- Joined
- Nov 13, 2018
- Messages
- 4,512
- Reaction score
- 4,465
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Canaan,NH
- Vehicle Year
- 1993
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- V8
- Engine Size
- 351
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 2WD
- Total Drop
- 3"
- Tire Size
- 235/55R16
- My credo
- If you don't have time to do it right will you have time to do it over?
85 Mustangs with automatics and all 85 Crown Vics had CFI, not carburetors, but if you find one and want to, a 2 barrel carb will work on a CFI intake. 81 and earlier 302's, all 289's and 351's had 28.2 oz crank imbalances and 82 and newer 302's had 50 oz imbalance- keep that in mind buying a flywheel, get it wrong and it'll shake your teeth out(and the main bearings). 82 and later 302's used a one piece rear main seal which I greatly prefer. 85 and later Mustangs had roller cams and other models got them later- worth having because of reduced parasitic drag and not needing oil with zinc and phosphorous(zddp). Unless you find one that's pristine and free, I'd avoid 73-76 302's- Ford increased the deck height by .023" to drop the compression, the cam gears were retarded, and the heads used rail rockers which beat the valve guides to death. Actually, just plain avoid them. A roller cam mandates a hardened distributor gear and you have to drill through the distributor shaft to pin it in place, if the gear has ever been replaced the shaft already has 2 holes in it and it's junk. I bought a new Pertronics distributor for that reason instead of a reman Duraspark which would have needed a new gear. 96 Explorers came with GT40 heads which I prefer, 97's had GT40p heads which are good but limit exhaust manifold/header choices, and the E7TE heads used by most models are pretty good and plentiful-that means cheaper. As I understand, T birds and Explorers had the front drive brackets and pulleys that work best, I used fox Mustang brackets and had to mount the radiator inside the core support. A T bird or Explorer engine is apt to have been treated more gently than a Mustang. This swap is doable but it's not a bolt in, overhaul everything so you have to put in together once.Good luck.