where to draw the line of hacking is really fun to gauge....the
artificial limits we put on ourselves...when balanced against the
real limits of time and money .....we get what we get...so the internet is nice to have.
is it a custom application or not? there is no federally legal way to put 8 holes into a 6 hole platform. so there is that limit.
The Foxbody front accessory drive wouldn't have worked and let me keep power steering. Plus I already had a perfectly good Thunderbird setup on the truck, running and driving. Making a bracket for the compressor was the easiest part of the entire project.
I did mod the factory Ranger A/C-Heater plenum to fit around the valve cover. Cut and fiber-glassed. The strongest and cleanest way I've ever seen it done.
A Vintage Air system wouldn't work in this truck. I looked in to their systems as well as other brands. None would fit under the dash without cutting out a BUNCH of factory stuff behind the dash, and none of their A/C compressor brackets would work in my engine bay either. In fact, no one made an A/C compressor bracket that would work and let me keep power steering, or make me have to relocate the alternator. Not even any older Ford brackets..
This really was the easiest way to make it all work, and the most cost effective.
fox wont fit? and keep power steering? hmmm...
perceptions are always interesting. i have been swapping v8's into rangers for 30 years. power steering and fox fead was the standard ... the ho bird, then sn, and finally the explorer brought out better options. none of these fit?
I have no room for an electric fan, and my mechanical fan is more than adequate so far. It cools the truck very well. With it now being closer to the radiator, it should be even more efficient than it was before. I run no shroud, and so far it hasn't been needed either.
As for the condenser, I didn't choose it for any other reason than it was the only one that would fit in the limited space I have inside my core support, in front of the radiator. Nothing on this truck is factory anymore, so it limits my choices in certain ways.
you say you have no room.....
Nothing on this truck is factory anymore, so it limits my choices in certain ways.
so close but so far. i see it as opening up and not limiting..
2wd low rider is a huge real limitation... but for cooling and hvac it isnt horrible.
4wd and body lift obviously make it cake.
i wonder though....(i know i am late to the hour just data creep)
you built a custom mount for your current compressor but would have been unable to mount a sanden from vintage air? using a vintage air style unit(speaking generically of course as there are several suppliers) what is under the dash in an 87 that is sacred and needs to be undisturbed since the aftermarket components are supplanting all of that crap anyway? what am i missing?
i dont do swaps much anymore since about 2005 when the youngest was born...but..over 300 hp
the factory core support gets murdered if i am to do a swap. right off the bat that gets understood.
you need put a real radiator in there and a real fan. a real fan is an electric one. but it will obviously take some modification to get it done.
once blacked out it will still look normal at first glance. especially a first gen with a stillen.
for a normalish firewall clearance 302/351 or 350 chevy swap you have at least 10 inches of real estate to work with for your cooling and ac on a gen 1 ranger out front.
you pulled this off with about half of that and a mechanical fan.. and all custom.
so seriously. i am impressed. one thing i prefer to be oem or engineered when possible is fead...