95 Conversion Questions

[TRX501RYAN]

Hey, lately i've had the idea of adding some cylinders to my ranger.

I have a few questions, i've been searching quite a bit lately but there is info everywhere, on some many different builds, i thought i would ask a few of the biggest questions that worry me,

First off is the wiring, my truck is a 95, i believe its obdII but am not sure, Now as far as that and wiring, what would be the easiest V* candidate, Explorer donor possible?



wiring is another big issue i am concerned about, always worries me to be honest lol, how hard, and how big of a wiring or deal are theses swaps.


Finally, my truck is a 4x4, and id like to keep the 4x4, am i going to have all kinds of problems finding driveshafts and transfer cases to work, or can i possibly just get a 4x4 explorer donor, and use the motor trans and transfer to bolt up to the stock ranger drivetrain, any tips would be helpful


Thank



Ry

 

[RangerSVT]

Quite a few have done this, quite a few are in the middle, and quite a few are planning this swap...I myself am close to putting mine under the knife for this surgery. There is no getting around the wiring, you will have to cut and splice or do some repinning...Tcases you only have a couple of options as you are limited to what will "bolt in", if you want bolt in, you will have AWD. There is an adapter kit you can buy from advance adapters that adapts your current tcase to your V8 trans by changing the output shaft of your trans and changing the tail housing of the V8 trans. While on of the more expensive routes, it is real easy on your part, just bolt together after you get your trans back from a shop to swap out the output shaft. You can run a Dana 20 Tcase from an early bronco and run manual shifters, or you can get an Atlas tcase and run manual shifters....I'm experimenting with making a low range case that uses the AWD case from the V8 explorer. One more thing, read, research, read, read some more, research some more, read some more. This is the hardest part of the swap, not the actual wrenching...But all who have done the swap all have said it was definitely worth itI would get EVTM's from both the donor vehicle and yours, I'd grab an Exploder as your donor, but make sure you grab a 96-97(could be wrong on the years), as these have return style fuel lines...
SVT

 

[Teddyzee]

The wiring is very easy, simply purchase the harwood manual, and it will tell you step by step how to do it. (www.harwoodperformance.com) It's $25, and based on the '93 Mustang harness.
If you use a harness from a different year, there are many (free) resources online to fine Mustang harness diagrams. You can compare the differences easily.

A typical 'Stang harness has 3 connectors, one originally in the interior kick panel, two in the engine bay. Basically, the wires are removed from these, and spliced into the corresponding circuits on the engine side of your stock Ranger Engine harness (big square plug hanging between your brake booster and intake manifold). I cut the circuits I need from the Ranger harness (with it in my living room) and left a few inches of wire, and cut/spliced/soldered/lengthened the 'Stang harness to the Ranger plug. Any unused Ranger circuits were just cut off the main plug. (injectors, as an example)

The Ranger and Mustang engine harnesses control nothing outside of the engine, other than the Ranger Trans harness having speedometer and reverse lights, 4 wires.
FWIW, my truck is a '97, wiring would be very similar, or the same , as yours. EVERYTHING works, gauges, speedometer, tach, everything.

If you use an Explorer harness, it is physically simpler, but I would recommend an EVTM for the year of Ex and your year Ranger to compare the harness pins, you may need to relocate or splice a few circuits.

As far as the 4X4 gear, the other guys will have lots of opinion for you, there are many options, but not an area I know much detail about.

 

[TRX501RYAN]

Thanks for the info guys, ill keep researching this, try and figure out if i can handle the swap