302 to 351w swap

[DougFerg]

I am new to this list at least as a participant. I have followed the message board but this is the first time I have posted. Here is my situation : I have a 1989 XLT with a 5.0 liter engine and a manual transmission (Mazda 5 speed). The 5.0 has finally given up, it either spun a rod or sucked a valve or something equally as horrific. I have access to a 5.8 liter engine from a 1997 F-250 including the computer and wiring harness it however had an automatic transmission. Having owned and rebuilt several early 302's I am confident that the 5.8 will mate to my transmission. I do however have some questions about the computer and how it will react to the manual transmission. I am also wondering are there any pitfalls to this swap that I have overlooked. Any help would be appreciated

[ExplicitHP]

I don't think the computer will react right to a manual tranny when it is programmed to run with an automatic. You may need to pick up a different computer, or swap in the computer controlled automatic.

-Jon

[DougFerg]

I considered the manual vs automatic problems. I could be wrong about this and if someone knows for certain please let me know, but I thought the computer sent signals to the transmission and really didnt get anything from the transmission that affected the engine. In other words the computer measures engine speed vacuum and other parameters and tells the transmission it is time to shift, since I have a manual transmission I get to decide when to shift and the signals from the computer are not relavent. However I am sure this could cause some error codes and whether this might screw up the computer I am not sure of.

[thomasr]