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94 ford ranger 4x4 straight six conversion


Nilknarf

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for the moment im iso knowledge .. what bolts in and what wont?

i have a 94 ford ranger 3.0 ( manual trans ) 4x4 dana 35 offroad package

im starting to lose my motor.. im losing compression.

so i figured id have some fun since i really love this truck


ok the tables of infos lol


i have a fully operational ( rotted out frame and body )

1978 f150 six ci ( 300 straight six ) good motor and drivetrain. junk frame and body.

this motor was just rebuilt .

whats it gonna take to shove that all inside my ranger?

i need to know EVERYTHING that i will need to swap this .. what transmission .. can i keep my 4x4? .. motor mount kits? .. radiator ? ..

links to builds? i dont wanna go in blind i wanna know where im going :D

i know this has been done on the 80's style rangers .. but is it viable on the newer 90's models?

or should i just restore the f150 .. decisions decisions
 
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fastpakr

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There have been various discussions of the 300 over the years. The short and sweet version? It's HUGE. As in hack up both the core support -and- the firewall to get it in there. Think about it - each cylinder is a .5" larger bore than what you've got on the 3.0, and you're doubling the number of them in a line. The block length on the 300 is about 29 inches (not including the snout for the fan, etc).
 

85_Ranger4x4

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There has been lots of babble about swapping them but I have never seen one finished, I would file it under "what doesn't fit" category.
 

Nilknarf

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There has been lots of babble about swapping them but I have never seen one finished, I would file it under "what doesn't fit" category.
i found an 80's model ranger that was completed.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/598778/1984-ford-ranger-regular-cab/


but nothing on the 90's .. im assuming the engine bay is a bit bigger on the 80's models.

but i have found nothing on the newer body style with the swap .

i may just break down and restore the F150 and watch my baby go to the scrap heap .. i havent decided yet .
 

85_Ranger4x4

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It might be a little longer engine bay but length has always been an issue when it comes to swapping engines into an RBV engine bay.

Even 5.0 Explorers are pretty tight lengthwise.
 

fastpakr

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I'm not aware of any decrease in the engine compartment size from the Gen 1/2 Rangers to the later models. As I recall, there was somebody on RRORC that completed a Bronco II 4.9 conversion, but he made a huge cut in the firewall to make the engine fit. It may have even been visible in the cab.
 

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I played with this idea years ago and took some measurements.

The 4.9 can be placed in the gen 1 engine bay lengthwise without hacking up the firewall. This would require relocating the radiator since it would put the snout of the water pump, without a fan, in contact with a single core radiator. It also would not leave any room to maneuver the trans in and out.

IIRC the dressed 4.9 was 42 inches without the fan, and the gen 1 engine bay is 43 from the front of the rad to the firewall.


I mean, it does fit, heck there are so many swaps on here with the 7.3 and 6.0, and even a 6.8 that have been completed. I've even seen a running 5.4L 3V BII. Its more a question of why would you want to use the 300 when there are so many more interesting options you could have for the work that needs done to make a 4.9 fit and work.
 

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I'm not aware of any decrease in the engine compartment size from the Gen 1/2 Rangers to the later models. As I recall, there was somebody on RRORC that completed a Bronco II 4.9 conversion, but he made a huge cut in the firewall to make the engine fit. It may have even been visible in the cab.
Haha, yep that was gouky, he was a total idiot that hcaked a really nice bII and tried to make it work. He may have gotten it running eventually but pretty sure that thing got junked.

Can it be done? Sure pretty much anything can be done. Just not worth it in my opinion. But hey if you want a challenge go for it, get the tape measure out and see what fits and what hits. If you have no fab skills I'd leave it alone. Have fun:icon_welder:
 

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I am with adsm08 on this, I check the link on that ranger and its like is the grill going the fit back in . on the question of will it fit. the awnser is yes , with what are you willing to do to get it in to your ranger? how deep are your pockets? what is your skill leval? do your self a favor and sell the in line 6 and get something ezyer to swap in.
 

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:icon_confused:





:icon_confused::icon_confused::icon_confused:




sometimes i just cant be shocked enough.




i file the carb 300 under cake these days...its tight.

theres some here that test fit the 4.0 jeep combo and claim it wont work either.... i have zero doubts i can make that a go. more work for sure and not for those with no tools or fab skills for sure.

and, a efi 300 six swap is a different animal altogether. that induction system is a bit tough and the reason driving hackage to make it fit....and obviously that is easy to fix via throttle body adapter on a nice offy with a tune...this eliminates that hacking to make fit issue.

the swap is usually considered a bad idea and i believe not done more often due to power to weight for a typical donor situation since the early 2000's...

the weight bias fore/aft of axle has potential issues as well, though not a showstopper.

if you have the system you have in perfect running order, i dont see why not to use it if that is what you want.























There has been lots of babble about swapping them but I have never seen one finished, I would file it under "what doesn't fit" category.
It might be a little longer engine bay but length has always been an issue when it comes to swapping engines into an RBV engine bay.

Even 5.0 Explorers are pretty tight lengthwise.


ok, i can leave some room here, i have seen this many many times so its far beyond wonder for me...it is an absolute. if you never seen one i guess it would leave doubt for the obvious reasons..and like said...swapping in a stock efi unit....no way. exposure and experience are key.



I played with this idea years ago and took some measurements.

The 4.9 can be placed in the gen 1 engine bay lengthwise without hacking up the firewall. This would require relocating the radiator since it would put the snout of the water pump, without a fan, in contact with a single core radiator. It also would not leave any room to maneuver the trans in and out.

IIRC the dressed 4.9 was 42 inches without the fan, and the gen 1 engine bay is 43 from the front of the rad to the firewall.


I mean, it does fit, heck there are so many swaps on here with the 7.3 and 6.0, and even a 6.8 that have been completed. I've even seen a running 5.4L 3V BII. Its more a question of why would you want to use the 300 when there are so many more interesting options you could have for the work that needs done to make a 4.9 fit and work.
I am with adsm08 on this, I check the link on that ranger and its like is the grill going the fit back in . on the question of will it fit. the awnser is yes , with what are you willing to do to get it in to your ranger? how deep are your pockets? what is your skill leval? do your self a favor and sell the in line 6 and get something ezyer to swap in.

ok. i am sure our tape measures have the same units of measurements on them...

and i would never come to this conclusion...and that happens often. i am amazed that we read the same tape and come up opposed. and i believe this is because i have realistic expectations on cooling and core modifications.

experience and exposure. trying to fit inside the oem cooling envelope of a gen 1 with a large engine strikes me as patently retarded...but for some reason the vast majority of guys think they have to stay in that box with an out of the box engine selection...

thats some crazy shit.:shok: but it is what it is..






Haha, yep that was gouky, he was a total idiot that hcaked a really nice bII and tried to make it work. He may have gotten it running eventually but pretty sure that thing got junked.

Can it be done? Sure pretty much anything can be done. Just not worth it in my opinion. But hey if you want a challenge go for it, get the tape measure out and see what fits and what hits. If you have no fab skills I'd leave it alone. Have fun:icon_welder:

well, there was more then one 300 six there including the one in the link provided.... and gouky was thoroughly scolded when he cut up that beautiful bronco for absofawkinglutely no reason.

BUT! he is a doer...he was young and a college student and just started shoving square pegs into round holes to get what he wanted..that is how shit gets done...it was pure fun and education for him.

conversely... if he had lived on my street at that time that execution would have went a totally different direction. and no hacking of the firewall would have been involved. but he was in indiana and sure as fawk did not need anybodies help...and i mean no one...he had no idea what the fawk he was doing...but he did it.:D

and he turned out to be one seriously capable fab machine. if marc was to do that same swap today, he would likely plot it out on the computer for a month and take a week to build it with two turbos and 600 hp....not hacked to fawk. i have not seen him in years but his skills dwarf mine by miles.


so, Nilknarf

the so called gen 1, by us rbv freaks, is the SMALLEST engine bay to work with. or maybe its that broken tape measure i been using.

ford only sees the rangers as two generations....ttb/tib and sla


i see them differently, and i see needed real estate claimable by simply radically modifying the core support and grill to maximize available space only gets better with the so called gen 2 gen 3 and so on.


the link you provided, i have seen that truck before, iirc he was a member here and the rrorc and some b2 boards as well.

look at the 13 pics on the old site there and i cant see what you need to know beyond that...you have the mirror powertrain.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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On mine I do have the rad sitting on the stock mounts. I know there is no way a 300 could live like that, a lot of guys move it into the core support... so that frees up maybe 3-4". Enough to free up room for two more 4" cylinders? Probably not. Then consider Ford never tried to cram a 300 in into a tight engine bay like a Mustang or an Explorer to shorten up the belt system.

So you have the WP pulley up against the grille (might as well put a cool spiral effect on it like a BF-109) and throw the rad in the bed... that is a lot of work IMO for 100-150hp.
 

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Bobby, give me a call when you can, not sure what your schedule is. Going with a 12v cummins in my truck and I have a trans question.
 

bobbywalter

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On mine I do have the rad sitting on the stock mounts. I know there is no way a 300 could live like that, a lot of guys move it into the core support... so that frees up maybe 3-4". Enough to free up room for two more 4" cylinders? Probably not. Then consider Ford never tried to cram a 300 in into a tight engine bay like a Mustang or an Explorer to shorten up the belt system.

So you have the WP pulley up against the grille (might as well put a cool spiral effect on it like a BF-109) and throw the rad in the bed... that is a lot of work IMO for 100-150hp.
:icon_confused: are you serious?


if you are i guess you must have missed a few posts back there.

there were/are many operational 300 six trucks, not cut at all on the firewall side. and that was pushing nearly 2 decades before gouky tried it that i had personally seen, that was the reason gouky was scolded because it was known that the 300 was fitable without the butchery out back...of course the core side was gonna be replaced and all custom....but you can still make it look rangerish and run the radiator very very far forward. but who wants a nutless wheezer leaking ass 2bbl 300?

to be fair though, most of those were older plain jane 1-2 lungers and no air conditioning or smog pumps etc with modded 230 accessories from the fox platforms. there were some 4 bbl trucks out there as well i seen at some mud bogs and truck pulls that had the eb axles etc. sure they are rare but at one time not quite as rare depending on what your type of motorsport activity tended to be.

unfortunately as gouky found out, the efi version simply dont fit in the tib/ttb platform without some cutting of something...be it the intake or the hood or...or.... the efi in stock form is big. but shitcan that intake and its very doable..

and even more unfortunate, seems like that is all that is remembered...its like the zimmerman explorer and wristed radius arms with rotating axle housings...the internet being what it is...just overshadows the previous 15 years pretty deeply when it comes to vehicles. there was a world of pushing the envelope before the internet...i know some find it hard to believe but i digress...and for those people :thefinger:



the truck the op linked was also an old build...and it was a complete running i6 in a ttb platform and still looked like a ranger and no firewall mods save for the normal bfh methodology generally done with swaps..i never wheeled with that truck but i had seen it before in person. it was the first ttb 4x4 version i had seen in person, all of the others were sas or 2wd. but we did have another rrorc member do it as well...in a 91 or 92. not for me, in any case as i am a v8 guy by nature. and i guess that is the case for most people because seems like i am the only guy that remembers:D

if i were to do a 300, that nice offy induction is probably the way i would go with it...drill, fit, and glue some injector seats in it and adapt the ford efi rail and a tb adapter and let er eat. there is no doubt they will fit like that in a gen 1 equipped with a 3 in body lift and still close the stock hood..it has been done many times.

no doubts with the 4.0 jeep...i know it will fit, and one of the guys here did try to fit it up and it was not worth the effort because it will be tight as fawk. for sure it is tight...just look at it in a cherokee:dunno:



the gen 1 is the smallest...by far and a 2wd is an easy fit with no pan mods iirc...the ttb took same serious pan work iirc. the sas trucks are stupid easy with the custom k member. one of the 2wd truck had a hood scoop...but i dont remember if it was needed or not. but it may have been a fox engine and not a 300 in a few of those.

i guess i simply see the platform differently. i dont think twice about clearing out the front of these. i am guessing that is why i am confused by what people think is fit-able.

your application is likely typical, trying to fit it all with no cutting of anything...framerails oil pans or core supports etc...even the c series trans to retain the rbv t case... i literally hold it as classic in every regard..

and not my preferred situation with the 302, my preference requires oil pan mods on stock 4x4 chassis usually eliminated with a lift kit, core support clearing..and frame rail work, but nets 5-7 inches between the waterpump and radiator with normal 302 front accesories and water pump. i also prefer od trans and fullsize t cases for ease of parts sourcing.

at that point i would still have 3 inches a 300 six could go back and 1-2 inches for the radiator to go forward from the typical sbf application. sure it would be tight but a 300 will fit.

my current personal setup, has a 30.5 in engine in a 34 in envelope between the radiator and firewall. if i had an inline i would have 4 inches it could go back from what my v engine has now towards the firewall due to firewall setback in the center. the 300 6 with serpentine is 33.5 inches and about 37 in with mechanical fan. so i could set it in there with a mechanical fan as my truck is configured at this moment and bump the radiator an additional inch, or skip the mechanical fan with two offset electric fans.


with the same gen 1 truck platform you have

the gen 3 and beyond i can move from stock the cooling systems 6 to 8 inches forward....well...not the stock systems, but an ac capable system. that gives you 42 inches. the 300 six is 33.5....and i am guessing the average guy can install a cooling system in the 8 inches that is available.

or maybe not i guess.

so a sla 2wd would be cake to drop a 300 into. bbc fit awesome in them. that was back in 98-99...

of course between the various 4x4 2wd and explorer-ranger chassis theres a wide variance on the front frame horns and bumper mounting section. i see some crazy shit post 97. but 40-42 iinches is the envelope fore to aft with my tape measure. and 39 ish for a 1st gen.

so either i am i crazy and full of shit...or just dont know how to read a tape?

well i am crazy and full of shit....but i can read a tape...more importantly..i have put the square pegs in the round holes.
 

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Bobby, give me a call when you can, not sure what your schedule is. Going with a 12v cummins in my truck and I have a trans question.
12 v in the chevy....

c,mon...do the powerstroke.


seriously....i tried to call ya before i wrote this bullshit down...

your phone wont ring thru...says out of area:icon_confused:
 

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I'll call you today sometime. Already got the cummins. It's a done deal.
 

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