i just baught a 1997 f150 with no motor. it originally had the 4.2 in it. i have acess to a mid to late 80s f150 with the 5.0 EFI in it. id like to put the 5.0 in the 97 model... is this possible???? i now its possible but the wireing is starting to worry me... i no the 97 came out with a v8 so i no i can put one in.... any sugestions?????

 

Curious of this myself. Seems like nobody knows.

 

Would be a neat swap

 

The '97 came with a 4.2, a 4.6 or a 5.4. No 302.

Do you still have a trans? If so, what kind?

Do you have emissions testing to worry about, or is testing "coming soon"???

Problems you may have would include speedo and other instruments not working.

If you want to bring an EFI 302 over and keep it EFI, then you need to bring the computer and harness with it. Even then, you may have issues with instruments.

IF your speedo runs off a VSS in the rear axle, then you might have a speedo.

 

That '97 truck has an OBD-2 EFI system in it which is a LOT more complicated than the OBD-1 system in the late '80's truck, so the motor isn't directly compatible meaning it won't just plug in. The easiest 5.0 motor to put into a later truck would be an Explorer 5.0 because all of those were OBD-2 as well, but besides the electrical complexity of this you also have to deal with mechanical differences like chassis mounts, rad and cooling, accessory location and wiring, and the transmission of course which won't connect to the old 5.0 either so that also has to change.