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Toreadorranger said:
I figured it would be ok since the filler neck has the built in vent tube. Worse case if it gives me issues ill use the rollover valve to make a vent.


You will have to rely on Levi for possible tuning, this thing is going to live its life 1 motor hickup away from a $200 4.8L LS.
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Can you give cliff notes of how you would perform the swap?
 
Levigarrett76 said:
Can you give cliff notes of how you would perform the swap?
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I have exclusively driven LS powered cars/trucks/Suvs for the past decade so I have lots of spares and parts hanging around.

4.8L LR4 (Cheap, easily capable of 300hp)
4L60E (not ideal but plentiful)
manual shift NP231/241

Autofab makes motor mounts but there is a million of universal mounts that will work. I have a set of ruffstuff universal mounts already leftover from another project.

Headers will be the most difficult part, but some OEM cast manifolds should be pretty close to fitting. Lots of different options there. including tons of cheap Chinese headers via the Ebays.

Paired down stock harness, OEM computer reflashed to remove VATS/Emissions (1994 is emissions exempt in my state and there is no inspection)
Truck is already setup for EFI so minor fuel system modifications required.

Should be able to put that together for around $1500 with the parts I have on hand.
 
I like the bang for buck in that idea, and doubling horsepower to boot. Thx for sharing
 
Levigarrett76 said:
I like the bang for buck in that idea, and doubling horsepower to boot. Thx for sharing
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The 4.8L is overlooked alot because of its size. Which for me makes it ideal for swaps like this. Plus down the road a 5.3/6.0/6.2L slots right in place with just a tuning change.
 
I always overlooked it because it seemed so small, i didn't realize it had a 3.26" stroke, that's a nice stroke for small cube motor. 1/4" more than a 302
 
Since the truck has drive slugs Ive been wanting to pick up a set of locking hubs to use and keep the slugs as spares. Keeping with the budget for this truck, I have been scowering FB/craigslist for parts. Managed to find a brand new set of Warn hubs, dust shields, wheel bearings and seals for the TTB for $50, Score.

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arse_sidewards said:
You actually run dust shields :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:
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Nope, package deal. Those are oem ford going to make most my money back on those bad boys. :flipoff2:

Edit: new from ford is $50 for LH and $75 for RH. Going to make all my money back.
 
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Toreadorranger said:
Nope, package deal. Those are oem ford going to make most my money back on those bad boys. :flipoff2:

Edit: new from ford is $50 for LH and $75 for RH. Going to make all my money back.
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That makes much more sense. You didn't come across as the kind of dude who runs dust shields let alone spends money on them. :laughing:
 
My local yard has a motor out of a 93, they said it is seized (reported by the guy who dropped it off), but it was the same cost as a used head for the whole motor complete with accessories and some other stuff attached so Im going to grab it for spares and hope the head on it is in usable shape.
 
Nice score.

In case it matters (it won't), the motor you have is from a (very rare, I should have got the ECU and harness but couldn't afford it at the time) '95 truck with EEC-IV + MAF. It supposedly has the hypereutectic pistons.

The '93 probably has a thick plenum. The thin one you have is worth ~5hp or so over the earlier one (and PCV shit doesn't pool in it as readily either).

You probably already know all this but... You're gonna need to remove the head studs to get the head off without pulling the motor. The head can be pulled without pulling the manifolds. You should do exactly that. The lower intake likes to crack tabs and will do so if you look at it funny. If you do pull manifolds you should run the exhausts with RTV only and run just the paper gasket on the intake. This is how many/most of these trucks came from the factory and is the best combo to prevent cracking (and seals the best if your manifolds are some semblance of flat).
 
Frame cuts today. I was determined to get them done so I finished the cuts in the rain. Will try and do fit up later this week and weld it back up.

16" needed to be removed. I did z cuts and scribed out the sections. Kept the factory holes for the bed.
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Wheelbase is going to be much better for wheeling in New England.
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[486] said:
yuck longbox is love longbox is life

dig the 4.8 plans
small motor with a turbo isn't a small motor (just saying)
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133" wheelbase on the longbed is a non starter. My other truck was the same cab configuration and I chopped 10" out of that one, but its on 42s so its break over will be fine. This truck on 35s with a 133" wheelbase would be awful. Id be high centered from the start of the trail to the end of it. Plus I never saw the appeal of a long bed 1/2 ton.
 
RHTrucks said:
I like this build, looks fun. Sorry if I missed it, but will you be bobbing the rear?
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I dont plan on it. The spirit of this is quick (at least for my normal project timeline) and cheap. Since I have my other OBS crawler build going as well, I dont want this one to end up getting out of control. I dont want to end up with two dedicated trail trucks. This one needs to retain some function as a truck or my wife will start asking questions. :laughing:
 
Ordered a set of Moog CC824 front springs. Considered to be the "HD" stock replacements. 366lbs/in. Should be the max height I can go on a stock suspension setup.
 
Next up is figuring out the motor in this thing. Arse told me it had a dead cylinder, he thought it was a valve guide and it needed a head. So first up was a compression test.

#1 130psi Dry and Wet
#2 150psi
#3 160psi
#4 160psi
#5 160psi
#6 115psi Dry/ 160psi Wet

They are looking good to me, Cyl 6 seems to have some worn rings or just needed to loosen up after sitting for a while, as a bit of oil brought it back up. I think this head is fine looking at these numbers. I dont have a leak down tester so I cant check that, but the dead cylinder might be #5. This was the plug I pulled out of it. The gap is a bit tight on this one. I don't have any fresh plugs on hand, so I tossed the old ones back in just to seal up the cylinders. Ill pick up some fresh plugs and wires this week. To actually test the motor Ill have to move on to the getting the new fuel tank in next.

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The misfire came on intermittently more and more frequently over the last 2yr the truck was in operation. I was having issues with #2. Pop the upper intake and you'll see that that runner is a different color like it's breathing back through the valve. That doesn't square with a shorted plug.

Last thing I did after swapping and lapping valves was run it and it still had the misfire. I may have very well have fixed the problem but dropped a spark plug causing a different misfire.

The first and last cylinders on an I6 tend to wear first since the back spends the most time hot and the front runs cold. Those numbers seem good
 
I've been waiting for fuel system parts. That all started showing up this week. Going to make Nylon lines once the tank is in and I have a good idea on lengths.

Since the 38 gallon tanks are from late 80s trucks prior to EFI, there are no drop in fuel pump assemblies. Did some measuring and cross referenced another post on the swap.

3 lengths of tubing needed. I used Nickel Copper for all 3. Brass compression fittings make up the connections.

3/8" - 5 3/8" long (support tube)
3/8" - 5 1/8" long (feed tube)
5/16" - 5 1/8" (return tube)

Before you can drop in the assembly to check for fit, you have to modify the top of the tank. The tabs on the EFI pump assembly dont line up with the older tank. One option is to cut the tabs off but it was easy enough to dremel out new slots for the tabs on the pump assembly to still work. The tab layout is the same they just have to be orientated approx opposite of the present ones. I made a cardboard template and used it, to lay them out. The cut them with a small cut off on a dremel and filed smooth. (top set of notches in the photo)

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Test fit into the tank and looks to be low enough to work just fine.

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Still have to mess with the fuel sender arm to get it to fit, but a clothes hanger is almost exactly the right size to reproduce the float rod, then I have to do a bit of wiring and make a support plate since the bucket and line assembly used to directly attach and no longer do, due to the longer fuel lines.
 
Cutting edge technology = coat hanger float arm. My wife changed over to all plastic hangers and I horded some of the metal ones away for random shit just like this.

I couldnt find any stainless .065 sheet locally to make the new bracket so I had to order a small sheet of the interwebs.


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Grabbed a free D50 TTB setup yesterday. Going to pull the center shaft, cut up the beams to plate the D44 beams and sell off the hubs.
 
Toreadorranger said:
Grabbed a free D50 TTB setup yesterday. Going to pull the center shaft, cut up the beams to plate the D44 beams and sell off the hubs.
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or you could weld the lower ball joint mount from the d50 beams onto your beams and get you some bigger stub shafts and hubs and bearings and common wheels with your other shitbox ford and...
 
[486] said:
or you could weld the lower ball joint mount from the d50 beams onto your beams and get you some bigger stub shafts and hubs and bearings and common wheels with your other shitbox ford and...
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It's not that easy. The top mount needs to move too and without that reference point it gets a ton harder. The way everyone does it is to make a jig out of scrap and graft both beams together with the seam being in the general vicinity of the radius arm.

I've got a ton of beams around and I keep meaning to try making the split straight down the middle of the diff cover and use the diff as the jig. I think people don't do it that way because they want to do cut and turn at the same time and you already have to fuck with the Cs to do that so they can get two birds with one stone.
 
arse_sidewards said:
It's not that easy. The top mount needs to move too and without that reference point it gets a ton harder. The way everyone does it is to make a jig out of scrap and graft both beams together with the seam being in the general vicinity of the radius arm.
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fuck maybe it was d44 knuckles onto ranger beams that was just the lower that needed to be fucked with
 
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