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R.I.P. to my 302 - What should I do now?


dagoof

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Well, my Ranger started running funny on Saturday, and by about the time I got it home, I got huge clouds of sweet smelling white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

You can see where this is headed. I parked it, let it cool down, and then when I tried it, it wouldn't even turn over, so I pulled a spark plug and sure enough, the cylinder was full of anti-freeze. I pulled the rest of the plugs and it looks like I have coolant in about 6 of the 8 cylinders. I'm not sure what went wrong, or how I could have lost BOTH head gaskets at the same time. I won't know until I tear down the engine, but this engine has been a problem child from the beginning.

Now I don't know what to do. I just replaced the head gaskets on this thing last year cuz I was having problems with it burping air into the radiator. A year before that, I spent a bunch of money on this thing to replace the cam, intake, and front accessories/pulleys. On top of that, it needs a suspension lift so that I when I re-connect my front driveshaft, it will clear the headers. I also need new gears and/or an AOD (4-speed) transmission so that I can drive over 75 mph and not red-line the engine.

I'm getting tired of tearing this thing apart, and now that my engine is dead, I'm wondering if I should just start over.
 


dagoof

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I've put a lot of work into this ranger, and I would hate to give up on it, but with a bad engine, unsatisfying transmission, and needing new suspension, I just don't know if it is worth it. The body would be the only thing that I am keeping, and it's nothing to write home to mom about.

Here are some pictures of the work that I've done:



This is what I started with.




This is what she looks like right now. (I need to put bumpers back on it)




This is what the engine looked like when I got it.




This is what the engine looks like now.




Another engine Pic.
 
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Downey

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find a 351w and put it in there
 

bobbywalter

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another classic example of intended use verse build plans necessity.


the c4 is great for certain situations, i learned like you 15 years ago they suck for long distance commuting 4x4 rangers, and in an ext cab with just gt40 power levels bust like a4lds wheelin.

aod will need work no matter, but for basic power just a be controls valve body and fresh converter would be ok

as to your engine, what was its original application? did you rebuild it?

what components, and machine work were performed?

c4 and carb on a 4x4 are the first indications of bad combination in my experience, you can do it and get away with it depending on how ya use it, but it comes at great sacrifice to performance if you are not afraid to damage sheet metal in your 4x4 adventures.

if you are running 2wd because of the headers get different headers, cause your gonna need a huge lift to really clear well if the shaft wont fit at all now.

you made some bad decisions which had real deffered costs which have now come due.

best bet is find a decent used drop in and get an 8.8 with 308 gears in it, or find a 327 gear setup from a later ranger/ sploder. these are around and cheap. probably get a d35 piglet and rear end in the detroit area with 327 for under 200. same for a running engine.


what an engine looks like on the outside means nothing to me. but in my eyes you have the wrong look for a low 4x4 application, should be efi that is snorkel equipped with eliminated dizzy or pos pressure /booted dizzy, though if you dont wheel that dont matter at all.

....you have a street rod setup in my eyes. and of course is perfectly fine for normal use-street or dirtroading.
 

dagoof

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....you have a street rod setup in my eyes. and of course is perfectly fine for normal use-street or dirtroading.
You're probably right. This Ranger was never intended to be an off-road beast. (I'll leave that to the Jeep) After blowing out several trannys and getting sick of the wimpy 2.9, this V8 Ranger was originally pieced together by my grandfather, who does build lots of street-rods. I was trying to clean it up, straighten out all of the problems/kinks, tie up loose ends, and make it into a "play-toy/get-me-around-once-in-a-while" truck.

My intent with this vehicle was more along the lines of taking a 60's muscle car heart and soul and putting it into the body of a 1990 4X4 ranger.

This truck is/was meant to be fun for spinning the tires and goofing off. It needs to be capable enough for camping trips, playing around in the snow, and stuff like that, but it was never intended for rock crawling in Moab or serious mud bogging. I'll build a dedicated off-road rig for that.

I just don't know what to do with it now. I've probably got too much work into this Ranger to give up on it. The V8 conversion is done, and I've got all of the trim and accessories for a nice small block ford, but I'm also tempted to just sell the whole thing to someone looking for a project and start over myself.
 
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r1hatman

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You have done a lot of work to her. Just find another 302 to put in it and put a c6 behind it. Those trannys are tough. Also like BW said, think about upgrading the gears. I am putting a naturally aspirated 289 in mine behind my newly rebuilt c5. But if ever goes I am going to replace it with a C6. I am not snorkeling mine. I think if your that deep then you need a true off road vehicle But for a DD I love mine!
 

bobbywalter

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seems obvious to me your spinning to fast too often, or the deck is bad or the heads warped or both.

dont know any of that, or even what heads you have and is why i asked.

really, hunting down and dropping in a good 2-500 dollar runner and finding a 327 rear end and front piglet would be the coarse i would take.

take a long saturday to do alone and your back on the road.
 

bobbywalter

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You have done a lot of work to her. Just find another 302 to put in it and put a c6 behind it. Those trannys are tough. Also like BW said, think about upgrading the gears. I am putting a naturally aspirated 289 in mine behind my newly rebuilt c5. But if ever goes I am going to replace it with a C6. I am not snorkeling mine. I think if your that deep then you need a true off road vehicle But for a DD I love mine!
ANY vehicle that deals with two tracks should have the intake at least as high as the lights.

i have seen way too many deer hunting engine destructions driving on the "road" just having to cross this rutty puddle.

brand new trucks:icon_surprised:
 

85_Ranger4x4

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take a long saturday to do alone and your back on the road with your grandfathers truck.
+1 to snagging a different running engine and tranny.
 

dagoof

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as to your engine, what was its original application? did you rebuild it?

what components, and machine work were performed?
As I wrote above, the engine was built by my grandfather. He built it basically from scratch. The block is a 68' 302, and I think the heads are from 85' or somewhere around there. It's got flat top pistons, 9.5:1 compression, and all of the machine work was done on it including planing the block and heads.

When I got the ranger, my grandpa had a Comp cam in it with a power band from 3,000-6,000 RPM range. (Street Rod Mentality) I don't get up into the high RPM's much, so when I started going through things and cleaning it up, I put in Lunati cam with a power band that starts down closer to idle or 1,500 to about 5,000 to give me more low end torque for goofing off with an automatic transition.

The engine has always run good and strong, but it's been a little bit frustrating to me because I'm not the one who built it, so compatibility issues are just that much more fun.
 

bobbywalter

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rpm's at 70 mph?

what gears now, i assumed 410 due to the previous comment about rpms.


355 gears and 31's arent too bad, so the pulley situation possibly overdrive and cavitating the pump or some crazy shit like that.

just last week i worked on a car that had the wrong pump, 3 locked up lifters etc that had previous known cooling issues...it was in a 1/4 mile truck so the problems werent too severe till it was taken for a cruise in its current new home.

i actually built the engine like 10 years ago, but it had alterations made to it that hurt it obviously. then it sat for years, i was shocked at the lifters, dont see rollers do that too often with this low of milage. banking it was the heat.

thats why when i say good runner, i mean just that, you have to see it run a 1/2 hr at least and use your own oil pressure and temp gauges along with a good gawk at the plugs afterwards.

efi or carb in the vehicle or on a tire i do this for anything i pay more then 300 for or have to drive more then an hour to get....out side of that pulling the pan and the bearing caps and plastigauge will give you a good indication if something is worth the risk.
 

RangerSVT

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I think you should start with a new block and trans, like from a 94-97 F or E series with a mustang harness, run the EFI and you will be happy, both with playing around and "goofing off" as well as highway traveling :icon_thumby:
SVT
 

bobbywalter

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it is easier to fix and understand than "her"
I think you should start with a new block and trans, like from a 94-97 F or E series with a mustang harness, run the EFI and you will be happy, both with playing around and "goofing off" as well as highway traveling :icon_thumby:
SVT
while i personally prefer efi, especially for reliability, this is a case of dress and go- leave it carb with whats been presented.

bolt in axle gearing options solve the tranny issue, but will impede the tire smoking desires..

always tradeoffs and complications arent there:icon_rofl:
 

dagoof

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I don't know about the idea of just swapping in any old engine.

I guess that would be fine if I were in a hurry to get it up and running for a daily driver or if I was going to take it up in the hills an beat it up.

I guess I had something a little nicer in mind. This is kind of a toy for showing off and goofing off.

If I had unlimited time and money, my ultimate goal for this truck would be to build a 347 stroker, mate it to a good AOD tranny, install 4.56 gears and 35" tires and paint/clean up/cherry out everything about the truck.

I know that's not for everyone, but that's what I had in mind.
 

bobbywalter

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4WD
Total Lift
sawzall?
Tire Size
33-44
My credo
it is easier to fix and understand than "her"
I don't know about the idea of just swapping in any old engine.

I guess that would be fine if I were in a hurry to get it up and running for a daily driver or if I was going to take it up in the hills an beat it up.

I guess I had something a little nicer in mind. This is kind of a toy for showing off and goofing off.

If I had unlimited time and money, my ultimate goal for this truck would be to build a 347 stroker, mate it to a good AOD tranny, install 4.56 gears and 35" tires and paint/clean up/cherry out everything about the truck.

I know that's not for everyone, but that's what I had in mind.

well then. 351 or big block.

shop carefully and try to find a sefi maf van 351 and freshen that up with an aftermarket efi intake.

great setup, and cost effective.....or just carb a 351. you have nice exterior stuff. just need a good 4bbl intake.

i have bought lower mile van 351's for 500 bux...60 k dont scare me on any sbf.

properly oil changed 150 k dont scare me. properly being the 3000 mile myth.
 

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