V8 Swap Questions

[Lil John SVT]

Got the motor and trans, 306 with a C4 with a 3800 converter. Its replacing the tired 2.9 with a 5 speed. Got the tri y's for now. Have the altenator and ps brackets. But i have a few questions. I did research, yes the search button. But some questions i didn't find the answers i needed. Here they are,

How do i bypass the safety switch on the clutch peddle? Can i use the wires to use as a neutral saftey switch on the new shifter?

Whats the easiest way to remove all the wires under the hood? Truck will be a daily driver, so i don't want to start hacking wires off. I'd like to eliminate as much as possible. Motor is carburetored so i don't need all the wires. Useing a single wire HEI distributor.

The a/c will be deleted. The box thats in the way of the passenger valve cover, the evap box. Can i remove it but keep the heater functions?

I can order the Advance Adapters or use convertible mounts or use the plates and use the stock motor mounts. I have the plates made for the stock mounts already. Is the plate type mounts a good way to go? Or should i go with a different type? The truck will see some track use also, so dependability is a concern.

Going with a 2500 cfm electric fan. I have a clutch fan set up but don't think i'll have the room to use it. I aquired a 8.8 rear end to replace the 7.5. Any other help is appreciated. Thanks

[nickm82]

in my 91 i unhooked the switch and looped the wires but i will have to look to remember how i done it because if i remember mine had three wires. some people leave them hooked up and use the pedal as a safety. but when i took everything out my pedal stayed on the floor anyways. if you are wanting to use your factory gauges its best to leave the harnest in the truck. if your truck has factory air you have to choices. if your ranger is first or second generation you might be able to find a truck with just heat and use that box if not you will have to modify the ac box to clear. as far as mounts go its your choice the L & L mounts are most popular. i used the trans dapt kit. the only problem know of with this kit is the rubber pads are known to come apart overtime if putting alot of stress on them like alot of track use.

[Grumpy]

i used L&L mounts and filter adapter and Kaufman headers .... all i had to do was put 2 .... 1/4 inch pieces of plate steel under the frame mount pads on both sides so my engine would still be level and so my headers would clear... an they clear with like 1/8 inch on the steering shaft... other than that ... it all went right in... after trial fitting it an removing it... refitting it .. till i got the spacers right... then it all went in great...i removed my AC plenum box and used one just for a heater (no AC) and notched it and fiberglassed it back up and painted it .. and it also clears the valve covers and all...... i do have some pix posted on the web of what it looked like b4 .. during and after... lol... but its still not completed yet .... waiting on some more parts to arrive ........ look under Pictures and Video section for my pix... Grumpy's ranger pix ... or something like that ...as far as the clutch safety switch ... that can be bypassed with a short(about a 2 or 3 inch) piece of wire with male crimp on connectors on the ends... i think you will need to jump the pink wires across to bypass it ... but colors might be diff on yours.... im goin to use a Tremec TKO 3550 so im keeping mine connected .....

here are some pix .. not ALL are uploaded yet... https://picasaweb.google.com/1014602644 ... 9973/Pix02

here is one of it running... http://s381.photobucket.com/albums/oo25 ... nger-1.mp4

[Lil John SVT]

So does the whole heater, a/c box have to stay in in order to retain the heater? I was gonna remove the a/c side by cuttting them in half. As far as wires go, i'm only gonna remove the ones i know won't be reused. I have the homemade flat plates to use on my stock v6 mounts, its 1/4 thick steel. Gonna see how it sits with it in the truck before spending extra on a different set of mounts. Ordered some tri-y's for the exhaust, hope they work. Also have a Flex A Lite 2500cfm electric fan coming to. Debating if i should remove my stock fuel tank and go with a fuel cell. Its gonna be a on going project so i'm sure things will be changed around again and again.

I know this isn't V8 swap related, But how do you get the metal windshield trim off the truck without bending it and destroying it? I know it has the metal clips holding it in place, how do you release them without tearing it all up?

[plowboy34]

The 1/4 inch plates work great....we use them on my boy's truck and we have had no problems for over 5 years now. The only thing I did not like is how high the engine sat so I lowered the rubber mounts down the frame and narrowed the plates so the engine would sit lower.

As for the A/C plenum I would keep it, you have to modify plenum even if you put on a heater only one. You may want to add A/C down the road and it really is no big deal to modify. The boy wanted to do what you want to do and I talked him into keeping the A/C one and he now thanks me every summer.....

The boy's had the 2.3 engine and we run the exact combo your doing...carbed and HEI. I removed the wires completely out of the loom, some of the wires had there own plugs so i could remove them that way. Ones that ran to plugs that had wires I wanted to keep I just pulled that wire out of the plug on the engine side.

[carvinmark]

So does the whole heater, a/c box have to stay in in order to retain the heater? I was gonna remove the a/c side by cuttting them in half. As far as wires go, i'm only gonna remove the ones i know won't be reused. I have the homemade flat plates to use on my stock v6 mounts, its 1/4 thick steel. Gonna see how it sits with it in the truck before spending extra on a different set of mounts. Ordered some tri-y's for the exhaust, hope they work. Also have a Flex A Lite 2500cfm electric fan coming to. Debating if i should remove my stock fuel tank and go with a fuel cell. Its gonna be a on going project so i'm sure things will be changed around again and again.

I know this isn't V8 swap related, But how do you get the metal windshield trim off the truck without bending it and destroying it? I know it has the metal clips holding it in place, how do you release them without tearing it all up?

The windshield trim will come off without any damage if you buy the tool for it, Any auto parts store will have them and they are usually under 15.00