Can i use newer (1999-up) cylinder heads on a 1993 3.0 Ranger? Do i need different rocker arms/pushrods? Does anyone know the interchange-ability on these?

One of the cylinder heads was cracked, and the other one had a burned valve. i had them checked at a machine shop and decided i wouldn't fix them. i found a good deal on a pair of heads through Dover Cylinder Heads on ebay. The only problem is they have the smaller valve shaft and bee-hive shaped springs. i am not sure if they will fit with the other valvetrain parts i have. i posted on TRS and they told me to try a fit, but in order to do that, i have to have some warmer weather here. i have a kind of narrow window of time for a return. If anyone can help, that would be great.

 

Go to the boneyard and look for a taurus/ranger/aerostar and find one with coolant still
in it (I know can be a nightmare) and test the coolant for blow through gasses and
pull those heads off. Since they are cast iron I wouldn't have a problem grabbing
some for $50.00 since new ones are pricey! Ask the yard and tell them you are going
to take them to the machine shop to be checked and more then likely you can swap
them for better ones if the first ones fail inspection. Check out autozone.com they have
ford factory repair manuals online for free and you could compare the heads you are
talking about with what you have now.