Daily Driver

[Flowers Performance]

Ok. I am completly new to this site. It seems very helpful so far. I have a 1998 Ranger. My plans are to drop in a 302. I dont need anything that will run a baja race or anything. It will be a daily driver and drove on the farm. What should the donor truck or suv be? I would love to keep my 5-speed. Any help would be very helpful. I know how to drop one in it but i want it to all work. lol. What would be really helpful would be the years and the makes of the donor engine and tranny. Thank.

[cgrey8]

...I have a 1998 Ranger. My plans are to drop in a 302...It will be a daily driver and drove on the farm...

For a farm truck, I was going to say you have a few options. But you've got a few things restricting your choices.

...I would love to keep my 5-speed...I know how to drop one in it but i want it to all work...

Right off, an Explorer engine is going to be the best donor for a number of reasons. The bracketry will be setup to work with your truck and all the tubing and intake airbox should fit in your engine bay as the engine bay of a 98 Ranger is similar enough to an Explorer that everything should fit. So a 96-98 Explorer donor would be ideal so you could pillage more than just the engine. You could get the wiring harness, intake air box, AC lines, and all the other peripheral crap that keeps the computer happy.

Now there were some discrepancies between Rangers and Explorers during these years. For instance the Explorer went from a return-style fuel system to a returnless fuel system somewhere around 98-99. Rangers did too, but I don't recall if they did the transition on the same year model or if they were a year off. So ideally, you'll want to get an Explorer that has the same fueling setup as your Ranger so the fuel lines plug-n-play.

The computers are similar enough between the Ranger and Explorer that any dash controls and ABS interaction should be compatible. However there may be a wire or two that needs attention to make the Explorer engine harness plug right into the Ranger's engine bay harness. They are physically similar, but I seem to recall there's one or two wires that either need to be moved or added. And I can't remember the detail there. So some investigation will need to be done there. I expect a Wiring diagram of both the Explorer donor and your year Ranger will solve that mystery.

The 5-speed poses a complication. No Explorer was ever a manual shift from the factory. So you'll either use the donor's automatic which adds complication if your Ranger isn't setup for an automatic. OR you can install a Mustang T5 and retune the computer to know that there is no longer an automatic to be controlled. You can take the computer to a tuner to be modified, or you can buy the hardware and software to retune the computer yourself.

If the engine is and always will be stock, then it may be difficult to justify the tuning hardware/software investment, but if changing the cam, porting the heads and/or intake, upgrading the MAF sensor/injectors, or upgraded exhaust are things you'd like as options for now or the future, then the tuning hardware is worth the investment...in my opinion. The best tuning hardware for 2003 and older Fords is the Moates Quarterhorse. Or if you are just a person that likes the idea of being able to tinker with the AFR and Spark Advance, then DIY tuning just might be for you. To learn more about DIY tuning and what it involves and whether it is for you, check out this thread:
EECTuning.org>Things to know BEFORE buying a TwEECer or Quarterhorse

And by the way, the Explorer cam is BEGGING to be replaced. It's an emissions cam that isn't particluarly great for performance or fuel economy. Thus it's not hard to improve on it. The biggest bang for your buck upgrade to the Explorer cam is a 93-95 Cobra cam. The Mustang GT and Cobra cam replicants are cheap and the Cobra cam is a torqier grind (ironically better for trucks) than the GT cam is. If you wanted, you could also add 1.7RRs and valve spring/retainer upgrades but the 1.7RRs may require you monkey around with the stock Explorer valve covers such as double-stack stock gaskets or "thick" gaskets AND possibly some rocker grinding for clearance if the rockers don't have the narrow-head design like the Crane RRs that came on Cobras from the facotry had.

While talking about the trans...another related point is the speed sensor or lack thereof. Somewhere along the 98-99 time period, both Rangers and Explorers went from a cable-driven speedometer to an electronic dash where the speedometer is given the speed to display from the computer, which gets its value from the ABS system, not a VSS sensor in the transmission. Again, this will be a detail you'll want to determine and overcome what your vehicle needs vs what your donor will have.

Back to the engine, I think you can reuse the motor mounts that the Explorer uses IF you get an Explorer that has the same "drive" as your Ranger. Thus if the Ranger is 2wd, you'll want a donor that's 2wd. This matching will also increase the chance that your Explorer's oil pan will work with your Ranger. There are differences in oil pans between 2wd and 4wd. Prior to 98 Rangers, we always accepted that we'd need to replace the pan...and 4wd Rangers required custom pans or modifications to the pan to fit. But in 98, the Ranger went to a very similar suspension and steering setup as the Explorer (torsion bar springs and rack-n-pinion steering) allowing the Explorer pans to work in similar "drive" Rangers...from what I recall.

Hopefully this gets you started...

[Dave]

Welcome to the friendly group! Chris covered a lot of it. One thing to ask - 4x4 or not. He brought up the VSS (vehical speed signal). Changed in 99 on the Explorer to the rear end, just like all the Rangers. Best write-up around is this one that covers more in depth.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... anger.html
Dave