Well......
I had a bit of time today and attempted to install the dummy engine and trans. I started by orienting my mounts as
@Yotaismygame.
It didn't go as planned, due to the motor mounts not lining up with the block without firewall interference:
I'm going to reorient the mounts with the pointed / slotted end of the mount down and rearward and try again, but I think that will situate the engine too low in the chassis, even with a Holley 302-1 pan:
I planned on a bit of filing away powder coat, maybe elongate a hole or two, but I didn't expect this. Maybe that's what lowranger96
didn't say about the AJE kit- I could tell he was fighting it due to him being a guinea pig, but thought surely they would have the bugs worked out by now (that was 2015 or so when he helped develop the kit). I'll contact AJE again and see what they have to say about it- I'm not going to take a sledge to my firewall.
At this point I'm thinking this kit was never tested for fitment on a first gen Ranger.