I am currently getting things prepared to swap an engine into my 2002 Explorer. The original engine, a Romeo (Code W) 2 valve aluminum 4.6L is dead at 186,005 miles.

The donor engine is from a 2001 Mustang GT, also a Romeo engine. The Explorer to Mustang 4.6L swap is a popular upgrade with the Mustang guys, since the Explorer block is aluminum and much lighter. For the purpose of cost savings, I am doing the reverse of this swap. I do not mind the added weight.

I understand that one of the items I need to swap over from my old engine is the timing cover. I do not understand why I have to change this cover over, but every post about the swap says it is required, so I will be doing it too. My original timing cover is pretty ugly. Should I just clean this with regular engine degreaser, or is there something else out there that would work best?



Here are the rest of the pictures of my original engine: Ford SOHC V8 Engine Failure