I see a rat rod frame. Get a 40s or 50s cab, chop it, and make it low and aggressive! Or, get a 4x4 setup on it, get a 40s or 50s cab, and have a mud toy that you can have some fun with

 

The top two problems I found when putting ANY V8 into a Ranger are:
1) No room behind the engine
2) No room in FRONT of the engine...

I have had daydreams about cutting and fitting together two complete sets of fenders to stretch the entire front clip out another three inches or so.

 

I was always led to believe a 302 or 351W wold bold right in Dutch. So mounts and tranny
is all? And the engine compartment will need mods?

 

Well, if you look through this:
(and it's a very long thread)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-roadster.html

You'll see that the frame had to be cut, the firewall had to have all hell beat out of it, the oil filter had to be relocated, the heater/AC box had to be modified, it needed special engine mounts, trick headers, and the jury is still out on what to do about the radiator.

I would almost compare it to trying to slide a Jaguar engine into an MG...

 

Ya I remember that thread M8. I would have deleted the AC to start with and
what ever else I could live without. Damn sure need a heater around here.
And I don't care how cute a co pilot ya got it just aint enough heat for the drive.

Well maybe a short drive and if it's a Red Head it may work.

Morris is gonna censer me before long. I just know it.

 

One of the advantages of a bare frame is that I can load the engine and drivetrain into it, and then see what I have to do to put something on it - instead of going the opposite direction and attempting to reverse-engineer all of it without knowing what to expect.

And of course - having fought with this sucker for 2+ years, I now know pretty much where the hassles are going to be, and what shape they are going to take.

I bet I end up setting up a rolling chassis, and then putting a cut-off cab behind it, and a cut-off grill in front of it.

THEN figuring out how to match up a set of fenders and inner supports instead of fighting with a totally inappropriate engine compartment to begin with.

SHOE HORNS only come in so many sizes, old buddy...


Besides, at the far end there needs to be room to work on the son of a bucket!

 

For yrs I always wanted a V 8 Ranger but I never got around to it and now it`s not likely I ever will.
As far as censoring that'll be up to Snowbunny, so far I think it`s all good but this isn`t my forum.

 

Snowbunny is busy on FB. No problems then.

Dutch the articles I read about a small block swap into a ranger or explorer made it
sound so simple even a monkey Like Havi could do it. Now I now better and Like Moe I am glad I never attempted it.
But will be way cool when ya get her on the road. A job more than well done.
Forget the mini me rigs on your mind and finish this Ranger V8 so we can all see it Bud.

Git er done. I got Ranger parts. Just ask for what I may have to help. Shipping aint bad
to Wolf country and I can always use another bag of seed to sit on.

"Sittin on that bag of seeds" Remember that song? One of the greats it was.

 

"The Wildwood Weed"

~Don't get me started on that'n...

If I had a quarter acre in Colorado right now I could make a fortune, but the security issues would be out of this world.

How are the plants doing BTW?

I got new seed from http://www.PARKSEED.com that I think will do great things.

I wonder though what a mini pickup about the size of a Thames or such would do. The English FORDS were very small machines, around the size of a Fiesta or Festiva.

If a thing like that could be built based on the smaller engines I could find myself a whole new source of income - and be paid to do it!

*Would call, I think, for a custom welded together frame.

FORD is not about to make anything like the Thames Delivery for over here, so if one is going to come out of the blue - it needs to be home built.
Very possibly a modified Fiesta or Festiva, or an Escort with the back cut out.

Think "RANCHERO" but very small...

IMAGES of Thames Delivery Truck
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...electedIndex=0


You know what is really wierd - I thought about putting a full size set of axles on that frame - they would stick out a mile and make it stable.
Late eighties F100 front I-beams would probably bolt right up, but be a lot longer.

It's a seriously strange idea...


I HAVE GOT TO GET MYSELF a welding rig this year. I can already cut and shape nearly anything

 

I don't think she has planted anything yet Dutch. Ground if froze right now.

And ya that Thames Delivery Truck would make a cool Ranchero I think.

 

We just got another ice storm blowing in today. The jury is out on if I will have more tree limbs to cut up...

One day the risky trees will be gone from anywhere near my house.

My cypress trees got ruined, and I wonder how they will burn in a bonfire outback

* I suppose I have just hijacked my own thread, but whatever...

NORMAL people just call the insurance company - but I have a machete, skill saw, chainsaw, axe, wedges, and a maul for that...

TOOLS ARE WONDERFUL THINGS

 

If as I have heard the Cyprus is like our Yellow Ceder. Not sure what kind of Cyprus you
have there. Our Yellow Ceder makes great fire wood. Slow burn and hot. Easy to lite off
almost like Red Ceder. Our Yellow Ceder is like the Cyprus used to build the Tall Sailing Ships
in Europe way back when.
Is yours anything like that? Prolly not that far south.

 

It looks like a very big juniper or some such. Sadly - since most have keeled over from the weight of ice and torn their roots out of the ground, I've decided they are a bad risk - so most of them will just have to go.

I also halfway wonder if there is a five on four and a half SKI conversion I could put on one of my truck frames - that would have been a hella go-buggy for the last week or two. All the roads around here have two to three inches of solid ice on them now.

 

Have a happy Turkey Day Dutch.

 

I'm about to pull the rear axle off the chassis and set it up on blocks to one side while I use the good tires and wheels to roll the V8 Ranger around on.

Since I have a welder now, I'm also going to swap the spring saddles on that axle around to the top of it.