I am seriously considering this swap.

anybody do this? does it follow the wiring from a YJ?

How much am I looking to spend as far as adapters, mounts, etc....

your on your own as far as motor mounts and headers go.
im sure its not a difficult task to make some motor mounts.
actually...i take that back...check with z and m conversions. they do alot of stang swap stuff.

the 5.0 is a stand alone engine, so aside from fit, wiring shouldnt be much, if any different from any other jeep. as far as headers go, im not sure.
~John

I am sure I am probably gonig to hear the answer I expect, but how well will the ax/15 do behind this motor?

If I can pull a bronco manual and tc, will they bolt up to the stang motor?

ryeguy ran an AX15 behind a stroker, and the HO 302 and the stroker have similar performance numbers.

if it ain't peugeot, you're good to go.

ok, so make my own motor mounts.....I assume I have to reinforce the unibody then?

headers, I'll figure something out.

wiring: look at YJ wiring writeups and I am good to go?

what about an adapter to the ax15? should I go novac, advance, or is it close to bolt up?

Buy a complete car, it'll save you money in the end. $700-2500

well you dont have to reinforce the unibody, but it has obvious advantages, and i think any xj that gets wheeled should have it done.
anyways, you should be able to adapt some universal fit motor mounts if Z and M, AA, or novak cant/wont make em.

if you ask me, its so cheap to put a t18 behind it, why not spend a couple hundred more and get a strong tranny. you can prolly recoup a big chunk selling the ax 15.

the 5.0 is pretty small for a V8, so i suspect you could mod the headers to work, and im sure shorty style headers would fit.

as for wiring, id just grab a painless or centech harness for it and be done. about as close to plug and play as you could get.

ok, so when all is said and done how much am I looking to spend here?

lets say that I go 5.0, t18, ford borg warner (is it worth it?) with a ZandM motor mount and a painless or other harness?

I will have a 4.2 longblock, a built 4.0 w/ supercharger (probably a blown head), an ax/15, and a np231 to sell.

can I recoup my costs for teh ford drivetrain by selling teh old stuff or am I SOL?

Originally posted by mkbruin
ok, so when all is said and done how much am I looking to spend here?Depends how what deals you can find. Id guess $1000-$3400

Originally posted by mkbruin
lets say that I go 5.0, t18, ford borg warner (is it worth it?) with a ZandM motor mount and a painless or other harness?Tranny looks good, which T-case?
I've only heard bad about Z&M. I looked into them and decided not to buy, made my own motor mounts.
The Ford wiring harness is very easy to make work. But if you have and extra $400+ and don't like reading a wiring diagram and hooking up 6-8 wires go with the aftermarket. (or if the Ford wiring is junk)
O yeah, Check out http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45309&highlight=totw+ford

well i'm not a jeep man but i'm towards the end of a complete change over on a Ford Ranger i went from just a 6" lift to full width D44/9" witha a 302 H0 EFI/NP435/NP205. and So far in the conversion which is near done I have $4100. and that includes $800 for a set of used 39" boggers on 14" rims.

i payed $600 for a COMPLETE 5.0 H0 out of a stang with harness. So you swap should be less than $3000 but that all depends on your deals you get.

hope that helps

ok, let's assume that I make my own motor mounts, get a 5.0 out of a 91-93 complete with harness for $700 (rough estimate....will call around) and decide to stick with the factory trans and t-case....

sounds like I could possibly be able to do this entire job for under 1300 including teh adapter? am I halucinating or is there something that I am overlooking here? if this is teh case....5.0 here I come!

or am I crazy, deaf, dumb, blind, and stupid?

Ok so it's been almost a decade.

Who's dropped a 5.0 into an XJ?

Good on you for searching! :)

I've considered it, but I think the AX15 would need to move forward a bit to accommodate the shorter length of the V8.

Other than that, I'm thinking it's pretty straight forward.

Like the others said:

Build some engine mounts (simple)

Headers (fox body headers fit REALLY nice in my CJ, so they might in an XJ)

Exhaust (Duals could be a bitch. Y pipe is probably the way to go.)

Wiring (Painless, mod an OEM harness, or...?)

Fuel (A few fittings and you're good to go)

Cooling (hack up some hoses...)

If theres one thing I've learned in my 2 years on Pirate4x4, it's how to search a forum lol.

Couldn't you theoretically move the engine back instead of moving the trans forward? I mean you're building the motor mounts anyway.

I want to see someone who has done and documented this swap.

The firewall on the XJ is the limiting factor for moving the engine back.

The back of the heads on the V8 will get into the stock sheet metal in a hurry.

I don't mind doing some light sheet metal work, but completely reworking the firewall and the HVAC/Dash just doesn't appeal to me.

The explorer 5.0 has a shorter front dress and already comes with gt40(p) heads and intake, would probably be a better fit in an xj

Valid point, but the front clearance shouldnt be an issue, even with a "normal" longer front accessory drive. (The straight six is longer to begin with.)

So the only way to make it work is by relocating the trans?

I forgot all about this thread!

I ended up never getting around to it, and sold the XJ I was going to do the swap into.

I agree that dropping in an exploder 5.0 is the way to go, if you're going to do it. Most of the framerail/firewall mods should be similar to what is needed for a SBC swap, so read up on those first. Read up on 5.0 swaps into wranglers for info on wiring (much more common).

Good luck, and post pics along the way if you go this route.

I did the swap in a 98tj. I found an 87 f150 with a efi 302 np435 and bw1345 for 450 bucks. sold the tires for 100 scraped the truck for 300. 50 bucks for powertrain. Or I bought a 99 explorer for 400 bucks sold tires for 150, scaped rest for 350. +100 bucks and had efi 302 with gt40 intake and gt40p heads and all wiring + computer. Buy doner rig and get novack to do your harness