Project 5.0 Ranger

302_Stranger · Post by **302_Stranger** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:39 am

Well this forum is kinda empty so i figured what tha heck , ill post up my progress of the 5.0 swap that my truck is undergoing.The truck is an 88 ranger XLT , had a 2.3fi and a 5 speed tranny. The 2.3 ran when i pulled it out about a month ago and had 255,111 miles! (tough motors imo).I plan to do a carb'd 302 (might go 306) with slight mods (cam , headers of course , 4-barrel carb and intake ,yada) and a T5 tranny. I was told i would have to put a better rearend under the truck (such as an 8.8 ) but ive also heard i wont sooo i dont know yet. anyways here are pics of how it started and the progress its going through..keep in mind this is a 100 dollar truck , its not a show truck so forgive me for the shape it is in haha.

How it started:

Then we started dis-assembling blah blah

Finally me and a few buds managed to yank the motor and tranny out by hand(back still hurts)

all these parts i dont need anymore

and finally i cleaned and painted it up a tad.

and the exterior looks like this now (grey primer kinda got old)

Waiting on an engine and tranny..also have to buy mounts and a radiator of course along with a few other things. Its just a project i have going , im in no rush.

MalcolmV8 · Post by **MalcolmV8** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:04 am

Great pics. That body seam in your tranny tunnel is going to have to be rolled back and flattened up against the body to clear your new tranny.
Many a person has posted on here how their 7.5" rearend let go. Start looking for an 8.8"

302_Stranger · Post by **302_Stranger** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:03 pm

MalcolmV8 wrote:Great pics. That body seam in your tranny tunnel is going to have to be rolled back and flattened up against the body to clear your new tranny.
Many a person has posted on here how their 7.5" rearend let go. Start looking for an 8.8"

Thanks for the advice. Yea i figured i might as well be in the market for an 8.8 although i was told the 7.5 would be fine...I was told the 8.8 is to wide and would have to be modified and such???? Is this true??

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:50 am

The width-issues are not related to the size of the rear. The width has more to do with the year of the donor Ranger. The Rangers from 92-back have the shorter rears. In 93, the Ranger rears (7.5 or 8.8) got wider. There's some disagreement on exactly how much wider. Some say it's only 1.5" wider (3/4" wider per side). However my own measurements, which may or may not be accurate based on the way I measured, have shown it is 3" wider (1.5" per side).

But the width doesn't seem to really matter. I replaced my stock 7.5" with a 93 (wider) 8.8" rear. I still run stock tires and rims and most people cannot tell that it is not stock. So unless you are looking to put some seriously wide rims on the rear, I doubt you'll notice much of a difference either.

There are lots of threads on this forum discussing the benefits of the 8.8" upgrade. However there are some V8 Rangers still running the 7.5" without much trouble. But those that don't have problems are running stock motors, automatic trannys, and stock width tires. Any one of modified motors, manual trannys, wider tires along with a heavy right foot will eventually take out a 7.5" rear.

302_Stranger · Post by **302_Stranger** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 2:07 am

Yea well i was planning on putting 315's out back.

Bought a 302 last weekend..It needs rebuilt and is missing a few things but for the price i gave , i dont think it was a bad deal.I was planning on doing a 306 anyways.

Motor (what i got anyways)

And i was gonna ask , i noticed under the intake (lifter galley) there are a series of three x's. What does this mean?? I was told its nothing special and i dont really care , i was just wondering.

O yes and we picked up another ranger the other day! its an 86 with a carb'd 2.3 and what seems to be a T5 tranny.It needs a clutch and then its road ready , of course its nothing special , i just figured id share that. I love first gen rangers.