engine swap ford to ford still not easy...

[Yankee Transplant]

Ill have the number with me .. Ill have to buy a little at a time ,, I dont want to just throw it back together ,, Im not putting pistons and crank in it but I will rebuild it.. or refresh it as they call it .. I just cant believe the cost.

 

[JBailey]

There are two different 4.6's, the Windsor and the Romeo. I can't remember which one it is, but there is a number or letter in the VIN that will tell you which it is. When you search for parts on some websites like O'reilley's it will ask for this and tell you which one it is.

Its the eighth letter in the Vin and should be a W, which would indicate a Romeo block.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

Yep its a W

 

[Yankee Transplant]

nothing wrong with the heads just valve slightly off I think carbon build up got it I believe I can get a new valve and seat it in with no problem . plus I got to have a cam ,, and I did not keep the chain and sprockets together when I pulled them off so Ill get tensioners and chains , sprockets ,, so I may as well just go all the way .

 

[Willowbilly3]

Is the truck an automatic? How many miles are on it? Those trannys can die any time after about 150,000. I've had some go less. One thing to consider is what you'll do if and when yours takes a dump if you put a bunch of time and money into the truck. Not sure about your area but plan on spending $1800 or so to rebuild one of those trannys.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

Yea . willowbilly its auto and ok for the moment, the truck has 128000 and the engine will cost me $1400 plus tax to rebuild it thats just a refresh no pistons or crank the cams are the killer on the cost .. Its been going threw my mind on a good used out of a wreck but,,,, Idk.. at this point .. kinda stuck,,, [S a good used engine from salvage yard cost the same as to rebuild it .... plus you dont know what ya got ..a reman engine is $2400 Im not going that route .. so im going to hold for the minute and see what comes up . Ill do like was said maybe a $5 or $600 car or truck will pop up with the romeo engine, and a bad tranny and ill go that route.

 

[smallfoot]

YT, I know you seem to be stuck on Ford, but this is one good reason for the old reliable sbc. Autozone has 305 reman motors for 1099+265 core charge....and choices for tranny is huge...
I got one on the barn floor still in the crate. By what the tags are telling me, it came from the factory in Mexico. I've run them before with no problems as they come, but this one also has goodies just waiting for me to take it apart and spruce it up.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

smallfoot if it wasnt for the harness and computer not matching up Id put the 5.0 in it anyway ,, I can make it work ,,it would take some figuring and trial and error, but ive put engines in worse place's ... 74 toyota truck I put a 2.9 v-6 (CHEVY) in it ... 49 chevy truck 327 no problems ..... 31 chevy truck ..350 (chevy) ...49 Ford f1 305 (CHEVY) hmmmm.. I see a pattern here [S

 

[smallfoot]

Yeah, and you can toss that complicated harness and computer too....
I know, to each his own. Mine is still on the plan to go as simple as possible for me. If it wasn't for wire coverings, I've even tried to keep all plastics out of it...heheh! I think the little marine fuse strip I have is only 8 circuit...probably have extras!

 

[Bamamav]

Here's some info on the 4.6................happy reading!

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2002/04/rebuilding-the-ford-4-6l-sohc-engine/

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2006/03/rebuilding-the-ford-4-6l/

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/Detailed/651.shtml

 

[Yankee Transplant]

wow [S only a Ford Bama I guess they are striving for the perfect engine .. and still changing things .. this makes me scared to order parts for mine even if I had the money ,,

 

[Killy_Killerton]

New heads are only like $850 a pair

I have one with 194k im pulling out of my pickup as the timing chains were worn. crank and all should be fine.
I bought all the stuff to do the timing chain job and then picked up a 4.6 andd transmission from a wrecked crown vic w 50k miles for $600

so as long as i have this stuff im putting the new timing compnents in th e50k mile engine. going slow for me

 

[Yankee Transplant]

yep I checked price of heads its as cheap to get the heads cam and lifters as one than to buy just the cam and lifters then Id get the timing chain set then gaskets , oil pump while im ln there ... still a bunch of money ... If something dont show up in a few months or so . i'll bite the bullet and get the rebuild kit. now I know what type of engine to look for ,I may have better luck in finding one ... Just hate to put a used engine in something , but the cost of rebuilding is changing my mind ..

 

[JBailey]

Years ago, I traded for a '97 extended cab short box 4x4 with a 4.6 auto that had 275,000 miles on it. The truck had been through hell, the kid I got it from was 16 when he got it and drove it for 3 years. He tipped it on its side and all sorts of good stuff like that. Anyhow, the oil pump had gone out so I traded him for it and found an engine in a wrecked truck with 288,000 miles on it. The engine ran great with no smoke, so I bought it and put it in the truck. I drove it for 2 years and put another 40,000 miles on the truck and sold it back to the kid I got it from. Well it passed through a couple other people over a three year stretch, still running strong when it left the area.

So my point is, don't be afraid of finding a replacement with some miles on it. So long as it runs quiet with no smoke I wouldn't hesitate, so long as the price is right. What I said before about my offer on a set of heads still stands, they're complete still on a running engine that spun a rod bearing. I would send the with cams and all so you'd just need new chains and gears.

 

[Killy_Killerton]

I've been told.... the factory ford rings in the 4.6 seal better than what you can get over the counter. i was told to not mees with re-ringing mine if it isn;t smoking

 

[Willowbilly3]

As is often the case, all too late we find out why something needing work seemed like a bargain. My bet is the last owner got prices on getting it fixed.
I see lots of nice clean 10-15 year old cars, pickups and vans going to the crusher because it isn't economically feasible to have them fixed if it's an engine or tranny.
Even myself, last year I bought a super clean PT Cruiser LT that had tagged a deer. It needed a fender, headlight, radiator but she ran it without antifreeze so it had no compression. Even though I could find a good engine for $500, it had to come out the bottom and it still needed the body work. I passed it onto a more ambitious person after it sat in my yard for 6 months and reality set in.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

JBailey thank you very much , and i'll keep this in mind ,,, I'll just sit back for a few and see what happens ... I did call a shade tree junk-yard here and he had a 4.6 from a crown for $450 but he said It was on the ground with some parts missing but it did run when in the car but the car is gone now ,,and couldnt tell me nothing about it or why it was pulled ..he said he didnt remember [S . so im leaving that one alone Mr. Willowbilly I think your %100 correct on the previous owner ,,, but im not in bad shape .. ive only got $300 of my money in it. I sold a one ton truck and got $500 for that, and just added my #300 to it , so it didnt kill me ,, I'll find something or do something sooner or later .. Killy That wouldnt suprise me none..

 

[Yankee Transplant]

Well ive had a brain storm on my truck ,, aggravated with the cost of rebuilding the 4.6. and waiting on a 4.6 to pop up that I can hear run,, or trust the one who has it .. Ive decided to kill two birds with one stone .. I cant work on the rat because of $.. so I took the 305 out of it and Im in the process of putting it in the 97 Ford ...(not) to my surprise its not going to be a hard swap.. I will be going from 1000 wires to less ten ..hmmmmm... well may not be 1000 but close Ill get it all bolted in and make sure all will work then I'll build it for around $300 ... This way when I do find a good 4.6 I'll just swap it back out and put the fresh built 305 back in the rat... Every thing Im taking out can be put back in Im not cutting anything .