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67galax's 1996 Bronco 351W ZF5 Swap and Other Things

40K views 212 replies 18 participants last post by  67galax 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I decided to start a build thread for my engine/trans swap. I've been posting updates in the 'what did you do to your bronco today' thread and I'd like to add more pics and detail and not clog that one up too bad.

Here's some background: I've had the bronco for 9-10 years now. Never really had any issues with it. Its nearly always ran good, and the issues I have had with it (bad coil, ignition actuator) never cost too much to fix. I've always wanted a bigger motor, though.

About 3-4 years ago, I saw a listing for a 'for parts' 1996 F150 with the 5.8. It was rusty and a spring bucket/shock tower was rusted through and the frame was sitting on the bump stop. Guy said other than it needing a new frame, it was a fine truck. I bought it for $500 and drove it 45 minutes home. I replaced both front shock towers and did a lot of useful truck things with it, while still daily driving my bronco.

I had always planned on putting that 5.8 in the bronco, and figured that since they are both 1996/MAF/OBDII motors, it should be fairly simple.

Also, I always kind of wished my bronco was a 5 speed. I'd read on here about how weak the M5OD from F150s is, and how a ZF was the best 5 speed for a bronco. Two summers ago, I found a 93 F250 4x4 that had the 5.8/ZF combo. I got it for $800 because it had engine issues. It ran with lots of blow-by. I really only wanted the trans and maybe the rear (sterling 4.10). I sold the engine and computer and scrapped the rest.

Over time, the bronco 5.0 developed a small coolant leak that has become progressively larger. I never could pinpoint its source, and never tried very hard to find it, but assumed it was either the water pump or intake manifold. I bought the intake gasket set and a new water pump thinking I would just redo that and fix my leak.
 
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#2 ·
I removed all the 'top end' stuff that I could. It wasn't until I was really into it that I realized that the hidden upper manifold bolt was a T40. Lucky for me, I had one in 1/4 hex that I could get down in there. Pulling the upper intake showed lots of crud, and when I flipped it over, a bunch of nasty, old gas spilled out.



I also broke the EGR pipe. I figured when it came time to fix, I'd solder/braze a section of copper pipe back in place of the flex.

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Removing the lower intake got me two broken corner bolts.

 
#4 · (Edited)
At this point, I was still hoping I could remove the broken bolts and get the 5.0 back together. I ordered a new timing chain and oil pan gasket.

But the more I thought about it, and the more I talked to people, the more I was realizing that there would be no real easy way of fixing this in the bronco, and that if I pulled the engine, I might as well pull the trans and put the ZF in there. And if I was going that far, might as well put the 5.8 from the F150 in there too and be done with it.

So, I began preparing the interior for a 5 speed.
 
#7 ·
The first thing I did to the interior was to remove the seats, center console, transfer case shifter, and pulled back the carpet to access the trans tunnel hump. It would give me better access later when it came time to pull the engine, and it allowed me to unhook the shifter cable without crawling under the truck.



I then pulled the instrument cluster to get rid of the PNRD21 indicator. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but I didn't want it there anymore, and wanted to make it look as factory as possible. After unhooking the cable from the shifter/steering column, I pulled the instrument cluster.



Since my lens was dirty and cracked, I swiped one from a spare cluster I had in the garage. I also dusted off the faces of the gauges while it was open.

I removed those two small screws and the indicator came out.



Popped the blank plate in there and screwed it back down. Nice clean cluster.



I left it out until I finished with the steering column mods.
 
#8 ·
I have a complete manual steering column from my 93 F250 parts collection. It didn't have an airbag, and I really didn't want to have to hassle with wiring, so I decided to just swap parts with my original.

First was pulling the ignition cylinder so I could get the plastic housing off. Then I undid the 4 (I think) bolts that hold the column to the dash. This let the column droop down low enough that I could remove the shifter assembly.



You can see that the top bushing was out of place and probably led to a sloppy shifter feel. Removed those two brackets, the OD off button wire connector, and what I think is related to the column lock down near the bottom.

My manual shroud didn't have the opening for the tilt, so I swapped bottoms so I could have tilt and no open shifter hole. I really didn't want to have the 'push' key release feature, but thought it would be better than leaving that hole empty, so I installed it.







Once I got everything back together, I think it looks like a factory 5 speed bronco should.

 
#9 ·
I also swapped out the single brake pedal for the clutch setup.

Years before I even had the F250 parts, I picked up a set of pedals from a guy parting a manual truck, so I now have 2 sets, but both will be put to good use...

I didn't take many pictures of this step, so I'll describe most of it.

I was able to get the single brake pedal off fairly easy. I did unbolt the steering shaft at the u-joint and was able to push the square/rectangle shaft down into the engine bay to leave some space to pull/install the pedals. I also unbolted the clutch master cylinder cover and removed it, keeping the nuts for the clutch master cylinder studs that are attached to the clutch pedal setup.

Removal consisted of pulling a pin to remove the brake light switch, two smaller bolts holding the assembly to the dash/cowl, and the 4 bolts that feed through the bracket that holds the brake master cylinder on. Once those were removed, the brake came out and the clutch/brake assembly went it, or at least started to.

The auto shifter cable was still in place and causing problems, so I pulled it. I did have to unbolt a wire harness 'loom strap' that was bolted to the e-brake casting to get the cable out. I pulled the grommet where it goes through the floor and fed it all down and outside the cab. I reached through the open trans tunnel and popped the cable off the shifter and it was gone.

Once I was able to get the clutch bracket relatively in place, I had to run around outside and position the master cylinder 'push rod' through the hole into the bracket. After that, it bolted up fairly easy. I got the two clutch master cylinder studs through the firewall, all the bolts connected, and the brake pedal and switch reattached to the pedal. While at the junkyard yesterday, I found a filler plug from a manual truck to fill in where the shifter cable used to go through the floor.

 
#10 ·
In between last weekend and this one, I disconnected some more things to get ready to pull the engine. I disconnected the exhaust at the manifold, which was fairly easy. My bronco is a southern vehicle and mostly rust free.

I pulled the driveshafts and removed the engine mount bolts. I also drained the torque converter and removed the starter. The last step was to drain the oil. Turns out some coolant found its way into the pan during the intake/water pump removal. I'm not worried too much since I hadn't been run at all to mix up or get into the bearings. Also, I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with the 5.0 after this anyway.

This Saturday, after my morning junkyard trip, and other chores, I pulled the last two engine to trans bolts and put a jackstand under the bellhousing to keep it from nosing down after I pull the motor away.

I have an engine leveler that I bought 15+ years ago when I rebuilt the engine in my comet. I also found some old lengths of chain and bolted the heads to the leveler. I found it odd that, while the two cylinder heads are identical, one end has 7/16" threaded holes and the other has 3/8" threaded holes. Looking at the motor from the front, the passenger side front is 3/8 and the driver's is 7/16. This only caused a small problem because my lifting chains were very tight fitting the 7/16 bolt through the link. The 3/8 went through easy, so I used a washer for extra security.



I was able to get the engine picked up a little and pulled forward to the point that the transmission slipped off fairly easy with a little pry bar.

At this point I realized that I still had the main ground wire and transmission cooler lines still bolted to the block. Had to undo one nut for the cooler, remove them, then unbolt the stud holding the ground cable.

I thought the combination of the leveler and the fact that most of the front engine parts were gone would mean that I could get the motor out without removing the hood. Turns out I couldn't.



With a little help from my older son, we were able to get the hood off and lifted over the engine hoist and safely set down out of the way.

Engine came out and over the radiator support with several inches to spare. I didn't even have to swap to smaller front tires.



I got it lowered down and onto my craigslist engine stand. I rolled it into the garage and put a giant garbage sack over it.



Next time I pull an engine, I will definitely open up the drain plugs in the block. I had a fair amount of coolant slosh out of the timing cover/water pump holes while it was swaying around on the hoist. Probably should have done that before even removing the intake.

I figure at some point in the next week I will drain the E4OD and remove it and the transfer case and get ready to put the ZF in there.
 
#11 ·
No decent pics today. All I did was remove the torque converter, drain the pan, and disconnect the cooler lines.

When I dropped the pan, I had one long bolt that should have been in the valve body down in the pan. Not sure if I didn't torque it right the last time I had it off and it just worked loose or what. Trans shifted fine up until I quit driving it.

I also dug through the garage and found the ZF crossmember, another set of clutch pedals, and the manual tranny starter, among some various other bits.

If the weather cooperates tomorrow, after I come back from the junkyard, I'll drop the tranny crossmember and get the transmission out.
 
#12 ·
Today, I started off with my usual saturday ritual, and went to the junkyard. My goal there today was to find a master cylinder/switch assembly for my ZF, even though I found the one from my F250 in the garage last night. I made a mental note, and a few pictures, of the wiring that hooks to this switch.



Once I got home, I looked under the dash and found the right connector mounted near where it should be with some type of dead plug in it.



I'm glad Ford wired the interior of auto trucks for manual transmissions.
 
#13 ·
After that, I decided to get that tired, old auto trans out of my way.

I wheeled out my atv jack, and with a healthy supply of lumber, was able to get it lifted up high enough to remove the crossmember.



Then I started to lower it down



Lower



Oops

Once I got it pulled out from under the bronco, I picked it up with the engine hoist and wheeled it back to the bed of the F150, so I could pull off the transfer case



 
#14 ·
Then I pushed the hoist back into the garage to retrieve the ZF.



I thought it was a bit grungy, so I sprayed it with some engine degreaser and wire brushed it to get some of the crap off.



Then I attached the transfer case and picked it back up



I got the shift linkage hooked up and tested it out with the handle in place

 
#17 ·
I’m not overly concerned with the low low first gear as much as I about this transmission’s durability. I want to shift gears, but have read nothing good about the Mazda 5 speed’s durability behind anything with power, so it was either find a small block ZF, or an older 4 speed. I think I got a decent deal on this one, but because the engine in the parts truck was bad, I never did more than move it around in 1st gear in my driveway before I parted that truck out.
My short term goal here is to get everything put together the way I want it and make sure everything functions as it should, before I worry about any long term plans, such as a restoration where I pull it all back apart and rebuild everything.
 
#18 ·
5.72=beautiful :thumbup !!


50-100 to 1 is the ideal-range crawl ratio, IMHO.

With 100 to 1 be THEE ideal.
 
#19 ·
Before I started to install the ZF, I dug around in the garage and found the harness that came from the parts truck.

It was a 93, and OB1. It has only, I'm assuming, a reverse light plug, a transfer case plug, and an white oxygen sensor plug. All of this was in a single assembled harness with a single square plug.



My bronco, being a 96, automatic, and OBDII, had one harness, but two different plugs that connected to the vehicle. One square plug was 'the same' as the one on the harness I had that included the E4OD plugs, but the second was round. Looking closer at the wires, the round plug went to a blue oxygen sensor plug.



By my way of thinking, I could just take the round plug to the O2 sensor and separate it from the square harness with the plugs for the E4OD. So I opened it up and kept only the now 'simplified' O2 plug.



I figured that when I plug this modified one, and the original harness, into the bronco, they should do their job. Won't know until I fire it up, though.

If anyone happens to have a 1996 wiring diagram for a manual transmission, I would be in your debt.
 
#20 ·
Questions

And here's where I need some help.

I have the original F250 ZF crossmember.



My question are:

Which way should this thing go?

If the ZF is shorter, should the offset be forward?

Is the crossmember supposed to go into existing holes?

I measured last night, and from the front of the bellhousing to the mount bolts, the ZF was about 25" and the E4OD was something over 28.

This would make me think that the offset should be pointing forward. If it were turned around, I'd have to move the crossmember way closer to the engine and probably drill new holes in the frame.
 
#21 ·
Well, between google searching and reviewing some old pictures, I figured the crossmember out. Turns out there is already a set of holes in the frame. The offset does go to the rear, but with the member moved forward it makes up the difference.

Anyway, back to the install...

I put the ZF on my ATV jack and tried to get it as balanced as possible so it didn't topple off like the E4OD did when I was taking it out.



I tried to roll the whole thing under the bronco, but the shifter mechanism at the top of the transmission was too tall. I was a little nervous taking if off, but I was able to get in out and roll the transmission under the frame rail.







Then began the tedious process of lifting, blocking, repositioning, etc.

At some point I considered using the engine hoist like I've seen some people do, but I couldn't get a good angle. There's shrubbery along the passenger side of the bronco, and the steering wheel was getting in the way from the driver's side, so I just used the jacks.



I eventually got it high enough, and supported at both ends, that I could pull the ATV jack out and get the crossmember installed underneath it.



I got the transmission mount bolted up, the front supported by a jack stand and I'm ready to try mounting the master cylinder. I plan on leaving the main and transfer case shift levers off until I get the engine in.

I like the looks of this:

 
#22 ·
Well, I haven't done a thing on the bronco in a week or so.

This weekend was a family get together pre-4th, and next weekend I'm going to be busy. It might be sometime next week before I start taking the accessories off the 351 in the F150.

I'm going to try and get that engine pulled only removing the two accessory brackets and the upper intake. That engine, so far, hasn't been leaking anything, so I'm not going to chance pulling anything with coolant running through it (except the throttle body).

I might re-do the rear main seal, and replace the oil pump.

We'll see how much rougher pulling this engine will be. The F150 is much rustier than the bronco.
 
#23 ·
I didn't realize that it's been almost two months since I've done anything here. Life's been happening, so the bronco's been sitting.

But, I have ordered a new oil pan gasket, crank repair sleeve, and rubber rear main seal for the 351. (knock on wood) The only thing I've noticed wrong with the 351 is a slow oil drip from the back of the engine. I figured I'd redo the rear seal while I have the 351 out, before I lower into the bronco.

Now, I hope this doesn't sound like a real dumb question, but here goes:

Since the 351 is wider than the 302 its replacing, could I take the easy route and cut the exhaust crossover pipe (below the oil pan) and put in a small section of pipe to make up the difference, while keeping the rest of my exhaust intact?

Or would it be better to cut the bronco's 302 exhaust and F150's 351 exhaust at the same place, and swap them? Like pre-cat area.
 
#24 ·
Unbelievable that the bronco has been sitting for over a year. Lots of other projects with priority keeping me from working on it. Weather also. Having a 4x4 truck helps.

However, I did decide to do some work to it while I have all that room. I'd seen several threads lately about doing the 4-bolt steering swap. I pulled a 4-bolt box from a 97 F350 a few years ago, and figured now was the time.

I couldn't get the pitman arm off without cutting a groove in it. Not a big deal since I'll be using the drop pitman arm from the bronco.

Which I was able to get off fairly easily.







Now I'm debating whether I want to paint it before I install it.

Once its in, and I get the AN fittings ordered to get it to mate to my saginaw pump, I'll route the return line through the old auto tranny cooler and eliminate the looptyloop one on the crossmember.
 
#25 ·
the other day on FB Marketplace, I saw a guy selling a 96 F150 351W motor. It was about 2 hours away, but the price was very good.

I should have asked for more pictures first.

When I arrived, I found that it was really a 95. Still a roller 351, but it had the wrong wiring and timing cover/balancer for my 96, OBD2 bronco.

Price was right, so I bought it anyway

I started tearing it down with the plan to use my 96 302 timing cover, previously bought junkyard GT40 heads, and 302 wiring harness to make it work in my 96 OBD2 bronco.

The whole thing is pretty weathered (rusty), and the intake, although the crap factory 351 intake, was in bad shape.

I broke off two of the fuel rail retaining bolts while I was tearing it down.

So I bought a different 351 intake, with injectors and rail, from a junkyard motor that are in much better shape than the one on the motor I bought.

I already have a new timing set, oil pan gasket, and various other parts from when I planned to use the 351 from my 96 F150

I renewed the registration on my 96 F150 before I drove to get this motor, so that truck is good for another 10 months. it was 2 months overdue.

I still plan to get this new 351 into the bronco and have it running before too long. I'm not 'rebuilding' just resealing the old motor, while adding slightly better heads.
 
#27 ·
I'm not planning on rebuilding the GT40 heads. They look pretty good. I am still considering replacing the seals, but the valves look good from what I can see. The sparkplugs that were in them looked decent as well. Not going to reuse, just 'reading the plugs' makes me believe the engine they came off of was in good shape.

Things I had bought for the 351 in the truck, that I was going to use when I swapped those motors include:

Oil pump
one piece oil pan gasket
timing chain/gears
valve cover gaskets (the reusable rubber type)
timing cover gaskets
new water pump
some various new ARP bolts
rear main seal

I still need to buy:
head gaskets
block plug set
oil pan
motor mounts
intake manifold gasket set
(maybe valve stem seals)
thermostat and gasket

What I'm still not sure about:
which exhaust manifolds to use. Headers aren't in the budget now. The 302 manifolds have the bungs and O2 sensors, but no EGR riser. I could get a nice used set of 351s from the junkyard for probably $10 that have a good EGR tube on it. OR, I have a set of stock lightning manifolds/headers. Probably not necessary since I'm keeping the stock cam and intake.

That's where I'm at now.
 
#28 ·
Here's a small update. I ordered a lot of parts over the last week. Here's a short list of what's arrived so far:

Head gaskets
Oil Pan
Intake manifold gaskets, including plenum and EGR
oil pump and throttle body gasket
block/freeze/core plug set

I plan to start putting it all back together at some point soon. At least to the 'long block' stage where I'll mask off all the shiny surfaces and paint it. Haven't decided on a color, but leaning towards black. No reason other than, they quit painting engines blue a long, long time ago. I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking this is a factory original motor, because I never plan to sell it, so why not do what I want?
 
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