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Preparing for a ZF Swap

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
So I'm in the market for a ZF for my truck. Found one in Missouri -- the guy has most of the parts I need for the swap but I've got a couple of questions.

-His starter is from a 300 I6. Is this the same starter for the 351?
-His truck is an 89 (gen 8). Is the clutch/brake pedal assembly different for a 95 (gen 9)?
-Can I modify and reuse my trans crossmember or will I HAVE to buy the ZF crossmember? He can provide the trans mount but he modified his old crossmember to work with his truck. I'm not sure which trans he stated with but, can I do something similar with the e4od?

Any help is appreciated :)
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
guy said:
what year is your truck, I dont think all pedals are the same, my truck is a 89. I can include tranny, new tranny mount, front driveshaft, 12" Luk clutch kit with only about 2000-3000 miles on it clutch master cylinder that is new, new hydraulic clutch line (from Ford) I do not have the correct floor pan, also do not have the correct crossmemeber as i just used my old one and modified the mount with an idea I got from some guys on here as my truck originally had a 4-speed. I have a 300 inline six so if you have a V-8 my flywheel will not work. also Im not sure if the starters are the same but if they are you can have it too, it is new and has lifetime warranty. also I do not have a t-case shifter as mine was broke (just like they all do). I think I covered everything
He said he wants $600 for all that stuff plus (rough estimate) $250 to freight it all from Missouri. You guys think $850 shipped is pretty fair? He claims the trans only has 68,000 miles on it (with a 2-3k mile Luk clutch kit) --- and it's also still in a running truck so I could potentially have someone go drive it to make sure it works. Brad volunteered :D
 

TheRoadVirus

High-Steppin' Mo-Sheen
The correct floor pan part worries me, is that an issue? Are you ready to take that kind of job on?

Still sounds like you'd be able to get a ZF swapped in for way less than the cost of an E4OD rebuild..
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
The correct floor pan part worries me, is that an issue? Are you ready to take that kind of job on?
I can find one if I need to. The center section of the my trucks floorpan actually unbolts, and I just put a different one in it's place that already has the shifter hole and boot-screw holes in it. I'm sure I can obtain one locally and if I'm REALLY in a pickle I might be able to just cut some holes in mine. Shouldn't be much of an issue.
 

TheRoadVirus

High-Steppin' Mo-Sheen
Ooooh, ok. I get it now, I thought it was a little more involved than that. Whenever I hear of floor pan clearance issues it's usually way more than just swapping out a removeable center-section. Not to mention, I don't have the removeable center-section, so I didn't even know some of these trucks had one. smilietease
 

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
You may have to have new driveshafts made. The length is probably different from your slush box.
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
You may have to have new driveshafts made. The length is probably different from your slush box.
I know the ZF is much shorter than the E4OD, and because of a differing length in trucks I'll have to have my rear driveshaft lengthened (already had that in mind). But I figure the front driveshaft from his truck can be used on mine with the ZF, since the distance from the front yoke on the tcase to the front diff is always the same for all these trucks. No?
 
Last edited:

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
No, if the tranny is shorter, the transfer case will be closer to the front end. Shorter shaft.
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
No, if the tranny is shorter, the transfer case will be closer to the front end. Shorter shaft.
Read my post again bud. I'm talking about using HIS front driveshaft.

EDIT: Sorry, my wording was a little confusing. I just fixed it. Go back and reread my post above.
 

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
Oh. gotcha. next-

You can probably modify your crossmember easy enough. Should be just a matter of drilling some holes.
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
I drive way to much to want to get a manual tranny. Drive me crazy sitting in traffic , shifting up and down.
My previous truck had a 5-speed and ever since I sold it I've been hating life. Once you drive a manual as a daily driver, you'll never like auto's again. Here's the old truck, we called it the Green Bean.



003.jpg

004.jpg
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
Anybody know if the starter for the 300 is the same as the start for the 351? And if the pedal/assembly is the same for 8th and 9th gen?
 

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
Yes, depending on the flywheel. There were a couple different size flywheels, or are you gonna use his?
 

andym

Real men are fanatics
The starters are the same. :)

So Chris... this is at least the third time you've started this project. How far do you plan to get with it this time? :D
 
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surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
I thought it would. Might wanna check into that with one of the parts guys.
 
646
12
Another Skan project in the works. Will this one reach completion?

Look at it this way, if you do this job you will have an opportunity to finally fix the rear main leak that you were going to do a long time ago. So, two birds killed with one stone!!
 

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