Hi, I have a 92 Ranger, RWD with the 3.OL V6 and a 5 spd. tranny and i want to upgrade it to a V8, but i'm not sure what engine to go with and what all i will need to replace so if you guys could kinda point me in the right direction that would be grately appriciated because this is my first attempt at an engine swap.

also, do you think it would be worth while getting a posi axle??

Thanks a bunch!

-Harfie

 

A. its pretty easy once you really get into the beast and do it...we stuffed a 302 V-8 into my buddys S-10 pickup so i think a ranger will be ok.

B. Replace the tranny, the radiator, the exhaust, the engine mounts, its a 92 so its EFI ranger so unless you are gonna carb the V-8 you will have to snag a wiring harness and ECU from a 5 liter car or truck to run it....just carb it....you will have a lil trouble with the headers around the steering rod you may have to go with a 2 peice header that you can put together around the rod.....you may be able to use some of your stuff like A/C pump etc...but be sure they will bolt into place securly on the V-8 mounting tabs....you will have to get a bigger fuel pump depending if push come to shove get an in line and eliminate the in tank deal...the rear end...GONE...ditch that thing ASAP and get a diffrent one it will not last under the stress...i know people will tell you diffrently but take it from a guy who sat on the side of the highway for 4 hours in mid winter waiting for a tow.....change it.....the brakes.....upgrade them please.....more speed and power will = the need for more braking power, you can do a 4 wheel disc conversion when you swap rear ends....you can use a 5.0 mustang rear end in the ranger with minor modifications...look into that as minor to me may be major to you......you will need to get a new driveshaft as your new powerplant may want to wring the factory one out like a wet towel. suspension will also have to be changed too to support the weight of the engine and body roll from and the new massive amount of torque. you will want to change the front rotors to match the pattern of the new rear end lug spacing.

Now if you wanna shade tree it you can skip all the parts except the tranny and engine swap and be done with it .....youll have a V-8 but it wont keep the nose up cause of sloppy suspension or stop well because of rear drums and smaller front disc, and you may be hitchiking due to rear diff failure....but you seem alot smarter that that so please take pix so we can see your new monster creation.....BTW i have a 5.0 H.O. motor all roller 4-sale just to get you off to a good start runs great 39k miles $600 complete.....oh yea some friendly advice....be patient, dont get angry at it just walk away and cool off, bring lots of Gojo, lots of towels, plenty of friends and beer, a jack, an engine hoist, lots of hand tools, something that plays music, and most of all bring a good attitude...just have fun with it man.....itll be an adventure....take LOTS of pix man trust me you will wanna show them around later!

Good luck bro;
James

 

didn't I just see this thread? explain to me your need to start two threads on the same topic, in the same forum? I'll tell you its a complete waste of expensiuve bandwidth.

 

i didn't realise we could edit the threads untill after i started the second one

sorry about that

 

YOU can't edit threads... you can add posts and edit your post for 60 minutes, and the title for ten minutes.

I don't mind if you post mulitple times or bump your posts... or whatever, but its too confusing to keep up with a bunch of threads on the same topics....