94 Ranger- 2005+ nose swap, and 5.0l swap

[RangerSVT]

The wiring is easier than you think. Take the 5.0 engine harness, about 12" of the 42 pin plug above the engine on the vehicle side, and splice that into the 94 engine plug side that does engine functions (power to ignition, oil & water gauges, fuel pump, etc.). You will need to extend the ecu plug or mount it in the cowl where the 95+ ecu's are located. You can get the engine slightly lower using the mustang mounts, but I prefer the stock 4.0 mounts with plates on the block. I did a V8 swap using a 96 ex 5.0l & 4R70W, 94 frame, 01 cab, 94 4.0 mounts and plates, and no body lift. It was tight, but fit. Nice build...

SVT

 

[dogboy]

That's kind of what I hear, the wiring harnesses aren't as difficult as it sounds. More just daunting until you tear into it.

Im not sure why my cab hits then. It's only about 1/4-1/2" from not hitting the floor though.
I'm using 4.0l mounts, with the explorer motor plates, and the ranger tranny mount, with a 1" block to make the front drive shaft clear the crossmember.

 

[RangerSVT]

Make sure your engine is level. I had to lift the driver side about 1.25" to level it, which coincidentally also lifted the front output of the tcase and not needing the trans mount lift...

SVT

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I used a different trans but used the mustang mounts which allowed me to drop the motor pretty low. I took a piece of 2"x4"x.25" tube, welded it to the CM then cut the slots where they needed to be. If I had used a diff ps box I would have been able to drop it another 2". I'd say it's about 1.5" lower than stock 2.9 mounts but the over all height of the block is near what the 2.9 would be.

 

[dogboy]

It might be able to go lower if I got the right oil pan as well. Mine won't let the motor go any further forward, or down. It's a modified 70's truck rear sump pan.

 

[dogboy]

I should probably update this thread.

I ended up doing a 2" body lift, to clear the heads and bellhousing.
The wiring harnesses were much easier than it appears to be. Once you're in there and cutting it's fairly easy




Then I spent probably 12 hours splicing and adding 3 feet of correct color-coded wire to the engine harness in order to relocate the computer to where the 94 Ranger computer is.
I found out, after cutting the insulation off almost 250 butt connectors, that you can buy just bare butt connectors. I used marine/sealed shrink wrap instead, to keep the bundle smaller



It ran and drove except for the tranny still didn't have 3rd or 4th after it got a few miles from home. So, I put a used tranny in it, and it works awesome.

After the body lift, it needed some 35's to look right.
Here's my two Rangers together.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Looking real good man! That front end looks awesome!


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[surefootedpony]

Love your swap, can you tell me how difficult the front end swap is? I'm interested in fitment and what modifications needed to fit the 2005 front end.