I need to know if I will need a 5.0 HO computer when I drop that engine into my 90 F150. my 5.0 is tired so I am replacing it with a crate 5.0 HO. I have an E4OD tranny. Would that be a problem too? any info is greatly appreciated



Robbie

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-Jun-01 AT 08:51 PM (EST)[/font][p]your computer shouldn't need to be changed! But beware if you are going to a roller 5.0 HO that you will need to change the firing order to the roller! The stock 5.0 and the roller 5.0 have different firing orders! All you need to do to change the order is switch the plug wires.

I'm in the process in doing the same swap. I have done it in the past with a carburated motor but this is the first time with a injection swap. Leave me a email on how it is going! If I have done my reasearch right you shouldn't experience ANY problems. Just remember if you are going to the roller engine you will need the harmonic balance off of a roller engine. Do not use the harmonic balance off of the stock 5.0 because they are weighted different.

1988 Ford F250 4x4, 5.0 liter (soon to be Roller 5.0), AOD tranny, 2.5 Dual exhaust, Headman Shortyheaders, 33" BFG's Mud Terrain

1980 Ford F100, with 1988 5.0L Roller (carburated), T-5 five speed Borg Warner World Class Transmission, 31 spline 9" 3.73 posi , and a bunch more!! 13.78 quarter mile.

 

Also this is a message that I posted awhile ago when I was researching the swap!

>Does anyone know if you will
>experience problems switching a stock
>5.0 out of a f250
>to a roller 5.0 if
>I keep the same intake
>and computer off of the
>stock motor.
>
>I also want to use all
>of the stock accessories and
>transfer them onto the roller
>motor. I know the
>harmonic balance will need to
>be from a roller motor
>but is the flex plate
>the same for all 5.0's?
>
>
>Will the flex plate from the
>stock 5.0 transfer to the
>roller 5.0 (I know it
>will bolt on, but is
>it balanced the same?)
This is a sweet swap. Just make sure you change the firing order to a 302 HO or 351. Use your intake, injectors and accessories. The roller cam motor is a sequential FI while your truck is a batch fire. This will pose no problem. I've done this a few times. These motors run so much better than the stock ones due to the firing orde and roller cam. More power too. 1995 was the first year for roller cam and sequential injection in a Ford truck. The 95s use the 5.0 HO or 351 firing order.
Hope this helps.
46cabover
Too much stuff to list

Good luck with your swap!

 

Not all roller motors are HO. I had an 86 302 out of a mark VII and it was a roller cam engine but it was not an HO. It had the 302 firing order too. I don't know about trucks though. Wouldn't it be a shocker to pull your 88 truck motor out and find it was a roller cam motor too? I would be curious to know.

 

A 1988 truck 302 WILL NOT be a roller cam motor. They were not used in trucks untill at least 1994.

 

Also, just curious. Was the Mark VII 302 port injected, or did it have the goofy hybrid set-up?

 

I'm pretty sure that roller cams started appearing at the same time that Mass Air started appearing in the regular 48 states, which was 1994. Since California had Mass Air earlier, it's possible they had roller cams earlier. Also, I believe the motors were drilled for roller's about the time that EFI started-1985. My 1989 F-150 is 302 is drilled but does not have a roller cam, and I don't think my 1993 302 does either.

 

The mark VII looked just like a mustang motor except the black plate on top of the plenum didn't say HO and the firing order was normal 302. I saw one of these motors in a thunderbird too. From what you guys are saying, it would be very easy to put a roller cam in a truck after 85 if the block has the taller lifter bores and is setup for the lifter retainer. Just put shorter pushrods in and you would be ready to go.

 

I too did this swap in my '86 F150. It worked real good. Way more power and better fuel economy... go figure.

You will need to use all your truck parts such as intake manifolds (upper and lower), valve covers, oilpan, exhaust, sensors throttle body and all related plumbing. As indicated above, you will need to use, the harmonic balancer from the HO, and you will need to switch two plug wires, I forget which two, but, it's not hard to figure out. I also don't recall which flexplate I used, but, I don't recall it to be an issue... they may even have been the same, I wish I could remember.

I also used the injectors from the HO as my truck ones were somewhat fouled. It may have been a good idea as I think they were a different color, meaning a different flow rate. Though at the time I never gave it much thought, mine were fouled and so I just changed them.

Good luck with the swap it will make you very happy!

Perry

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-Jun-01 AT 10:02 PM (EST)[/font][p]brett d I too i'm enterested in this swap.I have a '93 f-150 with the 5.0 and e4od.I have bassini shorty headers,a bassni y-pipe with high flow cat, gibson exhaust, k&n filtercharger kit and jacobs ultra team ignition and a superchip.I've also had the gears changed from 3.55's to 4.10's with limited slips front and rear.It stills seems that my truck is just lacking power.My question would be which would be a better swap , a 5.0 HO [since I don't have a mass air setup] or try to do a '95 engine, mass air and computer, etc and in adding the mods I've listed above.I'm not looking for a tree stump puller, I just want it to pull nice and strong, especially when I pull my boat.Any input would appreciated.Later and thanks in advance, Cleve.

 

thanks guys for all the info. I am putting the motor in next week hopefully if I can get the time off work. The motor by the way is a crate motor that was rebuilt by a engine rebuilding shop. unfortunately the only mod I can do right now is headers because the engine is under warranty. I am an auto parts technician so the past while I have been comparing stuff between the two engines and I have noticed that the water pump is slightly different but that is about it. I will be sure to document as much as I can and post all the info here and any problems I run into which should be few. I was really concerned about the computer because from what I know the E4OD tranny is controlled by the computer and the E4OD never came in a mustang. That would have been a huge problem. The firing order should be easy going from 15426378 to 13726548. thanks for the info guys

Robbie

 

Cleve:
Well as you probably know I am a HUGE FAN of the roller 5.0 HO motor. I have had plenty of them and the towing power is very decent. The 302 HO will pull at least as good as a 351 if not better. The difference is what RPM's the motor will be at to have efficent torque to pull. With the 302 you will probably get most of your power from 3500 to 4500 RPM's. The 351 will give power from 2500 to 3500 Thus probably giving alittle better engine life for the 351 and possibly better mileage towing if you are towing heavy loads. The difference between the two is a 302 HO will SMOKE a 351 and a 460 in a unloaded drag (Granted the 460 and 351 are stock). I prefer the 302 HO rather than a 351 HO mainly because of the better mileage a 302 will get on the highway unloaded. I do not do a lot of towing and when I do it is just a 24' travel trailer. Over 95% of my driving is unloaded freeway so a small block is by far a better choice for me. 0 I can tell you that I have smoked diesel's going up hill towing. (Of course I was at about 5000 RPM and probably getting around 7 MPG and they were getting about 18 MPG. Who cares it looks sweet when you can pass them with a small block)(And to all of the other people in the message boards who are big block fans or deisel fans I am NOT SAYING that a 302 HO will out tow any big block or deisel under HEAVY load).

To answer the question about what year of roller motor you need. You do NOT need to get a newer motor to have a roller cam HO. I belive the first year that the roller HO's appeared was in either 86 or 87 in MUSTANG GT's. The 1988 302 HO (the year of the most HP) gave 285 horse stock with stock heads. You can upgrade to GT 40 heads (Which I highly recommend) and it up's your HP over 300. A stock 351 will usually have around 210 HP and a stock non roller 302 will usually have around 185 HP.

I have never used a truck 302 roller for any swaps so I cannot give you any advise on that. I do know that I have had EXCELLENT SUCCESS with the mustang 302 HO. Either way that you decided to go whether it is a truck or car roller all of your accessories will swap from your stock 93 F150.


1988 Ford F250 4x4, 5.0 liter (soon to be Roller 5.0), AOD tranny, 2.5 Dual exhaust, Headman Shortyheaders, 33" BFG's Mud Terrain

1980 Ford F100, with 1988 5.0L Roller (carburated), T-5 five speed Borg Warner World Class Transmission, 31 spline 9" 3.73 posi , and a bunch more!! 13.78 quarter mile.

 

Brett d

can you give me all the info you can about the swap. Will I need a different gear on the distributor? I have been told that the gear for a non-roller 302 is different than the roller. And the firing order is different but that is not a problem. Any other help is appreciated.

Robbie

 

Would this swap also work just as easily with a 1985 302 EFI? What year did the EFI systems change? Thanks for any info.

Mark

 

The swap will work with virtually any year. I have heard about the different distrubuter gear but I have not personally mated the gears to see if there is a difference. I can tell you that in my 1980 302 I used the entire distrubuter out of that motor in my 1988 roller HO and experienced no problems (I didn't even think about different gear sizes). I had that distributer in there for about a year until I could afford a high peformance one. Since then all of the swaps that I have done I have purchased a high peformance distrubuter for the year of the motor.

I keep forgetting to mate the distributer to the cam when the heads are off to see if there is a difference. Distrubuter gears are cheap and I would suggest buying the gear anyways. Maybe someone else like 40cabover has more information about it.

As far as using a 1985 motor I don't believe that that year had a roller cam. One of the easiest ways to tell when you are looking at a complete engine is to look at the firing order. A roller HO will have a 351 firing order where roller non HO and non roller engines will have the standard 302 firing order. (Check out the plug wires).

The only other thing you need to obtain that is different on a Roller HO is the harmonic balancer. Get a balancer off a roller HO engine because they differ from stock 302's. EVERYTHING else is a bolt on if you use your intake, accessories and computer. Just switch the plug wires and fire it up!

If you have any questions or problems give me a E-mail or post here. brett_d@mail.com

1988 Ford F250 4x4, 5.0 liter (soon to be Roller 5.0), AOD tranny, 2.5 Dual exhaust, Headman Shortyheaders, 33" BFG's Mud Terrain

1980 Ford F100, with 1988 5.0L Roller (carburated), T-5 five speed Borg Warner World Class Transmission, 31 spline 9" 3.73 posi , and a bunch more!! 13.78 quarter mile.