Best way of laying frame and just about any truck you are going to have to Z the frame to get the frame on the ground. You are also going to need radius arm relocators and a tranny crossmemeber that sists above the lowwer frame rail lip. Some torsion bar bag mounts, the universal one from Suicidedoors.com is a decent set, but I would research more if I were just to be sure you get the best stuff for your Ranger.
Now depending on how much you want to go into this project I would probably recomened clipping the front end, with either a Yota clip, a newer 98-up Ranger, or a Mustang II clip.
umm, not quite.
Your buddy will need drop I-beams, DJM Dream Beams work the best for bagging and are the cheapest.
To lay out with an I-beam truck you DO NOT need to Z the frame, thats just 98+ rangers so just forget that anyone said that.
You will need bag mounts and brackets for the beams.
Heres the ones Suicide Doors makes:
http://suicidedoors.com/RangerI-BeamFrontBagBrackets.php
It takes a bit of tinkering to get them exactly right, they have a tendency to rub if you're not carefull.
Heres a picture of them installed on my friends '94.
You will need to notch the engine crossmember for the i-beams to clear, and notch the frame for the tie-rods. This all depends on what size wheels/tires you run also, we pretty much set my friends up for 20" wheels. If you set it up for 17s and small tires there would be a bit less cutting.
You will need these two things also to lay flat out...
http://suicidedoors.com/FordRangerRadius.php
http://suicidedoors.com/FordRangerTransmission.php
We also did a 4-link in the rear..
final result at a carshow a month after getting it driveable (still looks basically the same over a year later)