Same but different/can i reuse?

[independentreb12]

Currently I have an 84 with a 302 (mid to late 60's) and c4 in it. Body is shot and I picked up an 87 to reswap. The 87 is a stick however. With that being said, I have a lead on an 83 302 engine. For ease of install should I keep the c4 which was rebuilt and mate the 83 or find a donor 5 speed to swap out? Both trucks are 4wd as well. Or will none of these options work? Sorry for jumbled information. Feel free to laugh or give me suggestions. Preferably suggestions. Thank you.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Depends on what YOU want
Automatics are nice in 4x4s, no loss of momentum when shifting going uphill, no feathering the clutch when crawling

An AOD might be a nice upgrade to get OD for highway driving, but I would keep the C4 for now since its rebuilt
(Thats AOD, Not AOD-E)

You can use a universal cable floor shifter in place of the manual stick shift
You can get an 1987 automatic brake pedal assembly, or just cut off the clutch pedal in 1987 assembly


For a manual trans the best one would be a 1997-2003 M5OD-R2 out of an F150 4x4 with 4.2l V6, the modular 4.2l V6 has same trans bolt pattern as 302(5.0l) V8
These years have the shifter a bit farther back so match Ranger shifter location

The earlier 302 manual transmissions have shifter farther forward so it comes up under the dash, not a big deal just cut a new hole and custom bend the shifter arm
The Mustang manuals have the shifter too far back so comes up at the front of the seat, can be done just a little harder

 

[independentreb12]

Thank you for the reply. I've actually been a lurker for years. My first vehicle was actually an 1985 ranger. So going the nostalgic route. But anyways, what I'm leaning towards is keeping the c4 and jumping on the 83 302. Would the 83 mount to the c4? The current engine is ehh if you know what I mean. I bought the first truck already finished years ago and served its purpose. It would just be a summer toy for me so no off reading so I would just take the clutch part out of the equation.

 

[RonD]

Yes, the 302 V8 used same trans bolt pattern in all years, first 302 was 1967, so the C4 from the late 1960's will bolt to the 1983 302

But in 1981 the 302 was changed to 50oz external balance, 1980 and older were 28oz
What this means is that you need to use a 1981 or newer balancer on crank pulley end and a 1981 or newer Flexplate for automatic or flywheel for manual
So you can't swap over your older crank pulley or flexplate to the 1983 engine

 

[adsm08]

The 302 is the beaten red-headed stepchild of Ford's engines. It had so many design changes that mainly centered around the balancing of the engine and the size or tooth count of the flex plate. If only the body of your 84 is shot your best bet is going to be to pull your entire existing power train and put it in the 87 and either scrap the 94, or put the 87's stuff in it and sell it that way.

If you want to go with the 83 engine you have a few options. You will need a different flex plate, no way around it, and which way you need to go depends on your bell housing.

If you have a big-bell C4 you can use any of the flex plates from an AOD/AODE/4R70W transmission.

If you have a small-bell C4 there are 50 oz small diamater (147 tooth) flex plates out there. Summit sells them, you can't look it up by any sort of application, just search by tooth count and imbalance.