I’m doing the same thing you are.
85 ranger 2.3, kept the lower intake and adapted to a motor craft 2100. I did some calculations on what the appropriate cfm for a carb on that motor and it was something to the tube of 190cfm. Found a chart on 2100 Venturi sizes and the .98 was the right one. It’s somewhat of a unicorn but you can find them. Mine came off an early 60s falcon I think. Whatever it was it had a tiny v8. Distributor came off a early 70s mustang with duraspark and vacuum advance. I went with Chevy hei for the ignition. After I got the timing ballparked I got it cranked up yesterday. I also have a roller head off a 94. Are you saying I can just switch the guts from it into the 85 head? Seems too good to be true. Here’s some photos of mine. Still needs a ton of work. It’s going in a 49 Willys cj3.
Looks really good so far! Your D-port head/intake combo should flow much better than the oval port & Scheffield intake I'm running currently. I nearly went HEI but I wanted to keep as much Ford as possible. HEI conversions are really good setups however and it'll treat you well.
I have that same intake on the shelf in my shop. Someday I'll build a big power D-port head with a high lift roller cam. What venturi size is your 2100? As far as I know you'll be fine with a 1.08.
As for the cam conversion - yes, everything swapped over from my '94 head to my oval port head. If you have a California '95 or 50-state '96 you're out of luck, the '94 is the last head to use the same size cam. I kept the old springs, I really don't like the sheaths on the '94 springs. While you're in there, don't do what I did and neglect the seals! I ended up pulling my head again and lapped the valves too while I had the chance. Real easy trick, use a hose & drill bit instead of the junk lappers from the parts store.
On another topic, found the ticking. Reason #1 I ended up pulling the head is it was making this chuff-chuff-chuff sound from one cylinder. Sounded like a burnt valve but smelled like a pretty bad exhaust leak and it was messing with my o2 gauge. I didn't notice this until the head was already back on...
There were holes drilled up at approximately 45 degrees into each of the 4 exhaust ports. Probably some sort of emissions thing. Three of the four ports had JB Weld packed in by the PO of the head, while the 4th had burned out its JB weld while I was driving. If your head has these and you want to run the shorty header, use a 5/16 drill bit to clear the holes out & tap them with 3/8 standard. All thread from Home Depot patches it, just grind it down with a peanut wheel and that's it. The manifold will hold them in place.
The carb is still rich. The Holley 350 guys run a PRCV reduction kit to get this carb lean enough but I haven't found one for the 2100/50 yet. I'll keep you posted.