94 Ranger & Chevy 350 Swap

[ryu010]

Started my swap a few days ago and thought the people of the ranger station might like to see.

Started with pulling the 2.3L engine.

Pick up a Chevy 350 from a 1980 Van. Got it in the shop to start the clean up.

Replaced all the gaskets and checked the condition of pitons, rings, and cylinders.

Painting time!

Rebuilt a electronic Q-Jet carb

Put it all back together and clear coat it.

Old engine by the new one.

Test fit!

Will be posting updates over time

 

[chvlfrk]

HH>>>>

Get rid of that HUGE HEI distributor, you can pick up a small electronic distributor with an external coil for around $60 SMALL Chevy Electronic Distributor, and set that "mouse" as far forward as you can, then you can modify the heater box, and you will need to either run rear dump manifolds or custom made headers.

Keep us posted and BTW, get ya a photoshop program to shrink those pics to around 1000 pixels.

 

[ryu010]

Thanks for the reply. There is a plan to mod out the heater box and my headers will fit after I lift the engine a bit. Hopefully I will be building the mounts and installing the transmission tonight.

When I can afford it I will be switching to an MSD ignition system.

At some point when I get less lazy I will change the size of the images on the ftp.

 

[SkysTheLimit]

Are you still following/updating your thread?

Nice pictures.

Where's the trany?

Your an inspiration.

I am doing the same thing to my 94 Ranger. The 350 is a real power house.

There is not alot of info on that swap though. I hope harness some iniversal swapping info.

What are you doing about engine mounts? There is no kit available. I read that you can weld original 350 mounts to the frame.

How are all of you clearances? Ie oil pan, filter, fans, radiator ect?

Did you raise the body and how much? I have been told it makes life easier.

 

[ryu010]

Are you still following/updating your thread?

Nice pictures.

Where's the trany?

Your an inspiration.

I am doing the same thing to my 94 Ranger. The 350 is a real power house.

There is not alot of info on that swap though. I hope harness some iniversal swapping info.

What are you doing about engine mounts? There is no kit available. I read that you can weld original 350 mounts to the frame.

How are all of you clearances? Ie oil pan, filter, fans, radiator ect?

Did you raise the body and how much? I have been told it makes life easier.

Sorry for dropping the ball on updating here.

The firewall must be mostly cut out so the back of the engine and the transmission can fit. As for engine mounts you will need to be building one for the drivers side, on the passengers side a stock chev mount can be welded to the frame. Because of the size of the engine you will need to be doing lots of custom exhaust work depending on what headers your using. I used a set of bigfoot shorties.

When it comes to the transmission I used a TCI TH350. A custom bracket had to be made from the stock cross member to support the transmission. I can tell you right away that the ford 7" rear end will not be able to handle the power of a 350, I destroyed mine in 2 weeks. I installed a ford 8.8 with magnetic posi kit and it does the trick wonderfully. When it comes to a drive shaft you have to get one custom made.

When I installed the rad i had to cut out and rebuild lots of the front end. I used an aluminum triple pass rad designed for a Camaro. A 19 amp heavy duty electric fan was mounted on the outside of the rad because of the clearance. Heat is a big big issue with this build because of the lack of airflow in the engine bay. I strongly recommend using some high quality exhaust wrap to keep the heat in the pipes.

There is a few other issues swapping the engine. You need all new custom electrical because the stock harnesses are useless. The power steering pump will not fit either. If you like power steering you will have to find an electric ps pump and mount it in another location.

If there is any other questions or anything feel free to post.

 

[Sn1per]

Actually, I did a 350 swap out into a 94 ranger and didnt' have to butcher the firewall or exhaust. Everything went in great. Not sure why it's so much "drama". quite an easy swap as I see. You only need regular wiring for it to work.
Wired from the existing wiring for alt/starter with a splice or two. Regular 3 core chev rad as well.

What the problem is???

 

[chvlfrk]

???

Actually, I did a 350 swap out into a 94 ranger and didnt' have to butcher the firewall or exhaust. Everything went in great. Not sure why it's so much "drama". quite an easy swap as I see. You only need regular wiring for it to work.
Wired from the existing wiring for alt/starter with a splice or two. Regular 3 core chev rad as well.
What the problem is???

=================
Pics & info on your build?

I've done a 93, 94, & am workin on a 98, and nothin has been a drop in.

 

[ryu010]

Using the factory rad mounts, mounting a fan on the outside, and moving the firewall I have less than a half inch from the water pump to the rad. Also I'm going to be swapping to a custom 400 ci block with a supercharger in the summer. I will post pics.

 

[dragogt]

I wonder how well these would work? There designed for fox body mustangs..


http://www.jegs.com/i/AJE-Suspension/040/AJE-30/10002/-1?parentProductId=752065

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ryu010]

I wonder how well these would work? There designed for fox body mustangs..


http://www.jegs.com/i/AJE-Suspension/040/AJE-30/10002/-1?parentProductId=752065

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

Swapping the k member is a good idea although it won't make more room for the transmission bell housing

 

[dragogt]

I was manly referring to just the mounts..

But a new k member might not be a bad idea for those with distributorless engines...


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