302 conversion help needed

[Ranger5.0]

the wireing inst imossable, and considering the age of your truck, you dont have to deal with much to start with. If you get a efi doner vehicle, take everything, the engine harness, the ecm, and the chassie harness. Then you hook the EFI charging system up to your truck, hook some gauges up, and there ya go. EFI isnt crap, people get intimidated by it because its different, but no longer new technology. A wireing diagram, some coffie, smokes if you got'em, and some time and you would be fine. Thats my 2
cents.
As for mounting the T case, it fights neetly between the frame rails, a small notch was made on the bottom of the left rail to alow me to R&I the t case when the time comes. I had to move the crossmember a bit, but by that point i decidedto fab up my own crossmember that was tucked up out of the way. Nothing worth doing is easy, or fast.

 

[projectnitemare]

Being that you have a 2.8L you don't have the computer stuff now anyway which a carbed V8 would be exactly the same; no computer needed. A 4.0L or a EFI V8 will be about the same amount of work electrically speaking. You need to take all the engine electronics from a donor and place them in your truck. Like said earlier, this stuff isn't new technology anymore so there is more help out there if you decide to go at it. If you aren't going to beat the truck the stock axles will survive but you have to know when not to punch it. Most all the fullsize transmissions fit without any cutting but try to choose a t-case you don't need to cut anything. Some areas, especially mine, you will immediately fail state inspection if you have notches in your frame. There is a lot of thought when you convert to a new system that wasn't factory. I was at your point once; I wanted the power.

Matt

 

[Ranger5.0]

Who doesnt want the power hahaha. Im not recomending cutting the frame, i do know some places are realy picky about what we do with our rigs. As far as breaking things, my opinion is, you can break any part with any engine if you dont folow this mental warning "Caution, always engage brain brain befor operating anything else"...i say that tomyself any time i do somthing stupid

 

[geoph1986]

Alright, I've done some more research, on both the 4.0L & V8 swaps. My budget is about $1500 +/-. I don't have the proper tools to start notching & reinforcing the frame. I'm fine with (and capable) moving crossmembers for the trans & t-case.
Is there a way to keep my stock t-case in the stock location without the need of an adapter? I would like to avoid modifying the driveshaft lengths if possible, if not oh well.
I know I need the engine (302/5.0L) & trans (probably C4 or AOD),
I guess the bottom line question is, what t-case would be the best choice for me and my budget?
Like I said before, this truck will still be my daily driver and I don't need anything extreme. The main offroad use this thing will see, will be for hunting, fishing, and the occasional snow storm. The 2.8L was able to handle this just fine. Of course I will take it to "play" once in a while, and I plan on have this be an ongoing build.
I don't think I'll replace the Dana 28, or the 7.5" rear quite yet (unless I get an Explorer donor), although it will be in my plan.
I know that these questions have been asked again & again, but for us guys that have never done a conversion, it's a little confusing.
Oh yea, what are mustang convertible motor mounts? Are they actually the mounts from a convertible car? and what's so great about them?

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

the mounts you can get at any parts store,they are a heavy duty mount.
i think i have a c-5,ill check and see,if so ill sell you the tail shaft cheap then all youll need is a c-4 and you can keep your t-case,front and rear drive shafts (pretty sure of this,but if iam wrong someone chime in its been a while since i did this)
look into getting the grand marc. itll have the pan you need and you can use the motor as a core for a long block or build it yourself.
i would expect to spend around 2 grand to do this.alot will depend on how much time and how thrifty you are.allot of times you can buy junkers or wrecks that have alot of the parts you need and you can sell the rest to recoup some funds.
my project has taken me right at 5 yrs to get where its at (somehwere along the way it got a little outa hand..lol)by thinking ,planning and shopping theres no reason why you cant do this and not have a powerful and depenable truck just dont cut corners......itll bite you in the arse in the end the same as overkill has done me.

 

[projectnitemare]

It is tough to do these on a tight budget or any engine conversion for that matter. My big thing is with the super tight budget is if you stick to it you will cut corners on stuff. Even if you use a C4/C5 setup that still isn't going to gurantee you won't need driveshaft mods. Where the engine goes will determine that. If you have a lot of time on your side you will be more likely to go on the cheap; you have time to shop and swap. The 4.0 can be done for $1500 or less. If you were doing a 2wd 302 swap I would say $1500 is possible, I've done it. A 4x4 makes things a little more complicated and expensive. The NP 205 will fit with no frame cutting at all. If you have a very mechanically inclined friend who can weld driveshafts are not hard to make.

Matt

 

[geoph1986]

Thanks for all the input guys. Currently I don't think I'm ready both with my skills & wallet to do a V8 swap. I'm going to try the 4.0L swap and if that all goes well, I try a V8 in my next project. Thanks again for all the info.

 

[mudranger]

When I did mine, I was originally going to go with the EFI already on the motor. But after careful consideration, I decided that I didn't want to spend the next six months chasing engine codes and replacing sensors. Also, I did not really want to trust in a 14 year old harness, with its inevitble cracks, frays and problems. I weighed both options, and decided to keep it simple and retrofit a carb setup. It has worked very well, especially since I used all new parts, and bought good stuff. On the other hand, I don't climb alot of hills, which would be tougher with the carb setup unless you used a holley truck avenger or something similar.
I replaced the mechanical feul pump with a generic 7psi electric pump that I mounted on the from right at the tank. (so far, so good)
As for the motor mounts, I got a set of mounts for a 93 Mustang convertible I think they were from Summit, made by Energy Suspension, and they were in the $50-$60 range. I considered making my own mounts, but I was already fabbing a bunch of stuff, and it was just easier to order them.
One of the previous posters was right, you don't want to try to use a 2wd donor setup for a 4wd app, since it is just creating a ton of extra work with no real benefit. I recommended the exploder setup becuase they seem to be more common, and most of the yard sploders seem to have lower miles and died in wrecks, whereas the f-150s mostly seem have landed there from having been worn completely out. Having said that, check both, you never know....