302 starting question

[tjdeerslayer37]

I have a 302 from an 87 mark vii that im going to be putting in my 91 ranger. It will be carbed and im running an hei distributor. I don't have all the parts for the engine and swap yet so im just asking so I know what's up when the time comes.

First, how does the safety switch work that makes it so you have to press the clutch to start the truck? My truck is a stick now and I have a t5 I want to put in and am curious about how that works.

Next, am I going to be able to use my ignition to actually start the truck? If I can't use my ignition, as dumb as it might sound just humour me lol, id like to make it push button start. In that case how would I go about wiring that?

With the hei distributor the coil is inside the dist, there's only two wires that go to the dist the tach and the power. Where does the power wire come from that connects to the distrib and also where does the starter fit into this? Lol.

Sorry if these are dumb questions im all confused on this whole deal, my buddy is the car guy not me.

Thanks!

 

[Psychopete]

Yes, you can use the stock ignition switch. Getting a vehicle specific diagram would be your best bet. R/LB was the start signal on my '88 to the solenoid. I had to wire in the NSS (built a small harness with the stock plugs from my old main harness), but this was for an auto. Diagram will show there the wire runs from the ignition switch finally to the solenoid so you can see where you'd need to supplement if part of it is in the main harness.

R/LG I used for ignition power. This is on both for start and when the key is on run. I used a relay and this also operates my fuel pump, I kept the stock EFI pump with a return style regulator. The R/LG was in a plug that also included part of the factory NSS circuit.

I was completely lost without a digram, I just bought one for $25 from Helm Inc. Check you local library for diagrams, but it's really handy to have one in general. They are definitely worth it, as far as wiring goes, you are sort of on your own. Especially with a carbed setup.

Pete

 

[baddad457]

The safety switch for the clutch pedal is on the pedal up under the dash. Leave it as is. You will find that once you kill power to the computer, the fuel pump won't run. You can easily fix this by running a hot wire from the coil lead to the emergency impact kill switch (my 89's is located under the passenger side carpet where your feet rest) There are two wires running to the coil, just use these same wires to feed the HEI distributor (hope you like those big asssed fugly things, they just look out of place on a Ford small block, a better choice would be something like a Pertronix drop in distributor or a module in a points distributor) Going to a carb is really simple as far as wiring goes. I simply tucked all the EFI wiring back against the firewall, figuring I might need it again someday, but that was 8 years ago. It's all in sight, but out of mind where it's at. So really the only wire you'll need to run is from the coil positive wire to the impact switch.