Hello everyone,

A friend of mine is rebuilding an 87 ranger and wants to know if an old 390 block out of a 72 F250 will fit into a ranger. I'm a SD guy so I have no idea. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

Power will be lacking in an emissions era engine...

For the size/weight of that engine and lousy build made for lower emissions, you can do way better with something no older than a ~90s model engine. Like a 351W.

 

Agreed, look for a 302 (easy swap comparitively) or a 351 (great on power, little trickier to cram in there). TONS of info on Ranger V8 swaps.

RP
Zach

 

Thanks guys,

I'll let him know. I didn't see how one could ever fit that model/era engine in a Ranger but I'm sure stranger things have been done!

 

If you look around you can find lots of guys that have put 429-460's in Ranger's but they require a body lift and the radiator relocated to the box. 351W's fit, but is basically a one-off fabricated swap. I think you have to lose the heater box. No parts available that I know of. Comparatively, putting a 5.0L is basically a bolt in deal if you buy the parts.

 

I have a Ranger V8 awap book, they get into swapping a 429/460 into a Ranger but only by extensively rebuilding the front end. It simply won't fit into the stock engine bay. I would think that an FE would be as bad considering its ample size and weight.

 

You can keep the stock heater box with a 351, but you have to notch it a good bit, and thus loose some of it's effectiveness. Some people would consider that worth it though.

If I ever went to a 351 in my Ranger, it wouldn't be a daily driver, so I'd probably pull the heater and A/C out anyways.

RP
Zach

 

Go with the 302. There are tons of early 90s Mustang GTs laying around at a boneyard. Go through and gut everything from it (including tranny and wire harness)

 

The Ranger 5spd will bolt up to a 302 with an adapter, the only thing with our tranny is it's not designed to withstand a lot of horspwer, so modifying that 302 is not the best idea if you're running the stock Ranger tranny, if you're running a stock 302 though, there shouldn't be any big issues. If you can get your hands on the tranny designed to mate with that 302, well great. The 302 swap is the simplest swap into the V8 world. I'm looking at doing that exact swap, I'll probably try and run my stock 5spd for testing purposes. If it holds together under wrath of my foot than great... if not well, I'll just fix it with a better tranny.

Madmike33

 

Don't run the 302 with the M5OD tranny, it'll be gone very quickly. If your Ranger had the 2.3L, it had the 7.5" rear end, which will need to be swapped out too, as it's far to weak for a 302.

On the other hand, as said, find a Mustang that was wrecked, and empty it out. Get everything you can. It's pretty much plug and play if you can get it all.

RP
Zach

 

I say be original and do a 390 swap. Only if you have lots of money and plenty of time. Everything will have to be custom fabbed or modified. Go with as many aluminum parts to save weight, and back it up with a C6 auto. I have a 390 running around the house, but nothing to put it into...

But, if you are doing this on a budget, go ahead and stick with a small block swap. I'm sure either way your truck will be cool.

 

Well said Dave. If you have patience and the $$$ for the 390, that'd be awesome. The 302 would be the easiest route.

 

Absolutely, I think anything will fit into anything. As long as the funds and time are there. I thought it would have been cool to drop a 390 in my ranger, especially seeing that I have an extra one sitting in my garage. After surveying my Ranger engine bay, and how many other projects I have sitting around, the 302 was just a no brainer for me.
If you do a 390, I think it'll be the coolest Ranger here on FTE. JMO though.

Madmike33

 

Anybody got the dimensions of a 390 versus a Ranger engine bay?

RP
Zach

 

I had an 84 Ranger 2wd reg cab long bed that I had a 351W in. It went in pretty easy, but I did have to notch the heater box a little like was said earlier. All of the parts can be bought from Advance Adapters for the V8 swap in the 4wd Ranger. I got all of my swap parts from Total Performance in Mt. Clemens, MI. Got the radiator, headers, and motor mounta from them. I don't think they do anything for 4x4's though. I had a C4 auto behind it that just had a shift kit in it. I think the engine was around a 1970 351W. Was looking for a 302 at the time, but found the 351 first. A 302 would be an easier fit, but the 351 does fit pretty easy. I ran the engine bone stock for the year or so with the stock 7.5 rear end with no problems at all. Had a body lift on it and a set of 30x9.50-15's on it. It was my daily driver for a couple of years like that.

I don't know what the strength of the newer Ranger drivetrains are, but I was going to find an old Bronco (66-77) with a C4 auto in it and put it and the Dana 20 tcase with the rest of the drivetrain from the Bronco under the Ranger. My plans changed and I built the 351 and put a narrowed 9 inch in the back of it and made a pretty sweet street truck out of it.

Anyway, it makes for a nice ride with the V8 in it. An injected 5.0 from a Mustang would be a nice power plant, too. If I was going to do it again that is probably the route I would go.