1993 Ranger Swap

[buddy]

Hello,

Id like to first off thank anyone with information on my little project I am undertaking here.

I plan on swapping out my tired old V6 3.0 with 207,800K on it and replace it with a 302 from a 1989 Ford Crown Victoria. From what I understand is that model year came equiped with Mass Air Flow and was actually a 302 and an 'AOD transmission'.

I found the donor at my school because it was appearently a piece of crap and bearly ran. So I will probably have to do a rebuild, would any of you kind individuals know how much it cost for it to be professionally rebuild as apposed to me rebuilding it in my garage?

Know this is where my project differs from alot of others I have seen. I will be ditching the A/C and alot of other junk i wont be using. Also, it seems when i purchased this vehicle from the auction, it was missing all of the lower Rad support brackers, well not missing, they where kept hanging there by the block heater cord, so I still have it laying around, but its rusted to near junk. Also my rear cab mounts rotted away and was left with the cab sitting on the frame rails, which are now replaced with 1/4'' steal angle to prevent it from ever happening again.

So if you know what i should do about my missing supports then please any ideas willl help if i cant stuff the new rad under the supports.

Thanks again for your help/ideas/comments!

Jason.

[MercuRanger]

The crown Vics didn't have mass air. Only the HO 5.0's had mass air from '89 up ('88 in cali).

Your radiator is likely going to be a custom mount anyway, so don't worry too much about the stock brackets.

Professional rebuild will depend on how thorough and condition of the core. You may want to look into a new short block and just have the heads done (or better yet, upgrade to the HO heads.

Check out my page for details on my swap. I used an '86 Grand Marquis, which is identical to the Vics underhood.

Mike

[buddy]

Ahh ok thanks I forgot where your page was on the swap.

I would really like to use the HO 5.0L but if it means i have to ditch my free donor then its wont matter to me.

What are the horsepower/ft. pound numbers of the HO as opposed to the non-HO?

Thanks again.

[MercuRanger]

If you want the HO now, then you may be better off with a different donor. You'd need to change the heads, cam, upper intake, throttle body, throttle cable, TV cable, fuel rail, and computer to get a non MAF HO. Add the MAF sensor & conversion harness if you want MAF. Then throw in some pistons with valve reliefs if you want to run anything bigger then a stock HO cam.

In the end, you'll only be using the block & crank from the Vic

FYI, I wish I just started with a Mustang donor, myself.

Mike

[buddy]

I just want to make sure that the non-HO isnt as gutless as the 3.0 that is currently in it. Save some heart ache thats all.

Thing is that the Crown Vic that i have lined up needs to be rebuilt, so its really a toss up, do i want to spend the money on a total donor (motor/trans/harness) or keep the free one and rebuild the motor for the project.

Think ill call Union Auto Parts tonight to see if they have any stangs that need to be revived...It is the 86 to 95 models right?(MAF & HO?)

[MercuRanger]

Ideally, you'd want an Explorer 5.0 or '94-'95 Mustang 5.0 (shorter accessories - more room for fan/radiator). Mustangs were MAF from '89 up ('88 up in Cali). You could also get an '87 or '88 Stang and do a MAF conversion. Stay away from the '86's unless it's cheap - They use the same heads/pistons as the non-HO.

BTW, my non-HO 5.0 has a LOT more balls than the 2.8

Mike

[buddy]

Im probably going to stick with the non-HO just because its a freebie and i can upgrade it with the money i saved from not buying a donor. Ill probably rebuild it myself UNLESS i can indeed find a late model stang to use.

The EFI fuel pumps on the Ranger are in the gas tank already right, so i don't need to take it out and replace it? I read your entire site from top to bottom and didnt see much about this option of fuel return/sending.

Even though the vic isnt a HO, it will still be pretty quick because its a light 2wd truck right, those vics are super heavy and should be more then enough if im not mistaken...

thanks again, J.

[plowboy34]

Hey Buddy, I put a 85 T-bird 302 in my sons 85 Ranger and it had over 100,000 miles on it. It burns about a quart every 500 miles. That's how wore out it is and trust me, that baby will run circles around that 3.0 you got. Only reason I didn't rebuild it is he never drove anything with to much power so I wanted to slowly graduate him up to power. He now has a GT40P engine sitting in the shop, a E303 cam. I'm kinda getting a little nervous. That thing is going to _____ and get. So don't worry about that thing having more power, you will LIKE IT!!!!!

[buddy]

Thing is that my dad would probably helping me and since neither of my parents are exactly wealthy so I need to find either a garage i can park my motor/tranny in to rebuild it or somehow lug that thing to my basement...

I dont have to worry about the to much power issue because my dad drives a very quick 2001 Toyota Camry (220+ HP) and have no problems controling that thing.

Also, since I will be doing the rebuild mostly by myself, ill need one of those kits for the process and a rebuild book, a friend lead me to this conclusion because a friend of his dads wasnt really a mechanic and still rebuild his 5.0L on a shop hands knowledge. Ive spent alot of time in shops helping out with rearend work on some '37 Italian race cars. And I am currently working in a welding shop part time.

Any tips where i should get a good total rebuild kit someplace in Canada??? or even a fairly good one from America? Looked at Summit Racing and those seem to be nice but they all are like chevy small blocks...any tips?

Thanks a bundle, J.

[MercuRanger]

I like Powerhouse and NWES (Formerly AGAP). Don't ask me for contact info - I don't know offhand. Maybe an internet search will turn them up?

As far as fuel pump stuff, my '83 was carbed, so I pulled a tank from an '88 or '89 with a 2.9 and we swapped in the Marquis' pump. We ran a new plastic feed line and used the old steel line as a return.

Mike

[buddy]

Yeah since mine is already EFI ill stick with the stock ranger fuel pump and just run new plastic ones because ive seen what the winters have done to this truck and its amazing seeing cab mounts rotting away on an 11 year old vehicle...

Thanks, J.

Edit: If im not going to use A/C at all in my project, I shouldnt need to notch the a/c box and just patch up that hole right? Or is that box a heater AND a/c box and will have to be notched for the engine?

[MercuRanger]

You should see what New England did to a 21 year old Ranger's cab mounts

It's AC AND heat. You should be able to switch to a non-AC box like mine:



I have a 3" body lift, so I didn't need to notch for the valve cover, but I DID need to notch for the upper intake, since it's backwards from the Mustang setup. So you say "I'll just switch it around." Not so easy. Fuel rail needs to change, as do cables, throttle bracket, etc. I have pics of the whole notching process on my website - not too hard.

Mike

[cgrey8]

Another thing you'll find out late in the project (unless you get lucky) is you'll want to find a gas tank with a sending unit that works with your fuel gage. From 89 up, the sending unit worked backwards from the 88s down. Thus if you put an 88 tank in an 89, the gage would read empty at full and vice-versa. I think the resistances were also a bit different as well.

I can't remember the site I read that on, but someone that posts on this site ran into that and last I read were working on a circuit to reverse the signal to make it read right. Personally, I think I'd just buy a new sending unit that had the resistance feeds correct, but that's just me talking from absolutely no experience with this sort of thing so there's probably a good reason he didn't.

Another thing I rememeber, the factory EFI fuel pumps in Rangers only have enough capacity for about 250HP (according to Mark Reems)

http://members.aol.com/MREPRODUCT/range ... conversion

Summit Racing does sell higher flow capacity fuel pumps that I believe will fit in the factory-sending unit. They rate them on GPM. I don't know right off how many GPMs per expected HP to help size the right pump. However, if you aren't building for over 250HP, you'll be fine.

I just thought I'd toss that in the pot while we were making stone soup.

Chris

[buddy]

Alright yeah I can see that some dope stole my air intake off my donor so looks like a cold air intake will be added.

The engine is in pretty rough shade but nothing new gaskets wont beable to fix.

@cgrey8: The crown vics engine couldnt have been pushing out more then 180HP so the stock fuel pump from the ranger or even the vics pump shouldnt be a problem.

The more and more i look under the truck I am seeing ice built up because there arent any front mud flaps so I now know why the cab mounts are gone. The snow would just come off the front tires and coat every inch of the under body with salt/ice/snow and start rusting it away...yikes.

Thanks!

[MalcolmV8]

Another thing you'll find out late in the project (unless you get lucky) is you'll want to find a gas tank with a sending unit that works with your fuel gage. From 89 up, the sending unit worked backwards from the 88s down. Thus if you put an 88 tank in an 89, the gage would read empty at full and vice-versa. I think the resistances were also a bit different as well.

I can't remember the site I read that on, but someone that posts on this site ran into that and last I read were working on a circuit to reverse the signal to make it read right.

That might have been me but I'm not sure. My summit fuel cell has a 0-90 ohm GM style sending unit and I've not been able to locate a Ford sending unit with the same resistance range as my 92 Ranger. My gas gauge reads empty all the time.

Another thing I rememeber, the factory EFI fuel pumps in Rangers only have enough capacity for about 250HP (according to Mark Reems)

I believe most Ranger's came with an 88lph and most 5.0 Mustangs came with 110lph. I've seen some people say their Mustang had a 90lph from the factory. I know my 95 Mustang had a 110. Oh and in case you're wondering the fuel pumps are exaclty the same in the Mustang and Rangers. At least for me. I purchased a 190lph pump from summit and it went into my Ranger's tank just like the factory one did. But then I ended up using a fuel cell.

Later
Malcolm