1988 ranger 2wd ???

[upnsmoke]

You are going to do alot of suspension work to that stock truck if you are going to run a 302. Not enough wheel base for that kind of power and weight balance is very poor . I had 86 2wd with 3 inch lift and cranked up 302, on gravel could not use the power or squirrely bad and launching into the air always nose down first even with extra 150 lbs lead in rear bumper. Build a v6 and that will be plenty for ranger and will have good handling characteristics

The truck is a little more front heavy than it would otherwise be with a 302, but only a little. The 302 block is light. I can carry a bare block by myself, and the rotating assembly is light as well. Iron heads are heavy, but a C4 or T5 is not. I disagree about the wheelbase though. If your truck is squirrely, I would attribute the handling more to suspension issues than some extra power. A vehicle that dogtracks even slightly, will have major handling issues, especially in the hands of an inexperienced driver.