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Motor Swap: Differences between 91 & 92???

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Old 04-13-2017, 07:01 PM
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Default Motor Swap: Differences between 91 & 92???

Long story short, my truck needs a motor. It's a 92 5.0L with the E4OD. Will a 91 5.0L (unknown trans) out of a 91 F150 bolt right in with no issues? Same wiring harness??? Will I need to swap anything, like sensors, harness, ??? Any mechanical differences?

I need answers/recommendations as soon as possible because I can get a 91 5.0 for cheap with supposedly 80k miles but I don't know how long the deal will last...

As always, thanks for all the help guys.
Old 04-13-2017, 07:41 PM
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The motor will fit. You may have to swap intakes (or not) and some odd pieces but the motor itself is a bolt up.
Old 04-15-2017, 04:58 PM
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The 91 has a flat tappet camshaft and the 92 has a roller camshaft, so the distributor gears are different and not interchangeable. You'll have to get a car distributor or swap out the distributor gears.
Old 04-16-2017, 02:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris_1
The motor will fit. You may have to swap intakes (or not) and some odd pieces but the motor itself is a bolt up.
Cool, thanks!

Originally Posted by qdeezie
The 91 has a flat tappet camshaft and the 92 has a roller camshaft, so the distributor gears are different and not interchangeable. You'll have to get a car distributor or swap out the distributor gears.
Really? That's kind of a downer... As far as I'm aware it's a complete engine so the distributor should be in it already. Thanks for the response.
Old 04-16-2017, 06:45 PM
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If you're planning to do a motor swap, having or not having to swap a distributor gear seems kind of minor;
Old 04-16-2017, 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris_1
If you're planning to do a motor swap, having or not having to swap a distributor gear seems kind of minor;
lol my thoughts exactly. However I'm glad someone mentioned it because I thought all 90's fords had roller cams so it's something I could have easily overlooked. I have a new distributor in my current motor so I planned on swapping that over and things could have ended badly had he not said something.

I would rather rebuild the motor but I don't have the time. I graduate in mid May and have to move halfway across the country a few weeks afterwards for work so I can't wait on a machine shop. My engine has chipped pistons due to detonation so I figured a swap with the same engine would be quicker assuming I find a good one.

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Old 04-16-2017, 09:17 PM
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What about accessories? Are all the accessory brackets and placement the same between a 91 and 92?
Old 04-20-2017, 05:14 PM
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Well the 91 5.0 sold so I'm looking for another engine. I found an 87 that supposedly has low miles. Besides being a flat tappet engine, are there any other differences between an 87 and 92 short block? Obviously I'll have to swap intake, electronics, maybe oil pan, accessories, all that stuff. Will my accessories bolt right on?

I'm having a difficult time finding a 92 5.0L with reasonable miles... I'm kind of in a time crunch so I can't wait for a year.
Old 04-20-2017, 05:54 PM
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Just called the guy. The engine has 58K miles. Old man owned it, got sick and parked the truck. Then the guys grandson wrecked it, and this guy bought it. Made sure it ran first, didn't leak any coolant or anything. Last ran in 2015. He pulled it for a project but decided to get an Ecoboost instead.

Original owner removed EFI and put a carb on it since rats ate the wiring. He sent some pictures and it has the PS pump, Alt, and fan on it. Vbelts. Original distributor. Also has a manual trans flywheel.

Will my accessories, intake, harmonic balancer, bolt up?

Last edited by 93Bandit; 04-20-2017 at 06:02 PM.
Old 04-22-2017, 09:47 PM
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I went ahead and bought the 87 engine. Took a peak inside a few cylinders with my bore scope and crosshatching was visible on the cylinder walls. Insides looked pretty clean. Hopefully the swap goes well.




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