C5 behind 4.0 tech tips

[Shran]

I just did this swap in my race Explorer, which had an M5OD. This is apparently not commonly done, and poorly documented, probably because C5's are very hard to find these days, but here are some tips for the process.

C5's are found in really early Bronco II's, 84 and some 85's and possibly some Rangers as well. Mine came from an 85.

Flex plate: use the one from the donor vehicle. You need the bolts for it too unless the 4.0 had an auto behind it already.
Flex plate spacer: chances are the factory one is junk. Sonnax part # 56000CS6, $25ish
Starter: use the one from the C5 donor. 84 Bronco II with auto if you need a new one. 4.0 starter didn't fit in my block plate or line up with the bolt holes
Starter solenoid: the factory 4.0 one will work but MUST be rewired for the older starter, which requires a new positive battery cable and new starter power cable.
Engine block plate: (plate between engine and trans) can be from any 80's RBV with an auto, and a 2.8, 2.9. Mine came from a 91 Ranger with 2.9 and A4LD.
Trans cooling lines/cooler: I used the ones from the C5 donor and plumbed directly into a large cooler from a 94 F150, bypassing the radiator. The factory steel lines fit perfectly around the 4.0 oil pan and bend up right in front of the radiator where they need to be.
Shifter: Needs to be custom or aftermarket. The factory 85 Bronco II shift linkage doesn't fit my Explorer, not even close.
Drivelines: The C5 is approximately 5" shorter than an M5OD, so your front driveline needs to be that much shorter, and the rear, that much longer. I used the rear half of a 91 Ranger extended cab driveshaft which is 48" long and shortened it rather than make my Explorer shaft longer.
Kickdown cable/rod: I have not figured this out yet but apparently Lokar makes a cable kickdown which may work since the kickdown rod from the donor vehicle will not work.
Neutral Safety Switch I am also leaving this disabled on mine for the time being but this really should be hooked up. Easy to splice into either the A4LD switch or clutch pedal switch.
Dipstick tube The factory C5 dipstick tube works great and comes up right next to the 4.0 coil pack, BUT, there's nothing to bolt it onto the engine with. I took a piece of 3/4" steel flat stock and twisted it, drilled two holes, and bolted it into the passenger side head with a 3/8" course thread bolt and a 1/2" nut spacer, then got it angled correctly to line up with the tab on the dipstick tube.

My swap is still in progress and I will update this thread accordingly as I progress further but I can verify that everything I did above works great.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Dipstick tube The factory C5 dipstick tube works great and comes up right next to the 4.0 coil pack, BUT, there's nothing to bolt it onto the engine with. I took a piece of 3/4" steel flat stock and twisted it, drilled two holes, and bolted it into the passenger side head with a 3/8" course thread bolt and a 1/2" nut spacer, then got it angled correctly to line up with the tab on the dipstick tube.

FWIW with my V8 C5 using the RBV dipstick tube I ran a piece of plumbers strap (the flexible metal strapping with a bunch of holes in it) and hose clamped it onto the tube.

The factory bracket was nowhere close to anything.

B&M Unimatic fits and works great but has no provisions for a backup light, it does have a NSS built into the shifter.

If 4WD the shift linkages are vastly different swapping from M5OD/A4LD to C5, if you want I have a thread somewhere I can share.

 

[Shran]

I thought about using plumbers strap too but it's very flexible and I figured the dipstick tube could potentially bounce out... it's rock solid with the flat stock, but did take some time to build.

As far as the shifter goes, I think I may be able to modify the donor truck floor shifter - it just entails flipping the trans end rod over, making it longer, and not using any of the other crap that goes with it. The NSS is not such a big deal here, the main thing is to prevent it from being started in reverse or forward gears. As it is I still have to push the clutch pedal to crank it over but that's not to say that it couldn't be put in gear and then started, I already did that once by accident.

Any factory t-case shifter should be fine, I'm using an electric shift case for the race truck because I have several on hand, so it's a moot point for me, but the manual t-case linkage is just fine.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Its been there for 5 years with the strap and I have never had an issue with it coming out.

Now that you mention it I have heard of people just using the one link coming off the factory shifter, I remember trying it and nothing really lined up right.

4wd levers were very different when I swapped my A4LD for a C5. Non issue for you though. Since Explorers have 1354 it might complicate things farther.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103015&highlight=c5+pic+request&page=3

 

[Shran]

One more thing I should mention, that I found on another board, is the shifter/floor plate assembly itself - the one from the Bronco II I had, and I assume most other early trucks, is about 3" shorter than the floor plate in my Explorer. The bottom two holes line up, though. The solution I found was to find a floor shifter plate from an '88 or so and remove the A4LD hardware from it, and put the C5 shifter on it. That way it covers up the entire hole in the floor. This is assuming that you're using factory shifter parts to begin with.

If I ever swap in a manual t-case I'll add to this thread regarding the shifter for it. I have a pile of t-case shifters from various RBV's, maybe I can remember what they came out of if I find a working combination.

Is it safe to assume here that a complete 1354 shifter will NOT bolt onto a C5 and be in the correct location when used with a 1354? A 1350 shifter and 1350 t-case would be factory hardware so that would be a working combination.

Damn, I should not have sold off the fixed front yoke 1350 I had laying around. Now that I think about it, that would have been a great item to have for this truck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Is it safe to assume here that a complete 1354 shifter will NOT bolt onto a C5 and be in the correct location when used with a 1354? A 1350 shifter and 1350 t-case would be factory hardware so that would be a working combination.

In the thread I linked Totalled had a link to a beautiful pic of a 1354 behind his C5 with the linkage. Sadly with the death of BII.org it died too. He hasn't been around for awhile, maybe he will respond to a PM though.

And factory automatic trucks had smaller shifter holes in the floorpans than factory manual trucks, at least for the first gens. Not sure how that played out with the later trucks.

 

[Shran]

I discovered something about the shifter tonight - this probably only matters to me and maybe the 5 others people in the world who actually have all of these parts, but the factory shifter DOES work, if you leave out the frame bracket, the two long links, and the starter mounted pivot bracket.

It goes like this: you use the short link that attaches to the shift lever on the transmission, that normally points towards the bellhousing. Flip it over so it faces backwards. It now lines up PERFECTLY with the arm that extends down from the shifter, but is about an inch away. You can either bend this and bolt them together, or, I used a 2" 5/16 bolt with a small tube spacer between the two pieces. Shifts great!

I don't know why I didn't see this before, I put in three very long days on this swap so I blame fatigue, but this is a really great development. A trip to the junkyard this week should yield me a good shifter handle and hopefully a floor plate of the correct size.

Pics to follow.

 

[Shran]

In the thread I linked Totalled had a link to a beautiful pic of a 1354 behind his C5 with the linkage. Sadly with the death of BII.org it died too. He hasn't been around for awhile, maybe he will respond to a PM though.

And factory automatic trucks had smaller shifter holes in the floorpans than factory manual trucks, at least for the first gens. Not sure how that played out with the later trucks.

Crazy that there are that many t-case shifters. It would make sense to have the mounting hole for the pivot bolt in the same spot on every transmission and leave the linkage the same thus interchangeable between every model, but I guess this is Ford we are talking about here.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Crazy that there are that many t-case shifters. It would make sense to have the mounting hole for the pivot bolt in the same spot on every transmission and leave the linkage the same thus interchangeable between every model, but I guess this is Ford we are talking about here.

There is so much variance in transmission length though. Without changing something some of them are either going to put the lever under the dash or under the seat.