$10k to spend

[Broosedamoose]

Rebuilding or swapping in a low(er) mile used engine would probably be better than a 302 swap. I'm pretty sure your state does OBD II emissions testing and a 302 would never fly. I prefer to rebuild everything myself but you'll need a place to do it, time to do it, the necessary tools, and something else to drive while it's apart.
Do you still like the truck and want to keep it? A 2019 is 4 years old, I've seen many 4 year old vehicles that look like new and many that were spent. A well maintained and taken care of 4 year old truck should be fine, one that's been rode hard and put away wet, not so much.

Mass does have OBD II but it drops out after 15 years. After that it's just a safety inspection so putting in a 302 is no problem.

 

[Broosedamoose]

After giving it some thought and reading y'alls posts I think I'm going to stick with the 4.0 I have. The bottom end is fine so I'm just gonna spend the money on the top end. I found someone locally who can do the head work. I'm looking into putting an M112 supercharger on it with the kit from Modbox. I can get the kit and a rebuilt M112 for under $2k. The truck is in great shape body and frame wise. Just some of the bed has rotted through. I should have enough left over to have that fixed and do a spray in bed liner. Maybe even enough for a paint job of the same color. Then some new rims and tires.

 

[Josh B]

I don't think you'll regret it Moose. The way our economy is going I'd suggest holding off acquiring any monetary obligations till it clears up, IF it clears up.
Good luck on your build man

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I don't know what you had for a tuner or who wrote your tunes but I have an SCT X4 with tunes from 5-Star Tuning and there is a night and day difference in my truck! I have a 93 Race tune that surprises everyone I take for a ride!

Have the same one on mine. Didn't make any difference.

Auto or manual?

 

[sgtsandman]

I agree with keeping the old truck and fixing it. The new trucks have too much integrated electronics just waiting to fail and I don’t like that they can track the vehicle. If I can track my 2019 on the Ford Pass app, Ford and whomever else can do it too.

 

[Lefty]

Those older Rangers remind me of the Ford Model A: simple, basic, and versatile. Old parts are plentiful and cheap. They are commonplace but can easily be modified, made into something suited exactly to fit your needs.

I patronize 2 different U pull yards. Funny thing, both use scrapped out Rangers to get around. They are plug ugly, missing a fender or a tail light, but they still put in a good days work

 

[Josh B]

The parts aren't so cheap any more. I stocked up on stuff a few years ago and parts were dirt cheap. There was also a cute little lady in there rather often and gave better deals, haha.
I was looking at their price list now and it's gone to hell.
Used to you picked up bolts off the ground they didn't care, now they're a couple bucks, jacks were 250, now they're 960 if you want the warranty
Glad I grabbed what I grabbed when I did, it don't hardly have a best by date on the shelf, most it might need is some oil or a bit of sandpaper
Only way I'd buy a jack now is to need it and find a unused one, and they better let the handle go with it

 

[Lefty]

The parts aren't so cheap any more. I stocked up on stuff a few years ago and parts were dirt cheap. There was also a cute little lady in there rather often and gave better deals, haha.
I was looking at their price list now and it's gone to hell.
Used to you picked up bolts off the ground they didn't care, now they're a couple bucks, jacks were 250, now they're 960 if you want the warranty
Glad I grabbed what I grabbed when I did, it don't hardly have a best by date on the shelf, most it might need is some oil or a bit of sandpaper
Only way I'd buy a jack now is to need it and find a unused one, and they better let the handle go with it

I have noticed the same

 

[Josh B]

I have noticed the same

Yes sir! I recommend anyone from this point forward to acquire a parts truck of some sort

 

[Broosedamoose]

Have the same one on mine. Didn't make any difference.

Auto or manual?

I have an automatic. I also have a CAI, JBA headers and cat-back exhaust. I have an electric fan as well. But there is a very noticeable difference between the stick tune and the 93 Race tune! I can’t believe you don’t notice a difference! Are you using custom tunes or the built in tunes from SCT?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I have an automatic. I also have a CAI, JBA headers and cat-back exhaust. I have an electric fan as well. But there is a very noticeable difference between the stick tune and the 93 Race tune! I can’t believe you don’t notice a difference! Are you using custom tunes or the built in tunes from SCT?

Custom ones from 5 star... 4.0 SOHC manual. Factory intake and exhaust. Cai on my truck made things noticeably worse as well. Why I'm just going for the blower kit at this point.

 

[Broosedamoose]

So I went to a shop nearby that does custom builds to talk about doing a V8 swap. To my surprise, he said he could put a 5.0 Coyote in my truck. I didn't think it would fit. He said he's done a couple old 302 in Rangers, and just did an LS swap last year, but has yet to do a Coyote engine in a Ranger. Problem is, it's gonna cost more than $10k! He won't do a project like this without touching the whole truck, ie suspension, electrical, body work and paint. I guess he has a reputation to keep up. He gave me a price of $25k-$30k! But like he said, it would basically be a brand new truck when he is done. Where can you get a new truck for under $30k? I could probably squeeze another $5k out of my wife, so I would need a loan for the other $15k. I would also need to buy something to drive while he has my truck. He said it would take a couple months. It's not like you see on TV where they build a car in under seven days! But how cool would it be to have a Ranger all done up with a 5.0 Coyote power plant? I'm seriously considering it!

 

[Lefty]

The swap sounds wonderful, but the price does not. I would shop around.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hell, the Coyote is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 14k by itself. The price the guy quoted doesn’t seem unreasonable considering everything he wants to do. If you can scrape up the cash...

 

[Blmpkn]

At the point of 30k I'd probably just buy a slightly used 19+..