New Member/ Problem, Info needed!!

[HazardHudson]

Hey! i'm a new member to these forums!, but not so new to ford, i have owned a total of 8 ford Explorers ranging from 91 to a 2006. Most were 1st gen 4 Liters. Bought my first ranger this week. now i'm here.

I bought a 91 ford ranger to be a donar truck for my Mud project, A 94 Mazda Navajo with a ford explorer front clip conversion. The Truck was from Texas (I am located in canada) and i was familiar with Ford explorers since i owned a pile of them so i jumped on it for a price of 400$can. the body is in good shape, but the auto trans let go not long after playing in the woods.

that led me to buy the ranger, i seen the add on kijiji, it was posted 91 ford ranger 4x4 4.0L. 400$ so i grabbed a float and my old mans half ton and headed out on a 4 hour drive to grab it after calling the guy and him assuring me it was a 4.0L.

I get there first thing i do is open the hood............2.9L. :O so i talk him down to 100$ for wasting my time (and knowind the trans will still fit my Explorer)

the guy said the frame was getting soft, but i get it home and all that was wrong with it was the two rear shackles are just rotten, and the whole truck is actually in good shape, body job done a few years ago, new brakes, brake lines, shocks ect....

Now i don't know if i want to strip it and attempt to build my explorer, or maybe just throw a small lift and use it as my daily driver.

My QUESTION is it worth parting out my ranger to start my build, are there any good cominations i can make out of these two trucks? should i build the ranger? or should i just drive it and find another donar for my Explorer???

really tho all i paid was 100$, 150$ in fuel, and 8 hours of my time.

opinions will be greatly appriciated.

[HazardHudson]

oh and my plan was to build the X with a 5.0L carb and drivetrain from an f-150, but thought it would be easyer to stick with the 4.0 and make it manual. going to run, 6 inch suspension with max 33's

[70roadrunner]

my opinion is to keep the truck intact, find an explorer or ranger with the eng/trans combo you want. you will need the computer from the vehicle the eng/trans come from. plus you will have a source for parts that can be used on both rigs.