So much for trust (read 1st post). The *******s told me the 5.8 was bolted to an AOD and to the same AOD they gave me. I gave up trying to get the tranny to work and put my original back in then took it to a trans shop I've worked with several times. They figured out, after rebuilding and re-installing the tranny, that the motor had the wrong flex plate on it. It was close enough that everything bolted up but it pushed the torque converter just a little too far into the front of the tranny. They pulled the tranny again and set it up on their jig to tested it with a flex plate from a 5.0 they know had an AOD on it and all was well. Now they have to track down the right flex plate. My $1,000.00 engine/tranny upgrade is gonna cost me over $3,000.00 by the time the F&%KING dust settles.

I REALLY hate having to trust other people when it comes to anything I do with my vehicles especially conversions. Being gifted with perfect hindsight I should have gone to a "pick your part" type of yard and pulled the engine/tranny out of something myself.

BULLSHI*

JohnF

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I found out the hard way too that when you go buy something you forget everything the seller told you and find out the truth for yourself. I bought a 351 that was supposed to be an 85 and have 50k on it and I get it home and find out it was a 75 and pull the heads off and it has 500k on it. That was partly my own fault too for not checking the part numbers but that was before I knew how.

BTW, I guess your pointing out that there are different flexplates for C6 & AOD? I was not aware of this but its something to keep in mind when I get my trucks together. What are the differences between the two flexplates?

I hope when you get it going again that the hp difference makes all the PITA partially worthwhile for you.

1979 F150 Custom: nothing under the hood at all (again)
1987 F150 XLT Lariat: 88 351W EFI
84 351W: soon to have 91 heads, Crane PowerMax cam, double roller timing chain, Edelbrock Performer intake & Holley carb and be put back in 79 F150
86 & 87 Bronco II: next winter's beater

 

Got the beast back from the tranny shop last Friday. Runs nice now. It was the flex plate but they didn't even charge me for having to re-pull the tranny and replace it....I am amazed. They pulled and rebuilt the original AOD, put it back in and it didn't work. They pulled the tranny again and found it had the wrong flex plate on the motor. They replaced it with the right one, put the tranny back in and the only extra charge was for the flex plate itself (about $50.00). I was out the door for $1300.00 with a fresh re-build, the original quote was $1200.00 if nothing was damaged inside. I was expecting around $2,000.00 for the extra time and re-rebuilding the front pump as the flex plate extended the converter inwards just enough that it would bolt up but forced the pump gear against the housing in the last fraction of the boltup.

The conversion has cost me $2000.00 plus about $250.00 in misc BS, it was more than I wanted to spend by $1000.00 (cost to me of rebuild on tranny) but I have some nice power now and a fresh tranny. Good for another 200,000 (G)

All I gotta do now is run the code checker and tweak a few things.

JohnF

 

Cool you are going to run the code check. I want to hear if you get any codes. Hope all is well Torch

 

Hi, John............
I am looking for some information from someone that's had some experience in swapping a 302EFI with a 351EFI. We own a 1986 full size Bronco and have found a wrecked 1989 F150 with a 351EFI and are considering purchasing the engine complete with intake, wiring harness and computer to put in it. Did you use the wiring harness and computer from the 302, and if so did you run into any problems? We'd like to use the 302 but I need some 'real world' advice on any obsticles that I might come across. Since Ford didn't make a 351EFI in 86, I'm not sure what problems there might be using the 89 wiring harness in an 86. One more thing...have you had yours together long enough to determine MPG's? We get about 14mpg with the 302 and don't want to loose too much.
Any advice you can offer is really appreciated.

 

Just read all the previous posts to and from me in this list. Loudford and I both used the original harness from the 302 but I have discovered a minor problem with that. My primary problems were the transmission, exhaust and the O2 sensor. The tranny I got was not the right one for the year engine they gave me so the flex plate was wrong. The exhaust pipes to the collector are bigger and a bit wider than on the 302 and the O2 sensor on the 351 is in the Y (almost an H) of the pipes instead on on the exhaust manifold as on the 302. Since you have a doner vehicle you won't have the tranny or exhaust problem but the O2 sensor has a two-fold problem. If you use the wiring harness off the 302 you will have a single wire O2 plugin. On the 302 the O2 sensor in the exhaust manifold right at the #4 cylinder so it gets hot fast which is what it needs to operate properly (something like 600 deg minimum and operates at something like 1000 deg), the 351 has it's sensor in the Y of the exhaust pipes just before the "collector" box where the 2 pipes come together. The 351 uses a 2 or 3 wire O2 sensor with a built in heater to get it up to and keep it at operating temp so the EFI will work properly without an extended warmup time. The 351 wiring harness will be set up for that already. The other difficulties were very minor, things like lengthening 1 vacuum line and re-locating the coil. Everything else bolts right up and uses the same parts, I would suggest changing the valve cover gaskets while it's out--much easier to get to. The only other problem I can think of right now is the air conditioner may have slightly different connections. Use all the stuff off the front of the 351 as it's much easier to work with, all the components will come off as a unit with 3 bolts and 1 nut on each side.

JohnF


[QUOTE]Hi, John............
I am looking for some information from someone that's had some experience in swapping a 302EFI with a 351EFI. We own a 1986 full size Bronco and have found a wrecked 1989 F150 with a

 

I ran the codes about a week ago and came up with the same 3 I've been getting for 10 years. I was very supprised and a bit disappointed at the same time. I can't remember the numbers exactly, one was 14 or 18 and another was, i believe, 44. One is an "air management" code, another is an "EGR" code that I understand is a Ford tradition and the last was a "loss of tach signal" code. All have been with me for, as I said, 10 years or more but it has never failed the California "enhanced" smog tests. In face it has been consistantly low in all catagories of the tests. I haven't had it done since I swapped in the 351 though. The only problem I have at this time is it doesn't want to idle when it's cold unless I'm in gear and it has a little stumble on transition from off the gas to on the gas. BUT, it sure do run good over all.

JohnF

 

The only problems you might have will have to do with the fact a 351 is taller than a 302. You may have to change or modify your exhaust and possibly your fuel lines, and anything else that may be effected by the taller engine.

Hope this helps!!
John

 

Hate to say it, but he's already been there & done that.

His conversion has been completed and he's now out showing off what he's done. (trust me I know how he feels!)



1988 F-150, SWB, 5.0 EFI (formerly 4.9 EFI), M5OD 5 speed, 3.08 gears, Summit shorty truck headers, Custom built Flowmaster exhaust system. Force 4 LP6000 lightbar, Federal signal PA-300 100 watt siren, Icom IC-V100 50 watt mobile radio.
=======================================
1965 F-100 (just purchased 1/18/01), SWB, 390, C-6 auto. Dual exhaust, Not much else to do to it.

Can see both below.

[link:www.geocities.com/hotrodford_88/|Hotrodford_88's Webpage]

 

 

An update and to say Thanks! For all the support and suggestions that you are sending, we do appreciate it.

An update to what we hope to be a success. We went to Las Vegas on July 20th to look for a 351w EFI engine. We went to Abbie’s Pick-a-part. They were very helpful in accommodating us. They had a 1991 351w EFI engine in a pickup, but I was too concerned about the year differences from 86 to 91. So we did a little more checking, to our surprise came across a 1986 F-150 4x4 pickup. It had a 351 EFI. After looking at the engine, it looked identical to our 302 EFI, (i.e. Wiring, valve controls, front of engine, and brackets), except the intake manifold says 5.8L. We were led to believe that Ford did not make a 351 EFI in 1986. So we were not sure if this is a conversion setup, or if it’s the real deal. Anyway we made a deal to purchase the complete engine, wiring harness, computer, and the control modules. We purchase it all for $1000.00. Don’t know if it was a good deal, but hope so. After getting home did some more research, which seems to be so limited for 1986 Ford’s and 351 engines. I am thinking more and more that the engine is from a different year, or they used a 302 wiring harness and computer conversion?
We still want to purchase the engine II series from Auto Zone, It will cost about another $1800.00 but think it’s a smart move. These engine are supposed to be balanced. We will use all of the outside parts from this engine we got from Abbie’s to make the completion (i.e. Intake, wiring and computer). Will be buying, new injectors, headers, high performance clutch, and any other amenities.
I know it looks like were are spending more money than needed, “no were not made of money”, however I wanted to build a good solid engine to last a long time. So we thought this would be a good way to go, and be able to do an engine upgrade. We were just looking for the upper half (i.e. EFI intake manifold, but new we would need other parts as well, because of the 302 to 351 differences. I know some of you would say just rebuild the used engine, however in our location, we do not have a machine shop or one that could be recommended, that’s why for the Auto Zone engine.
We are interested in any further comments that you may have, or suggestion and we will keep updates if you are interested. Again thanks for the support.