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April 2003 |
TRS 'Off-Road' Feature Vehicle
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Mark Newman's Ford '351 Ranger' |
Story by Frank Austin
1984 Ford Ranger with a 351 Windsor
(Click photo's for larger view)
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| When Mark
first got his truck it just wasn’t the same as it was when it left
the dealer some years before. The 2.8L engine was blown and the body
needed some serious TLC. It took Mark a year to restore the body to
its former glory. The engine however, sad to say, was another story.
Fortunately for Mark the seller had a couple of 5.0L equipped Rangers and showed him exactly what need to be done to install one in his. A generous 1984 Mustang GT donated its HO engine to the project and after it underwent a rebuild, it found a new life at home under the Ranger’s hood. This engine provided Mark with reliable service for the next three years until it suffered an oil pressure problem. Replacing the oil pump proved fruitless. So a suitable replacement needed to be found. The thought of a 351 Windsor engine had always been an attractive idea (MORE POWER). So poking around the local wrecking yard produced a 351W that didn’t look great but only cost $50. How far wrong can you go for that price? After a couple of hours of work it was installed, and the Ranger was on the road again. Mark has also done some custom fabrication work on his truck. This includes home extended radius arms and a custom cross member. The radius arms came about after seeing all the others on the web he figured, why not make my own. A suitable fixture to hold everything straight was fabricated. Then using it, he successfully cut and extended the stock arms fifteen inches. The cross member is his own original design and has proved to work just fine.
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Unfortunately a large part of his hard work now has to come out. As the combination of a 351W, mixed with a bit of offroading has proven too much for the stock Dana 28 front end. It has unfortunately gone to whatever heaven diffs go to after giving their all in faithful service. With a 351W for power, putting in another D28 just didn’t seem to be worth the effort. The poor D28 was never intended for this type of application and power, and another one likely wouldn’t last too long.
With that in mind an early Bronco has been persuaded to donate it’s D44 and it will soon be taking up where the D28 left off in providing for front end traction.
Not a bad bit of work, but I want to see it going with a 44 up front.
So hurry up Mark, we’re all waiting to see ya finish it. At least till you find something else to "improve" on it that is.
[Truck]
(Click photo's for larger view)
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1984 FORD RANGER 4X4
4" SKYJACKER
SUSPENSION LIFT
3" BODY LIFT
C4 TRANSMISSION
B&M SHIFT KIT
B&M STARGATE SHIFTER
HOMEMADE CUSTOM EXTENDED RADIUS ARMS
HOMEMADE
TRACTION BARS
HOMEMADE NERF BARS
1994 RANGER 8.8
WITH 3.73 GEARS
WITH LIMITED SLIP
DANA 44
33" BOGGERS
[Engine]
(Click photo's for larger view)
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351 WINDSOR
ROLLER ROCKERS
COMP CAM
BORED .040 OVER
WIEND STEALTH
INTAKE
PORTED HEADS