hey guys im in the process of taking my 302 out of my 93' f150 and I have run into a few problems. Ive disconnected everything except the fuel lines. Do yall know a way to disconnect these easily? and I plan on taking the trans out with the engine but people tell me I haft to take off the front clip? what is this? I dont want to take off the front fenders. Is the front clip the grill? Im planning on swapping a mustang motor in for replacement and have searched this forum nad found alot of usefull info on the swap. You think I should put the stang motor in or rebuild my old one? Its in pretty good shape but its really worn out. My truck has a nine inch lift with 39.5 tires so the engine might have got a little worn out. Any help would be appreciated!

Oh by the way, I haft take the trans out because when I was driving down the highway I hear this boom sound and my truck starts to smoke and overheat like crazy so when I pull to the side of the road and inspect my trans I find this gaping hole (like three by three inches big) in the TOP of my trans and peices of the trans scattered like a f$5king IED went off or something (I did a couple of tours in Iraq in the Marines so this brought back a few memeories if you know what I mean!) I got 4.88 gears so I thought my trans could handle the tires and the lift. Has anyone had this happen to them with my kind of setup?


SEMPER FI

 

BLACKBOLT02,

Fuel lines are not that hard to remove as long as you have the right tools. There are different fuel line disconnect tools. I try to avoid the metal plier type tool. The plastic ones work better. The trick is to jam the tool in tight to pry the garter spring loose. The tool is available at most autopart stores.

As far as removing the engine /tranny assembly it is possible. I used this trick on cars and after some adjusting to get the angle right it should work. I don't think you need to remove the front clip. You do want to remove the radiator, AC condenser, grille and if possible radiator support.

Disconnect and Re-check everything Twice!
Disconnect the battery
check that all the wiring connectors,
heater core hoses at the firewall and,
remove the starter,
drain the coolant,
disconnect the transmission cooler lines at the transmission,
remove the drive shaft(s)
temporarily support the transmission with a small jack or anything else that will work.
Remove the transmission mount.
Engine mounts

1) Raise the rear end with a sturdy 2.5 ton jack as much as possible and place jackstands under the differential securely. You want to get the rear end as high as you can.

2) Make sure you can fit the cherry picker legs under the front bumper. Raise the cherry picker all the way up to see if it will raise the engine high enough.

3) When ready to remove the engine get a helper to guide and pull the cherry picker with the engine /transmission assembly and another guy to help you angle the assembly properly. The helper must tug on the engine gently, do not allow it to swing or it could take the windshield or something else. You might have to lower the engine again and shorten the chain a couple of times. Work slowly if you need to lower the front end a couple of inches for the engine to clear the front of the truck you could deflate the front tires. With a little patience you can get this to work.

dtek001

 

It's not necessary to remove the condenser, but if you do, take the whole A/C system out BEFORE trying to lift the engine. Just unbolt the compressor & pull the evaporator core out of the box - you don't have to open the system; it'll come out still sealed. Just set the PS pump & its bracket to the side - you don't need to open those lines, either. I've never had to remove the core support, but it would make pulling the engine easier, especially on a lifted truck. I wouldn't lift the back end at all - if anything, let the air out of all the tires so the frame rests on jack stands (no bouncing).

I recently replaced the engine on this truck. A few weeks before that, I had to replace the whole body.

 

Fuel lines always vary... this is my tool of choice.



Note: this is the oversized fitting tank tool, most fuel lines are 5/16 IIRC


As for engines, with tires that big I'd strongly consider upping it over a stock Mustang engine. If you are thinking about heads or any other major mods the time to do it is now. Rebuild or buy is your choice, but really you can buy ready to go crate motors cheap.

I'd consider a head swap myself, some Gt-40s or 40Ps would help and can be had fairly cheap. Central Coast Mustang used to sell a crate engine with the 40P heads and cam that was rated at 320 HP, and it was only $1900 or so ready to roll.


Food for thought: If the old tranny is trashed anyway I would just unbolt it and remove it and the engine one by one. It's not like you're going to do a lot more damage to the tranny if you already have a hole in the case. Once the engine is out the truck will lift on the springs, so you probably won't even have to jack it up to get the tranny out the bottom.

 

Does a mustange motor work much better than the 5.0 liter I have in my 94 F150?

 

Truck, Crown Vic, & Mustang 5.0s are each cammed (& otherwise built) differently to perform best for each application. Trucks get the most torque; Mustangs get the most power; CVs get the smoothest feel & best economy. A Mustang cam in a truck will be a dog off the line, but might pick up on the top end. But it's still gonna be pushing a brick thru the air, so it'll never feel like it does in a Stang.

 

if you go stang ..change the cam i (wife) has a donkey with a 95 gt long block in it and with the 33's it wont hardly pull itself up some of the mountain roads at slow speed it just aint got the low end grunt..and when you are driving around town and such,it shifts into the next highest gear too soon,the motor isnt making any power yet. but if you manualy shift it or hold it in a gear longer will haul a$$ once it gets above 3k rpm but any thing under that feels like you have 1.9L escort engine in it....personaly i would build a 351 for it (if i had to do mine over again thats what i would do)

 

I think I want to modify my stock truck motor but Im kinda on a limited budget. I know I want different heads(cause I heard big power gains can be had witha head swap) and new headers (cause there rusted bad) but Im not really sure which ones to get. Any ideas on a good rebuilded 302 on a budget?
Any advice would be appreciated.