special headers....i diden't.

95snoozer made 295rwhp with gt40p heads/typhoon intake/comp cam?!!!

it is a very good swap.

I made 275Wrhp with gt40p heads/explorer intake/ crane 2031 cam....but the intake was holding me back a bit!

did you just flip stock e7 headers? I am thinking about getting a gt40p engine but I don't want to redo my headers.

You got any pics?
 
GreenMustangGt said:
Actually gt40p's have a higher compression ratio than e-7's...
You wont need special headers....i diden't.

95snoozer made 295rwhp with gt40p heads/typhoon intake/comp cam?!!!

it is a very good swap.

I made 275Wrhp with gt40p heads/explorer intake/ crane 2031 cam....but the intake was holding me back a bit!


ahhh yes, that what I meant, Higher, I thought the was spark plug clearance problems without the special headers?
 
i cant understand why ford would put restrictive parts on a mustang, and put free flowing gt-40 heads and intake on a suv!! nevertheless, i've heard that some explorers have regular gt-40 heads (not the 'P' heads). Is this true? if so what is the difference between them and if im gonna go to a salvage yard which should i try and get?
 
1997 after 4/1/97 are P heads, 1998+ 5.0's are p heads.

you need right angle elbow for plug #7 and use some high temp boot wraps for extra insurance. Thats it.


ford was trying to get the old 5.0 to pass strict emissions, so they came up with this "fast burn" style head. works great, and is handling 10lbs of boost quite fine now.