I am seriously considering swapping my 302 for a 351w in my '87 Ford E150 van. I am considering the compatability issues in another forum.

Here, my question is- how DO you pull the engine if you do not have a lift? I've got access to a hoist, but obviously this engine drops down below. Does a hoist even work here? There is no lifting room above the engine. How you lift & drop it? Some kind of jack or what? How much does the van need to be lifted to allow the engine to slide out from underneath? I can already see just how bad it would be to have it driven up on ramps and find it needs another inch to slide the engine away once it's dropped.

 

remove the front clip

 

I don't want to be a naysayer but unless that 302 is in really bad shape, I can't see the advantage of going through all that work swapping it for a 351. You obviously have no idea what a job it is doing a shade tree engine swap on a van. I've done them, and I would rather do four swaps on a pick up, then one on a van. If your just looking to get a little more Wheaties out of your ride and the 302 is fairly sound, you should consider just doing some mods on that motor.

 

I'm well aware of it. In fact, the cost of doing the leaking valve cover gaskets alone is half the cost of the new engine! Putting in serious mods (not bolt on crap) in that little cavity is just as hard as the engine swap. The 302 hp is bad- really bad (<10mpg highway)- and it guzzles a lot of gas since it spends most of the time in second just to keep up. It's not in bad shape, but an '87 with 130k on it it's not a spring chicken. I have a trailer I need to tow from time to time and it's just short of being dangerously slow. I've done all the junk on front at one time or another, researched what has to change to make a 351w match up, and it makes a lot of sense.

So, back to the question- just how DO you shade tree that engine into place?

 

Sounds like there is something wrong with you`r 302 . I hauled my 3,300 lb maverick on a dual axel trailor in overdrive (4th gear on an AOD tranny) with my mothers 1985 E150 302/aod @ 70 mph (down shifted to 3 gear and slowed to ~ 60 - 50 depending on the size of the hill) over 200 miles no prob. When its towing the boat it will go over 90 mph (*oops I didn`t mean to go that fast) and if I`m driving sane it will get 17 mpg easy .

 

You need to either get the Chilton or Hayne's book for that van, or go to the library and check out one of the big books for it. In them it should explain in detail how to remove and install the engines in that van.
It's a little too involved for someone here to explain everything that has to be done. Another thing you could try is to go to a local junk yard and see if you can talk to one of the parts puller guys and ask them what is the best way to remove those engines. When your ready to reinstall, just do everything in reverse.

 

Im guessing that the 86 is similar to my 79. In that case it really wasnt that much of a chore as Id been expecting.

Once you strip the grille, splash apron, bumper and radiator the front is wide open. Everything unbolts, no Sawzall needed as on some makes.

I removed the carb, in your case that may be FI, but the principle is the same. Buy or build a lifting plate that bolts to the intake. The one I use has predrilled holes to mate up to about aything.

My hoist is too tall to go in straight so I changed the lifting chain to only 2 links and a hook.

Lift enough to remove the mounts, also remove the exhaust maifolds in an earlier step. The less clutter the easier it is to maneuver. Leave the tranny untouched but place a jack under it to support the weight.

Once the tranny bolts are removed then slowly lift a little bit and pull the hoist back a few inches at a time. You want to clear the torque converter without hittig it (Of course you had to remove the TQ to flex plate bolts!)

Im just hitting some of the spots here, but once the engine & tranny are seperated it is a matter of lifting and pulling back; repeating as necessary until you are clear.

I did the swap all by myself over a period of 4 days but a lot of that was cleaing up the engine compartment, painting things and generally just working a few hours at a stretch in between other chores. Also did things like clean the pan and screen of the donor 351W as well as change fluid in tranny and TQ.

Get the Haynes manual, it is excellent.

 

76... 87... when did Ford actually change anything?

Actually I checked both Haynes AND Chilton's. They described removing the grill, accessories, etc and then both simply said "Remove the engine". Unbolting stuff wasn't the mystery, it was that "Remove the Engine" that needed some elaboration, being several hundred pounds of unhoistable mass that would be most easily managed with The Force but I am not a Jedi... at least I don't believe I am. Much to my dismay, it appears I will need to open and refill the AC system... major bummer.

286merc, is that lifting plate a standard item? Just an extension for a hydraulic engine hoist? Do you mean I need to remove the intake manifold and bolt the lifting plate in its place, or are there exposed bolts holes on the intake, or are you describing wrapping something around the intake manifold?

 

This is a lift plate for a carbed engin ...

 

and this is one for an EFI engin...

 

But I like to use a load leveler when I can ...

 

I put the 351 in my 89 E-150 when I took out the 302. Well worth the extra grunt.

 

I remember the Chilton manual calling for you to remove the upper intake to gain clearance between the top of the engine and the firewall cavity. This also gives you a place to bolt the lifiting plate to.

Probably not the best method for removing an engine, but it seemed to work, was on Monster Garage a few months ago when they made a wheelstanding Ford van ambulance. If I remember right, they basically did what Ford390gashog said and removed most of the front clip.

 

Removing the carb gave me plenty of clearance to get in with the shortened chain/hook. Absolutely no room for a load leveler as pictured tho.
There are some lower profile hoists available but I used my old trusty 4 ton folding job with 8 ton ram that I got off Ebay from a tool wholesaler a few towns away.