recommendations for upgrades to replacement engine

[ervin]

my 4.6 is locked up, cant turn it in either direction by hand, time to pull engine and find out why, i have 3 more engines and before i install either one i want to do any upgrades before doing install, what i mean by upgrades is oiling mods, timing etc, if it matters 2 engines are 94 and one is a 97 and all are complete. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[Right on the Mark]

Take out dead one and install 97. New oil filter adapter gasket and VC gaskets and done. Might want to pull intake and clean out secondary intake ports too. They really get junked up.

 

[Travisg32v]

My opinion, which there are many other who are much more knowledgable than me on these forums, but to me, it all depends on what you want to do. personally if i was going through the trouble of Swapping an engine, i would replace all 32 lifters/ lash adjusters, change the oil pump for one with a Bronze gear or hardened gear set ( around 300$), new main and rod bearings, while the rotating assembly is out put a little more cross hatch back in the cylinder walls with a simple quick ball hone, ( probably wont even need it from what ive heard/seen about these engines as they always seem to have cross-hatch still, even with high miles), then id do The valve cover gaskets, oil filter adapter gasket, and new rockers while your doing the lifter so you dont get irregular wear patterns on your new lifters from re-using the same rockers. All in all , im just basically saying i would do the above, and then also

1. re-ring/ re- bearing
2. Oil Pump
3. Lifters/ Lash Adjusters
4. Rockers
5. Updated Timing assembly with better updated Primary Timing Tensioners ( MMR Sells These)

with all this you would basically have a brand new engine, it just all depends on what your budjet/ goals are. Personally, i think if i was going through all the trouble of swapping an engine i wouldnt want to have to do it again eventually, but these engines are great and extremely reliable even in completley original form and so some of what i said may or may not be nescesarry/ important to you.

Just food for thought

 

[Travisg32v]

LOL god my grammar is bad sometimes

 

[KStromberg]

Your post was great other than your horrible grammar.

 

[Right on the Mark]

My opinion, which there are many other who are much more knowledgable than me on these forums, but to me, it all depends on what you want to do. personally if i was going through the trouble of Swapping an engine, i would replace all 32 lifters/ lash adjusters, change the oil pump for one with a Bronze gear or hardened gear set ( around 300$), new main and rod bearings, while the rotating assembly is out put a little more cross hatch back in the cylinder walls with a simple quick ball hone, ( probably wont even need it from what ive heard/seen about these engines as they always seem to have cross-hatch still, even with high miles), then id do The valve cover gaskets, oil filter adapter gasket, and new rockers while your doing the lifter so you dont get irregular wear patterns on your new lifters from re-using the same rockers. All in all , im just basically saying i would do the above, and then also

1. re-ring/ re- bearing
2. Oil Pump
3. Lifters/ Lash Adjusters
4. Rockers
5. Updated Timing assembly with better updated Primary Timing Tensioners ( MMR Sells These)

with all this you would basically have a brand new engine, it just all depends on what your budjet/ goals are. Personally, i think if i was going through all the trouble of swapping an engine i wouldnt want to have to do it again eventually, but these engineis are great and extremely reliable even in completley original form and so some of what i said may or may not be nescesarry/ important to you.

Just food for thought

Shoot while your in there why not steel crank, H beam rods, manley pistons and full balance job and ARP everything? LOL Just ribbin ya. Your list was nice but if its a DD and he knows engines run strong don't smoke or use oil all the stuff in engine is doing its job. If it ain't broken don't fix it. That's my motto. PS I'm running 11's on my stock 93 crappy engine. Like you mentioned these engines are rock solid from Ford.

 

[keVIIIn]

Shoot while your in there why not steel crank, H beam rods, manley pistons and full balance job and ARP everything? LOL Just ribbin ya. Your list was nice but if its a DD and he knows engines run strong don't smoke or use oil all the stuff in engine is doing its job. If it ain't broken don't fix it. That's my motto. PS I'm running 11's on my stock 93 crappy engine. Like you mentioned these engines are rock solid from Ford.

Yeah I'd stick with the basics that usually fail or give you problems. IAC, oil filter adapter gasket, crank/cam position sensors, top end gaskets..etc. No sense is messing with the internals if the engine was known to run well to start with. And man Frank I love the fact that you cranked 11s out of that basically stock engine..even off the bottle it was good for high 12s..amazing.

 

[racecougar]

...and new rockers while your doing the lifter so you dont get irregular wear patterns on your new lifters from re-using the same rockers...

This doesn't occur with the cam follower/lash adjuster design in these engines.

 

[Travisg32v]

racecougar- i was unaware of that actually, im always interested in learning, please correct me so i can properly understand.

 

[Right on the Mark]

racecougar- i was unaware of that actually, im always interested in learning, please correct me so i can properly understand.

Our rockers have roller wheels where it contacts cam lobes. These roll and don't leave a wear pattern like regular lifters on a cam.(think old 289 ford) Roller lifter or arms can go anywhere in engine when putting back together.

 

[97 Octane]

While you have access to the back part of the engine, go ahead and replace a common failure item. The Differential Pressure Feedback sensor or DPFE.

 

[ervin]

thanks for the replies, the game plan is to pull the trans and engine ,thoroughly detail engine compartment and repair some wiring issues ive noticed and do the headlights . as for the engine , ive already ordered a conversion set for the gaskets, i'll clean imrc's and ports, replace timing set with later model as well as oil pump, i have a stall converter already , so ive already made arrangements to freshen tranny and do a j-mod, add a trans cooler and get a 1-piece driveshaft built, swap in my limited slip and some gears, so with work going how it is currently i will be working on this till late year.... thanks again for input.

ohh and if this engine has any issues, its getting totally rebuilt all forged, so im kinda looking for any issue.

 

[14.6@97MPH]

thanks for the replies, the game plan is to pull the trans and engine ,thoroughly detail engine compartment and repair some wiring issues ive noticed and do the headlights . as for the engine , ive already ordered a conversion set for the gaskets, i'll clean imrc's and ports, replace timing set with later model as well as oil pump, i have a stall converter already , so ive already made arrangements to freshen tranny and do a j-mod, add a trans cooler and get a 1-piece driveshaft built, swap in my limited slip and some gears, so with work going how it is currently i will be working on this till late year.... thanks again for input.

ohh and if this engine has any issues, its getting totally rebuilt all forged, so im kinda looking for any issue.

3-things you should do that are a pain in the butt once the engine is in the car, but easy while it is out. Some are mentioned above.
- Change the DPFE sensor
- Change valve cover gaskets
- Change oil pan gasket (strip and repaint oil pan if it needs it, especially if you drive in snow belt)

Oil filter adapter gasket makes sense too.

Good Luck!
Ken