So I'm going to have to swap out my 5.8 soon, and I'm wondering how much work it will be. I've only pulled a motor once before and it was an Astro van where the whole front end had to come off. Can I just remove the hood and the clutch fan and lift it up and out or does the front end need to come off as well (fan shroud, rad, rad support, etc)? TIA

 

Only sheetmetal will be the hood.

Vans are always a pain to get motors in/out. Old 70's vans had to go out the side doors!

 

How about the rad? Does it need to come out?

 

The rad will need to come out to make room for the engine to come foward to clear the fire wall and to not put any holes in the rad.

 

You already have to drain the cooling system, so taking the rad out might not be a bad idea. If anything, it's the safest way to avoid damaging it if it's in good shape. You don't really HAVE to, but I would just for the added room.

The fan and clutch will need to be removed if you leave the radiator in.

 

For safety sakes. Don't want to swing the waterpump into it! If you're careful you might get away without.

Can't recall, might leave the hood on it, just remove the spring parts and then prop it up straight out of the way? Won't trip over it then. Worth a shot. I know alot of cars you can get away doing it that way.

 

Ok. Taking out the rad makes sense I guess. Its less than a year old so no sense risking damaging it. Any other tips?

 

Are you planning on taking the trans out with it or just the engine?

 

Just the motor. Trany was rebuilt a year ago. Frankly, if I didn't have so much work into the truck already, I might have just walked away. But, you know how it is, when you've come this far, you don't want to give up, and I'm attached to it now. It's MY truck, and it makes me feel good to make it feel good. You know what I'm saying?

Anyway, just the motor is coming out. I'm anticiating that I can drain all the fluids, remove the rad and shroud, remove the hood, disconnect the wiring harness and fuel lines, unbolt the a/c and move it aside, disconnect the ps pump from the steering box, cut the collector bolts on the exhaust, unbolt the trany bolts from the back of the motor, undo the motor mounts and lift it out. Not sure about where to disconnect the AIR stuff. I'm guessing that taking the motor out will take about 4 hours with a buddy.

Right now I'm looking at a 95 Bronco 5.8 with 126,000kms that has been compression tested and has a three month warrenty. I comes complete with everything accept the alt and starter. I'm guessing its probably got MAF so I might initially put my SD stuff on then convert it later after I have made sure the swap was complete. I'm not planning on tranfering any of my upgraded parts until I know for sure that everything is running properly. I'm doing this to simplify troubleshooting.

I'm hoping to have the entire swap done in two full days. I don't think I'm smart (or lucky) enough to do it in one but we'll see.

 

i have found on other vehicles that it is easier to just unbolt the tranny and pull it with the engine then bolt the tranny onto the new motor outside the car much easier... jack the rear of the truck up as high in the air as you can get it so that when you pull the engine and trans out you have more of a window (vertical opening) than a hole (horizontal opening) then just pull it out...did i mention it's much easier to get the torque converter and tranny bolted up outside the truck/car?

 

The hood does not have to come off.
The rad does not have to come out. It's a good idea to protect it with a piece of plywood though.
Seperating the engine from the tranny and TC is pretty easy.
Seperating the fuel lines will be the hardest part of the job.

Here's my 5.8 coming out last summer. With the motor stripped down as shown there is enough room to pull the motor forward and swing it sideways. Keep the lift chains as short as possible.

 

I Left trans in my '90 when I pulled the 5.0 and put in a 5.8. I separated trans and engine and left trans sitting on bottle jack and a block. A little tight underneath without jacking the truck up but not bad. I'm with conanski thos garter spring fuel lines make you want to kill. Also every bolt under that monster was beyond just tight. Lot of busted knuckles. I did pull the radiator and hood so I had more clearance to work and see. I did it in 4 evenings, in spite of my neighbor watching and telling me what I was doing wrong.

 

When I pulled my 351 from the donor truck, I pulled the front sheetmetal. All I did to the engine was disconnect everything between the engine and the chassis (wiring, heater hoses, A/C, exhaust, etc.) and pulled the engine and transmission complete, with the whole accessory drive still in place. The engine can certainly be pulled without removing the hood and other sheetmetal, but having all that out of the way was probably the easiest time I've had pulling an engine. I don't know what all the fuss is about the fuel line disconnects -- I didn't have any problem.