I have a 1997 ford f-150 4x4 and i was wondering what needs done to swap the small 4.6 281 to a 5.8 351W.

thanx

 

what a bunch of Removed by Admin, i know old thread but i'll contribute shoot im game, anyway im in the same boat im attempting to swap my 351w stroked 408w in an 03 GT stang with the 4.6

i'll let you know how it goes

 

Thanx man ya iv waited and waited for some if but noone seems to want to do this. ive just almost sunk down and bought a 5.4L wich is a pretty good motor and and it came from the windsor plant so you know its a good motor. but id much rather put an 351 in their because it has more aftermarket support' has more bore stroke and it even sounds better. any help epuld greatly be needed.
thanc=x

 

Well, legal issues aside. . .

I'd say your in for a hell of a time trying to pull off this swap successfully. The 351w PCM won't control the tranny, speedo, or anti-lock brakes. . .or any in-cab items that normally run off the 'puter. You could swap the older tranny and t-case in as well, that requires more fab work on top of custom engine mounts. May require drive shaft mods as well. I guess then run the engine PCM as a stand alone? Dunno how your speedo would register or feed back to the tranny to shift. . .on top of all this I doubt the 351w would even fit in the newer "cab forward" engine compartment. Might need at least a newer mustang type intake to be able to squeeze it in there. Thats just the tip pf the iceberg. . .

Unless I had a $10,000 built 351w sitting around would I even attempt this. You'd be time and money ahead just buying a 1996 truck (or 97 F250/350) with a 351w and going wild. Or super charging the 4.6 or 5.4. . .or doing a body swap. . .

good luck

 

You're going to have to change the trans. The 4R70W won't bolt to the 351. You could put an AODE in, but you'll need to get one built to handle the 351. You could also change to an E4OD, but that's going to take some fab work. Either way you'll need to change the PCM to match the engine/trans and do some wiring changes to make it work.

 

With enough time, energy and work, any swap can be done. What you need to ask is if it would be practical. As for it not fitting in the newer engine bay, I don't see why it wouldn't as the 5.4 is much bigger on the outside than the 351W. If you were to use a carbeurated 351 and on older styl trans like a c6 or an older manual, you could bypass a bunch of the wiring issues. You could possibly just junk the original gauge cluster, and use aftermarket mechanical speedos, etc. Just an idea.

 

ya im definatly putting a manual tranny back in it. im not sure which tranny/tcase yet though and ya the 5.4's are taller than the 351's so deck height isnt a problem. my dad gave me some universal 351 motor mounts and i can fab all the other bracing. my buddy builds driveshafts so i can get that pretty cheep. that basicly just leaves me with the electronic problem.