The 2.9 bellhousing will not work. The 2.9 is a larger version of the 2.8 cologne engine which later became the 4.0. The 2.8/2.9/4.0 bolt patterns are the same but they are the only ones that will. The ford lima engine started out as a 2.0, became the 2.3, and later ended up being bored out to a 2.5 and they have the same bolt pattern as they are the same design. Aside from the 2.5 and 2.0, the 2.3 lima doesnt share a bolt pattern with any other engine as far as I know. I know for a fact that they wont interchange with any v-6 engine thats in a ranger.