A/C and 5.0 swap BII/Ranger?

insane302cancan · Jun 26, 2014

Anyone running A/c in there swapped ranger/BII? If so, id love to see pictures of the radiator/Front accessory clearance, and bell housing/firewall clearance. also how you did it. Id like to keep the a/c Considering it was one of the few things that actually worked on my Bronco II before the 2.9 left the bay.

Im thinking of throwing a mustang radiator infront of the condenser, but im not sure if it will actually be able to dissipate the heat enough to keep the interior cool.

RangerSVT · Jun 26, 2014

I have AC in my V8 swapped ranger, but mine's a gen3. It is possible, use a gen1 explorer rad, stock condenser, explorer V8 accessory drive brackets, and either the stock V8 explorer mechanical fan, or an electrical fan...

SVT

insane302cancan · Jun 26, 2014

thanks for the response. Yea, i intend to use the gen 1 exploder radiator. however, there is about 3/8 of an inch between the knurl of the waterpump pulley and the fins of the radiator.

RangerSVT · Jun 26, 2014

Where is your block sitting at in relation to your firewall? What motor mounts did you use?

SVT

insane302cancan · Jun 26, 2014

as close as i really want to go. I have sn95 type valve covers, plate style mounts and 3 inch body lift. so the valve covers are pretty much touching the un modified heater box.

Fant · Jun 26, 2014

Ur going to have to modify ur heater box to get the clearance to run a fan. Either cut it out and patch it or heat it with heat gun and push it in with oil filter. But ul have to make room for engine to set back farther. Ull need atleast a minimum of 4 1/2 inches from front of water pump pully bolts to radiator. That give u room for electric fan. Other wise. Ul be running a pusher fan and a fan tryin to push through a ac condensor and radiator will mvr cool the engine in summer heat. It doesnt matter which valve covers u run ul need this clearance. Oh and 4 1/2 inches wasnt enough for mechanical fan. Cuz mine hit radiator when loading on trailor. To mich flex. Hope this helps. I dnt have ac in my truck but clearance issue is same in all ranger 302. The heater box is even bigger on 86 and newer due to ac components. Maybe someone else can give u a tip if im wrong on box mods. Good luck

RangerSVT · Jun 27, 2014

When you have a 3" body lift, usually you can fit the engine under the heater box. To the OP, if you can post up a couple of pics of your engine to firewall clearance, as well as your rad to engine clearance, I'm sure we can give you more accurate suggestions you can take.

SVT

Fant · Jun 27, 2014

Mounting engine under heater box also depends on which motor mounts and valve covers u use. With the 4x4 mounts from duff and stock valve covers i still had to modify my box cuz the mounts hold engine higher. But oil pan clearance will also help decide which mount ul need.

insane302cancan · Jul 7, 2014

Thanks guys for the reply. I ended up re adjusting the custom plate mounts i made, pushed as far back as i could. the passenger side still has about an inch of valve cover before being able to go under the a/c box. I ended up taking the piece off and taking a heat gun to it to reform it. which allowed me to push the engine over to the passenger side another inch. After forming i was able to keep the valve cover with roughly 1/2 inch of wiggle room.

I also ended up taking the 91-94 exploder radator, cutting the top mounting tabs off, cutting off the bottom of the stock radiator support, then cramming the radiator under the top radiator support. I then cut u shaped hole in the top of the radiator support, then boxed it in for the radiator cap. I fabbed up a lower radiator support with 2 ears to hold the radiator up. I then moved the condensor infront of the radiator support and currently making some tabs/mounts for it. but it fits

Its going to get a little close to the front grill and bumper when I put the trans cooler and pusher fan on the front, but we will make it work. This yielded about 3.5 inches between the spout on the water pump and the face of the radiator. I think ill be using a volvo fan as its super thin to begin with.

JoshT · Jul 7, 2014

You can also cut off the threaded portion of the water pump snout if you won't be using a mechanical fan. IIRC when looking at mine I think I decided it would free up almost another inch in front of the water pump. I'm not lifted and using L&L mounts so able to shove the motor quite as far back, also haven't decided to move the radiator forward yet. At start I'll be using a flex fan but when/if I move to an e-fan it'll probably be the Volvo fan like you mentioned and cut off that threaded portion for extra clearance.

insane302cancan · Jul 7, 2014

I think the flange is pressed onto the snout. Im not quite sure if it will cause issues with the flange if i cut into it. but ya, if the snout gets cut off, it will free up alot of space which would be awesome.

85_Ranger4x4 · Jul 7, 2014

If you have a long pump switching to a SN95 or Explorer front belt drive system will free up a lot of room.

I have a low profile flexfan and a first gen Explorer radiator sitting on its stock moutings. It is working great (no AC but I am thinking about adding it)

insane302cancan · Jul 7, 2014

Yea, i have 93 t-bird engine that uses the same style as the sn95 cars. It looks like the only difference between the two water pumps it looks like is, the sn95 has no threads for a mech fan, where as the tbird one does. other than that, it looks pretty much identical

A/C and 5.0 swap BII/Ranger?

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