Explorer Engine Swap: In Pictures

I just realized that I never really posted a lot of pictures during the engine swap process.  This post is designated to show all of the pictures I took during the engine swap process.

I bought an engine from a place in Ohio.  The first thing I needed to do was strip it down.  In this picture you can see the intake (upper and lower) have been removed.  I also removed the oil filter connector thing, the waterpump and housing, etc.  At this point I am ready to remove the cam.

This picture shows the timing chain and gears removed.  I also removed the cam at this point.  The engine is pretty much stripped down as far as it is going to be.

In this picture it shows that I have replaced the mustang cam in the engine and have also installed the new double roller timing chain and gears.

In this picture it shows the new Trick Flow valve springs being installed.  You can see the rope hanging out of one of the ports as that is how you keep the valves up in the position when replacing them.  It worked great.

In this picture you see that the valve train has been completed and I have installed the timing chain cover and water pump.  I was really starting to feel good at this point.  This is when I brought the mustang into the garage to start pulling the old engine out.  If you look to the left you will see the hood off of the car.

In this picture I have the lower intake installed and also have the new oil pump and harmonic balancer installed.  The old engine wasn't completely out yet but I was able to install the lower pulley.

This picture is of the Mustang itself.  I had just finished pulling the engine out of it.  Man that felt good finally getting the old engine out.

Here is a shot of the engine bay.  As you can see I didn't want to have to recharge the A/C so the compressor is still sitting in there.  I also had a problem trying to get the headers to separate from the cats so I left them in there.  It did cause a bit of an additional headache, but it beats having to replace the studs in the headers.

Finally a Shot of the old engine.  The oil pan has been dropped since I needed it for the new engine.

Since Engine was out and I had access to the Torque converter, I might as well fix the shudder I was getting that was caused by the old torque converter.  I also replaced the front transmission seal.

For those that don't know, getting the torque converter in correctly is a bear.  Just when you are about to give up it finally goes in that last slide.

Here is the new engine sitting in the car.  Lining it up was a problem but once you get it, it s all good.  It is smooth sailing from this point forward. 

VROOM VROOM...  I can lay some 11's down now.

The one thing missing from this pic is the new Ford Racing strut tower brace.  It is on there now.