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I am thinking of installing a 302 in a 1984 Ranger I have. Is there anyone here that has done this? I have read various articles on this and just was wondering about anyone on this Forum doing the same and their experiences.
The aftermarket for the older Rangers is fantastic and pretty $reasonable. It has to be THE most popular vehicle to play with out there.
Have fun Mike
Fred
Agreed. Drop by summitracing.com and type in "Ranger V8" in their search box...they have a cheap and complete kit (including headers, mounts, oil filter relocation, etc.) for dropping a 302/351 into a Ranger.
With the older Rangers, it's an easy swap due to the open engine bay. I would suggest you give up A/C (makes it easier) and the heater if you plan on making it a good-weather weekend cruiser, just losing those two makes the swap incredibly easy.
one thing i have heard is you want to use an early 90s accesory setup. these have the things like power steer, alt, and the other stuff tighter to the engine givin more clearence from the front of engine to the radiator. if you use the set from a lincoln town car you can do away with the smog, and a/c. the town car uses 2 serp belts one drives the water,crank alt and steer. the other does the smog/ a/c. this will help lighten up the load. which ever way you choose to go just remember the year the motor come from bc ford used 2 styles of water pumps and they look the same but one is standard rotation and the other is reverse rotation. pending on how the belt loops around it. this is a pretty common swap and lots of infor and parts on how to do it. if you go with an auto matic look for a c4 tranny as you can get a 302 bell to mate with it, and not have to use an adaptor plate. and with the c4 trany being ford used this in the 83,84,i think 85 models the bw 1350 t case should fit it if you going with 4x4. some where in there ford used a c5 tranny which is basically a c4 but with a lock up torque convertor and some other differences.
Yea this is a 4X4 automatic that i will be putting the 302 into. I am gathering info no since I will not be doing this untilnext year. I also wanna swap the 7.5 rear end for the heavier duty 8.8, so I also have to locate one of them. That should nto be to hard.
If you can find a Lincoln Town Car or Crown Victoria...you can nail everything off of one vehicle, the engine, tranny, and rear axle. The transfer case can be mated with an adaptor to any of the transmissions, and adaptors are widely available on the Internet, you will need custom driveshafts however.
I have a buddy that has a Crown Vicki, maybe I can talk him out of it. Lets see what kinda friend he really is. Thanks for all the help, looks like I will start gathering parts now.
I guess what I should have said is if you can find a 302/5.0L Crown Vic/Lincoln...but I think you got the point. PI Crown Vics also came with the 5.8L, which shares the same bellhousing bolt pattern, so that would get you everything but the engine, unless of course you just wanted to drop in the 5.8L/351 anyways.
I think I will stick with the 302. I want something mild. I am not looking for a lot of horsepower either. I just want more power then the 2.8 it has in it. I had that rebuild a few years ago and has been ver reliable though for me.
if you go with the 8.8 rear from the lincoln or vic break out the torch, grinder, and welder, you will have to make spring perches and shock mounts. both those cars use a 4 link with coil springs. not my first choice for rear end swap.
Good point. The 8.8" from a Ranger would be much better as it's a bolt in affair...even an Exploder wouldn't be bad, just some minor fab work to get shock mounts correct. I had completely forgotten about that frankenbroncoII, good catch.