Newbie from NC

[agapeblues]

I've been looking at this site for quite a while and finally joined...principally because I bought for my youngest son (turning 15 in 3 weeks) what is going to be his ride for high school: '90 Ranger with a mild 302. It was 2 other people's project before me, so I'll be finishing it (shortly, my son hopes!) and making it road-worthy. I've been sorting thru all the systems: fuel, brakes, suspension, exhaust, cooling, new wheels/tires, etc, etc. It has a '79 block and was told that it was rebuilt about 3k miles ago, a Holley 4160 (that I'm reacquainting myself with some of it's intricacies) and a C4 auto. I replaced the 7.5 rearend with a 8.8 3.55L, put some James Duff traction bars, new radiator, fuel pump, trans lines, $$$. It has some funky home made engine mounts that have the engine really too low (about an eighth of an inch off of the cross member!) and about an inch too forward...not enough room for headers without jacking it up some and rebuilding them. The guy I bought it from has an auto upholstery business, so the interior is sweet. I'll upload some pics once I figure out how to...
I'm an old hot rodder (how did that old happen...?) but haven't messed around with cars this much in a long time. Starting going to the drag races in the mid 60's and even built (well, half way at least) a couple of drag cars...sure wish I still had the '49 Anglia panel truck I started to build. My first fast car was a '68 Barracuda with a 340 w/ 4spd that I pumped-up some for grudge matches Friday night at Fremont dragstrip (greater San Francisco area). Bought it new for $2,900...ah, the good old days. I've owned several Rangers since the mid-'80's and have I've always wanted to put a V8 in one. Like I said it will be my son's HS ride but when he graduates and heads for college old dad will get it back and then the real fun will begin! I already have my eyes on a 347 short block...

[Grumpy]

welcome to the forum ... there are ALOT of great people here that are really knowledgeable also .... if you have a question...post it ... and someone here WILL respond then everyone will get in on the wagon train.....lol .....

im also doin my 90 ranger ... been at it for a lil over 2 years now...an gettin REALLY close too ......

[v8ranger]

Welcome to a great place.... Everyone hear always has good ideas and I dont think there is one Ranger built alike.. Everyone has done motor mounts there own way and always work..So if you need help there you will get lots of ideas..

[plowboy34]

Hey agapeblues, first welcome sit back and enjoy the ride. The best Hot Rod site by far in my opinion. No bickering and putting each other down here just a helpful place to be. Although I am in SE MIssouri now I grew up in your neck of the woods, the Sacramento area. Some good ole hot rod memories there.

Just wanted to say if you think the engine is to low you may want to make sure the steering does not hit the oil pan when you turn sharp to the right. The first time I set the boy's engine I too put it in to low and did not notice this until it rubbed a hole in the oil pan......ARGH!

Also you say it has some funky engine mounts. describe "funky"...lol. If it is 1/4 inch steel plates sitting on top of rubber mounts they are fine. We have run those in the boy's with a decently mild engine for several years with no problems.

Please don't get mad on this one but I just gotta say it. DO NOT send your son out with a hot engine from the get go. When I first did my my boy's I put in a wore out stock early 80's T/Bird engine, let him get use to a little power. Then we slowly kept upgrading to what we have now. Most kids think they know how to handle it but they don't. Since you have experience in the drag racing world you probably already know this. I lost way to many friends and friends kids because of this mistake. Let's face it kid's will play, and get hurt or dead. Again not telling you how to raise your own child, just some advice. You do with the advice as you wish.

As Grumpy said, any questions just ask, people here are very willing to share there knowledge.

[Grumpy]

Just wanted to say if you think the engine is to low you may want to make sure the steering does not hit the oil pan when you turn sharp to the right. The first time I set the boy's engine I too put it in to low and did not notice this until it rubbed a hole in the oil pan......ARGH!

yea .. for real .... i did that same exact thing to mine and had to shim my mounts up a lil bit to clear the steering rod(drag link) .............but all is fine now .......

[87sc302]

Welcome
Great group of guys here.


...not enough room for headers without jacking it up some and rebuilding them

Not sure what headers you are talking about but 65/66 Mustang tri y headers fit about any setup except AOD ( tranny very wide)

I put mine on after install of engine and if I remember they fit without even removing the starter.
Memory not as good as it used to be turned 60 yesterday!

[agapeblues]

Thanks for all the tips, guys! Good stuff. Will double check steering, Funky, in this context, means two 1/4 inch plates with rubber sandwiched between...about 1 1/2 inch worth. Engine WILL stay mild while in my son's hands...once dear old dad gets it back, well, THAT's a different story! I was able to score on a set of Duff headers for $50 that were pretty rusty and after eye-balling them I don't think they would clear the steering even though the engine looks like it is sitting about an inch off-center to the passenger's side. Hey, what about MSD ignition? Is it worth it? Been thinking about possibly purchasing a 6AL trying to make the old Ranger as reliable as possible...less calls for me to come and "rescue"...done that enough with my 2 other older sons! Nothing like changing a starter on an '88 Mustang at 10PM in the dark in about 20 degree weather!!!

[v8ranger]

I dont know nothing about the MSD ignitions. But, I used an HEI distributor in mine. It looks just like its a GM dist but its made for a Ford. I have had no problems and it was very cheap to buy... You will have to post some pics of the mounts you have.. I still have the stock V6 mounts in mine and I havent broke them yet and Im pushing 400 horse..

[Grumpy]

YES..... by ALL means.. get a MSD ignition.. if money permits.. get the 6AL ... the distributor for your engine and the coil ... and while ya at that... get some GOOD 8 or 9mm wires (NOT solid core) and a set of good plugs.... you WONT go wrong with a MSD ignition system.. its VERY VERY reliable!!!! .... and not many ppl know this... but MSD stands for Multiple Spark Discharge.... which means when its running at under 3000 rpm's each plug fires like 3 times each time it fires and above 3000 rpm it sparks even harder (but only once) each time it fires.. i have an MSD on my truck.. it was on my Mustang for YEARS and it NEVER let me down or gave me one bit of probs..... WELL WORTH the money !!!!... oh and if you get a complete ignition setup ...its all plug and play.... all you will need to do is connect the 6AL to the battery hot and ground and everything else will plug into it..... Plug & Play .... SIMPLE .............lol ................

[cgrey8]

I like MSD ignition boxes and I expect their coils are pretty decent. Although I've heard bad things about their distributors. In fact, there's a thread going right now over on EECTuning.org where a guy is having trouble with an MSD distributor and has narrowed the problem down to the electronics in the distributor. Unless you are building a HIGH RPM engine or an ultra-efficient engine that can benefit from EDIS or COP, the stock TFI distributor isn't too bad when combined with an MSD ignition box. What makes TFI modules fail is the heat produced from the current flow to the coil. However when you offload that task to the MSD ignition box, the TFI module is barely loaded and doesn't get stressed at all and thus lasts much longer.

Now TFI is a computer controlled distributor. I can't speak to the reliability of the stock mechanical/vacuum advance dizzies. The last performance carb engine I worked on had a Mallory Unilite distributor on a 327 SBC. But even it burned out a unilite module and had to be replaced once. But it didn't have an ignition box. The unilite was firing the Mallory coil directly...so it was loaded.

[Grumpy]

yea i had a unilite also ... HATED it.. it burnt out like 3 modules in a year or so ... so i ditched it in favor of the all time famous HEI ............. but i LOVE my MSD distributor an ignition setup ...... never had a prob with it and ran it like 11 years or so on the Stang ..... had the 6AL .. coil...distributor.... 2 step.... 3 stage box(for the NOS)and the 9mm wires...... plus the MSD 6AL WILL work with the old Duraspark distributor that ford used... i got a wire diagram here that shows how to hook it up correctly...its easy too !!!! ... 2 wires on the dist to the 6AL and 2 to the battery and thats it!! ...

i got the WHOLE catalog of MSD stuff....... wire diagrams... parts... modules.. distributor's .... everything .....all but the prices.. dammit....lol

[Teddyzee]

YES..... by ALL means.. get a MSD ignition.. if money permits.. get the 6AL ... the distributor for your engine and the coil ... and while ya at that... get some GOOD 8 or 9mm wires (NOT solid core) and a set of good plugs.... you WONT go wrong with a MSD ignition system.. its VERY VERY reliable!!!! .... and not many ppl know this... but MSD stands for Multiple Spark Discharge.... which means when its running at under 3000 rpm's each plug fires like 3 times each time it fires and above 3000 rpm it sparks even harder (but only once) each time it fires.. i have an MSD on my truck.. it was on my Mustang for YEARS and it NEVER let me down or gave me one bit of probs..... WELL WORTH the money !!!!... oh and if you get a complete ignition setup ...its all plug and play.... all you will need to do is connect the 6AL to the battery hot and ground and everything else will plug into it..... Plug & Play .... SIMPLE .............lol ................

For the life of me, I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not!

[agapeblues]

Thanks for the input. I'll probably get the 6AL since I'm really trying to make this vehicle reliable and avoid those "I'm-stuck-on-the-side-of-the-rode calls! I have a MSD coil now on it but the stock pointless distributor. Still sorting out the Holley 4160...whoever put it on didn't understand much about it...and I'm relearning it...slowly. The plastic choke cam (electric choke) seems to hang-up and not release. I also came up with a brainstorm (or it may be called something else!): thinking about putting air shocks in the front to maintain spring height. It has V6 springs and doesn't really sag but does have some rake and because the 4160 does not have external float adjustment (I really don't want to break it all apart to mess with) I'm wondering if the float level may be off because of the rake. The engine has a slight (haven't measured the angle yet) front up tilt, but not much. Maybe another reason to shim the the motor mounts??? Dang, my list keeps growing! I guess I should try and look at the Holley website for info...? I would assume the carburetor should be level for and aft (as well as side-to-side)? Yep, need to post some pics. Just got the bed back on over the weekend.

[v8ranger]

The motor may be tilted up in the front, I think thats pretty normal, but is the intake level? Unless its running out of gas in the bowls or over flowing I wouldnt adj them.. Doesnt the carb have a site window on it so you can see how much gas is in the bowl?

[plowboy34]

That thing would have to really be out of level to make that big of difference, I don't believe that is anything to be worried about. The engine is suppose to have a slight tilt front to back.

Just my opinion but no way I would put air shocks on the front, your asking for problems there.

We too ran the HEI distributor (Mallory) and have had good luck with it. MSD stuff is very good stuff, if I was building an all out drag car MSD would be my choice.