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Reviving the F150

Swazo

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
2,325
Location
Salt Lake City, Utah
For those who don't know, my F150's engine took a crap on me. The 3V engines have problems with various problems through out the valvetrain and the style of spark plugs they use (2-piece that are prone to sieze and snap off into the head).

Long story short, I found one of my #2 cylinder's intake valve's HLA froze and made the FF destroy that valve's cam lobe and the FF itself :mad: :shrug:

Ford has revised many of these parts since '05, and now I have an '07 5.4L w/ 18K that's going in. I'm also adding stainless steel long tube headers with a crossover pipe that deletes the restrictive OEM cat setup, adding a high flow cat, revising my exhaust setup and adding electronic fans :)

After hearing about Derek playing with his TT, I thought I'd share what I'm doing with my troll-mobile too.
 
Should be a straight forward swap right? Good luck those new F-150's have the motor crammed in them. Mine has enough room to sit in the eng compartment and work.
 
I didn't know the 3V engines had problems like that...:shrug: That sucks.
Sounds like you're making the best of it, though.
Oh, and I'm glad I could be of some inspiration to you. :D
 
Red,

It's not too cramped. Luckily it is a straight swap. I'll change the main seals and some other easy to change gaskets, but that's about it.

Derek,
I won't pull a swazo this time. I'll fix the small things and be done with it. While it's out, it's hard to not take care of some basics that could help with MPG gains. :ponder:
 
I had my engine vanish in trasit from Ohio to Utah. After 1.5 weeks of waiting for them to find it, they told me it's MIA. :(

A refund has been made, and tomorrow I'm off to LKQ in Springville for an '06 w/ 11K for about the same price :)

Blech! I hate fixing a DD :mad:
 
Sucks to hear things like this, they have a tendency to just make my skin crawl as it reminds me of crap I have dealt with.

BTW - hows the Impala? I haven't heard much about it in quite some time and I know that there were a lot of grand plans for it.
 
Sucks to hear things like this, they have a tendency to just make my skin crawl as it reminds me of crap I have dealt with.

BTW - hows the Impala? I haven't heard much about it in quite some time and I know that there were a lot of grand plans for it.

I'm knee deep in a rotisserie restoration, just tracking down the final goodies to start reassembling her :)
 
Yay! I got a new comfy creeper to use for this project and went and over spent at sears on some new ratchet style wrenches :shrug:

The best part (compared to the ol' SVT) is I don't need a jack until I'm ready to pull the engine. That's just to pull the front wheels off to drop it down on it's rotors, so it's easier to get the engine to clear the dang radiator support. Compared to the SVT, this truck is FREAKING HEAVY!!
 
I found a guy who swapped a 3V 5.4 into a 96 Mustang, and he tipped me off on a simple intake mani mod that nets 6 RWHP w/ proper tuning :cool:
TB is now cleaned and optimized too.

I can't wait to get the headers and new exhaust system! I'm stoked, these small mods should add up to a funner truck :)
 
I found that OBX makes total knock offs of the $1500 Dynatech long tube headers. They're 304L Stainless and have great fit and finish, and at a 1/3 of the cost as the Dynatechs :shrug: Also, the dyno proven 30 RWHP/35 RWTQ is the main reason I'm getting them. Should be here wednesday :cool: It also deletes the OEM cats (all 4), but I'll be adding one high flow cat and I'll be adding a flowmaster 44 SI/DO muffler (I like the sound a lot!).

I'm also going to be doing what we Contour guys know as "gutting the LIM". Only, the intake is one piece, but it's the same idea. With tuning, it's good for 6-7 RWHP.

I'll also add electronic fans and ditch the pulley mounted POS fan. Butt dyno proven for a good boost in economy, slight performance boost and a cooler running engine and A/C.

I'm also getting my tune tinkered with for the additional changes. Troyer Performance is to F150's as Tom is to turbo Contours. With some datalogging, it should wrap this package up quite nice.
 
Everyone like pictures, so here is one of the new header setup (obviously from their site....)

10971-2.jpg
 
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