1994 Street Ranger V8

[1mean02hd]

Everyone keeps asking to post links to my '94 Ranger build and I have to keep sending them away from here. So I figured I should have a build pic thread here too.

So here's what I started with:

One tired, beat, extended cab 4.0L, 5 speed Ranger with a blown transmission. I only paid $100 for it and tripled my money back when I sold the motor. I bought it specifically to drop a 302 in and I knew that 4.0L trucks have 8.8 rears in them. And being the fact that I've owned about a dozen Fox Mustangs, I had parts from probably a dozen more. The body of the truck was pretty straight except for the broken mirror, grille surround, driver's fender, bumper and the sidemarker. "Replacement" is a word that does not exist in my vocabulary, but "upgrade" is. I liked the look of the newer trucks better and I originally wanted to create a "mini-me" version of my '02 F150 Harley Davidson Edition.

 

[89PBR96]

Looks bad a$$ man

 

[1mean02hd]

My truck runs and moves already so I have MANY pics that still need to be posted, so keep tuned.....

 

[1mean02hd]

Like I said, I bought this truck specifically to do a V8 swap in it. If I had to do it again, I probably would have picked a 92 or older truck or a 95 or newer truck. Why? 93 and 94 Rangers' engine and underhood chassis wiring harnesses are all intertwined into one harness. It's a HUGE pain in the ass to think about separating them (I tried). So the way I got around this issue was to use a chassis harness from an older truck (92). The older trucks have separate engine and chassis harnesses.

The Power Distribution Box is on the opposite fender but most everything else plugs in right where it should. I had to lengthen a few and repin a few others, but it was pretty simple.

Most people use the Fox 'vert mounts when mounting a Windsor V8 in a Ranger. Well, I tried that route and didn't like it. So, I did what Ford did and made plates to go from the 4.0L mounts to the 302.

 

[Ranger97XL]

have any more detailed picks of the front end swap? I'm looking to do this on my truck

 

[RangerSVT]

Looks good so far, are you planning EFI, or going with carb?? IMO, EFI all the way
SVT

 

[1mean02hd]

It's carbed. I'll post some more pics later tonite.

 

[1mean02hd]

More pics:

Engine set in truck

FEAD

Engine in running condition

Current pic of the engine.... notice something not hooked up yet there?

 

[RangerSVT]

Looks to me the vacuum/PCV line is not hooked up...T5?? How did you hook up your clutch??
SVT

 

[1mean02hd]

Looks to me the vacuum/PCV line is not hooked up...T5?? How did you hook up your clutch??
SVT

Well... yeah the PCV isn't hooked up yet, but I meant the nitrous solenoids. Yes, it's a five speed, T5. Used a Nissan 280ZX (or 240SX) slave cylinder and made an angle bracket. I also used a McLeod adapter fitting (this was before Russell made them) on the master cylinder to adapt it to an -AN fitting. I used a ~32" braided brake line for the clutch line.

Some interior pics:

2003 Mustang seats, cleaned and dyed factory rug, stock S10 shifter

My truck is now "Hurst Equipped"

I'll put some more pics up soon...

 

[1mean02hd]

Well I have some more pics for us all to feast our eyes upon:
I had to install a frame notch in the rear of the truck so I can get this thing to attempt to hook up, not to forget an obvious improvement in ride quality.

315/35/17 Sumitomos. Cheap and they look good.

I used a DJM bolt in notch that I got from Brian at Illusive Design and Fabrication. The great thing about this notch is that the two pieces are mirror images of each other which aid greatly in the layout of the install. You swap the pieces side to side, layout a hole or 2, and then scribe the notch to cut out. I used the almighty Sawzall and an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel on it.

I did the install over the course of 2 evenings during the week, so this is a pic where the cutting and stuff is done and a few more holes need to be drilled and the brake hose bracket still needs to be modified.

Here the notch is completely installed. The driver's side fits perfectly, but the passenger side, some of the bolt holes are directly over the rivets for the upper shock mount. I was going to drill them out and through bolt them but, the frame dimples out where the rivets are. Instead there are existing holes in the frame I utilized and drilled new holes in the notch to through bolt it. Look at the second pic and you can see the dimples.

The notch is completely done. You can also see the flipped shackle hangers in this shot as well.

 

[1mean02hd]

Some more random pics...

 

[ChrisR1S]

Looks great man! what FEAD did you use?

 

[1mean02hd]

Billet brackets originally designed for a Fox Mustang sort of. The alt. bracket from Summit and the power steering bracket is from UPR.

 

[ZMan]

looks really good! What size tires are on the back of that thing???