347" 94 Ranger Build

[MustangN8S]

New to TRS, but I figured i'd join the site since i'm about to start heading up a Ranger V8 swap. And there seems to be a ton of good information here so thanks.
Finally going to get the ball rolling on this project. I have a 94 Extended cab 4.0 auto I recieved in the death of a family member. I decided to keep it for hauling stuff around, as a general beater for the most part. I have a pretty serious 427" 93 Mustang that I drag race, I built it from the ground up, cage, motor plates, powerglide etc etc. I do some welding when needed, I can do exhaust and headers etc. Mainly looking to turn this truck into a fun street cruiser on a BUDGET, very little track duty though. And off road is not my thing..lol

All in all i'm figuring about $2000 to $2500 complete ready to run, and that includes small drag radials, rear end rebuild, carb to pan swap.
(This does not include parts I have laying on the shelf, if I was starting from scratch it would be different)

Right now the build is going be a bit different from what i'm used to..LOL

Flat Top 347 should be about 10.5 or 11:1. ( I have this retired SB out of my Mustang, will pull a few mains and check bearings before assembly)
E85 fuel
Cleaned up GT40P irons with springs
Stock HO cam w/ 1.7RR, retarded 4 deg to help broaden the powerband
Cleaned up Weiand xcellerator single plane
650 E85 carb
Full 2.5" exhaust with mufflers
Electric Fan
Full explorer accessories, AC PS etc.

Today I ordered a box load of stuff to get going.

Electric FAL fan
Oil filter relocation mounts
Swap mounts
Headman headers, may need to modify for use with Gt40P heads
TFS Spring kit for GT40 heads
1.7 Crane Rockers
Cheap B&M flexplate to use with the AOD and 28oz balance
Most of the gaskets, timing cover, valve covers, oil pan, intake and exhaust.
Cheap summit valve covers

Trans is a stock rebuilt AOD I bought for $200
I plan to get it running and test, then I will probably do a Lentech Street Valve body.

Rebuilt stock track-loc with 3.73 gears, I also have 4.10's and the stock 3.08's I think in it.
Thinking about some small drag radials on the stock Ranger wheels just for a little extra traction later on.
Also contemplating installing a cheap plate system with 50-75 horse jetting for any track fun I may have.
I also have a set of Jegs Pro-stars 15x8 rears and 15x4 fronts I thought about sticking on it...we'll see if i wanna go that far.

I think it will be a fun little street bruiser, it will be 90% street, and maybe a few local bracket races in there if it runs how I hope.
I've played around with cams on EA pro, the stocker should get up to about 5000 before it starts to peter off. But low end tq from idle all the way seems pretty strong.

I'd like to see 300hp+ and 330+ torque to the wheels through an AOD...low rpm is fine for this.
If it ran a 12 second anything i'd be tickled pink.

 

[dangerranger83]

With all of that said, I'll be watching.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[JoshT]

Sounds like you got a pretty good plan there. Just wanted to ask about your engine with explorer accessories and the 28 oz balance. How did you get around the 50 oz balancer on the crank pulley for the explorer stuff?

 

[Snoranger]

New to RPS, but I figured i'd join the site

Where?

 

[JoshT]

Where?

Damn got to reading what he was planning and forgot to mention that.

 

[Snoranger]

Damn got to reading what he was planning and forgot to mention that.

I stopped reading after the first line. Responded, then went back to reading.

 

[MustangN8S]

Sounds like you got a pretty good plan there. Just wanted to ask about your engine with explorer accessories and the 28 oz balance. How did you get around the 50 oz balancer on the crank pulley for the explorer stuff?

Sorry for the mistake TRS...lol

I actually gave Damper Dude in California a call today, they can rebalance your stock balancer for $50. They also sell a reman balancer for $109 + a $40 core charge, and finally they have a new one for $172 balanced to 28oz for strokers etc.

I will probably go with the new balancer to use all my serpentine accessories.
Looking forward to recieve my summit order so I can get started on this thing.

I'm sure their will be a few bumps in the road, but nothing I can't handle.
I guess I will have to order a custom DS?

 

[JoshT]

I knew about damper dude, but didn't know if you had found another solution. Didn't know their prices or options, thanks for posting them. Might just have to give them a call myself and pick up one of those new ones, always though I was going to have to find a good one in a yard to send them. I'm putting in a stock Explorer 302 for now, but planning to build a 331 to swap in down the road. Would be nice to have the 28oz unit ready to go for it.

I know how you feel. Mine has been a slow (very slow) process of tear down and rebuild for a couple years now thanks to work and school getting in the way. But last class is this week, so hopefully I'll be able to start putting in a lot more wrench time soon. Gotta so some measuring and summit ordering (flex fan, B&M shifter) myself to finish up most of the mechanical under the hood.

You can probably have you current drive shaft shortened/lengthened to fit if it has the right ends on it. If you don't have the right yoke (transmission end) and flange (axle end) you can probably find those at a junkyard and swap them onto your drive shaft. I've got a donor explorer for my build, and since I am using it's transmission and rear axle, it's drive shaft will have the right ends. I'm just going to find a local shop to shorten and balance it for me.

 

[dangerranger83]

Get a shaft shortened rather then lengthened. Cheaper to take off material then add. Last time I got a shaft lengthened, it costed me $140. Last one I got shortened, $35 and that included putting new ujoints that I supplied.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gsp]

Most stroker kits are forged with a 0 oz (neutral) ballance....

 

[JoshT]

Most of those same companies also sell stroker cranks (or rotating assemblies) pre-balanced for 28 oz.

 

[MustangN8S]

Most stroker kits are forged with a 0 oz (neutral) ballance....

Most of your budget stroker kits with cast cranks are 28oz imbalance. If you're using forged internal cranks in a stock block deal you're wasting your money.

 

[gsp]

Most of your budget stroker kits with cast cranks are 28oz imbalance. If you're using forged internal cranks in a stock block deal you're wasting your money.

Unless it is a new casting,,, mine was poured in 2009....