I'm new here and building a v8 ranger

[Moose_]

Hey moose, measured my driveshaft and its 72inches on the dot from flange to flange. Hope that helps you get ish figured out.

Thanks! for kicks, I measured my old DS at about 70" f-f. If the c4 is about 4" shorter, then I think I need about 74" of shaft. Thats assuming the 8.8 is the same drom CL axle to the face of pinion flange as the 7.5. I think it is, but its kinda hard to measure. would be nice if it could make up the 2" shortage I might have if I do find a driveshat same as the one you got.

In other news, got the C4 (C5?) yoke from the same guy I bought the motor from. Small progress.

 

[Moose_]

Driveshaft donor- think Ive figured it out

Okay, so after countless hours trolling the interwebs, I think I have found a working solution to my driveshaft predicament: E250 van 1-piece.
From what I can tell, these are very close to the right size (~74" maybe longer). I may still end up needing to get a ranger shaft for the 8.8 flanged end, but those are like 25$ at the JY so not too worried.
These vans are a dime a dozen, so a shaft should be easy to find.

In other news, got a little more progress on getting it running, but its been like -5 to -10 (C) all last week so its hard to make real big steps. Figured out how to prime the motor- drill+ deep 1/4" socket (1/4" drive) with like 14" of extensions. Taped em all together for safety.

Hoping to bundle up and tighten down the engine mounts tonight... what a beast of a job! Is there a good way of getting to the pass side?

 

[BLOODBANE]

Loooong extension and a wiggle with a short socket. But that really only works if you have it up on a lift. My 84 is a son of a gun to get to as well. I understand your DS dilemma, I went through abut 6 until I finally had some custom shafts made (Dana 20 to 8.8/D20 to D35). I went to a Farm/Ranch place that made shafts. Only ran me around 120 to have new shafts made and balanced. Have held up all these years with mine (4x4 though).

Dont know if you have it done yet, but I use a in-line Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator on mine (I used a 87 tank in my 84 with the in tank pump). I get a couple years out of them and most Autozone/Checkers carry them. They make a more expensive unit, but these work for me and they arent that expensive.

 

[Moose_]

Trying to get it started right now. Posted in the "Urgent" section so I wont double post here.

Electrical proving to be harder than I thought. Hope I can get it resolved and fire it up. Ill post here later either way.

 

[Moose_]

Loooong extension and a wiggle with a short socket. But that really only works if you have it up on a lift. My 84 is a son of a gun to get to as well. I understand your DS dilemma, I went through abut 6 until I finally had some custom shafts made (Dana 20 to 8.8/D20 to D35). I went to a Farm/Ranch place that made shafts. Only ran me around 120 to have new shafts made and balanced. Have held up all these years with mine (4x4 though).

Dont know if you have it done yet, but I use a in-line Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator on mine (I used a 87 tank in my 84 with the in tank pump). I get a couple years out of them and most Autozone/Checkers carry them. They make a more expensive unit, but these work for me and they arent that expensive.

Ended up dropping the DS I beam bracket to get a socket into the cross member. Could only rotate a few clicks at a time. What a PITA. Is the FPR necessary, or can I just run it up to the carb?

 

[prymetime1]

Ended up dropping the DS I beam bracket to get a socket into the cross member. Could only rotate a few clicks at a time. What a PITA. Is the FPR necessary, or can I just run it up to the carb?

Pretty sure u want a fpr in there since carbs like a lower psi. Cheap n easy enough to install.

 

[BLOODBANE]

The Quadra-Jet I use only takes a couple pounds of pressure. Most in-line (low pressure pumps, I used to have one from NAPA that maxed at 8lbs.) will not flood out the carb, but Im using the in tank pump out of a 87. It will drown the carb if I dont use the FPR. When I was running the Edelbrock "offroad" carb (junk by the way)it used a little more.

As far as your no fire issue, on mine we had previously changed over to Dura-Spark, so everything was already in place. I would be making sure you have good grounds and your ignition box (if electronic) is in good shape (sliver box on the fender). They like to go out and cause all kinds of havoc.

 

[Moose_]

Pretty sure u want a fpr in there since carbs like a lower psi. Cheap n easy enough to install.

As far as I know, the 86' model year trucks had an in-tank that was intended for use with the carb'd 2.9L motors.

Is the '87 the same? I know at some point around then they stopped coming with carbed motors, and switched to high pressure in-tank units. Mine had two pumps, and I removed the high pressure one in the fuel rail.

Wondering if the low pressure in-tank needs a return, or if it self-regulates and circulates to keep everything cool. the inline HP pump looked like it circulated fuel up to the rail, then dumped it back into the reservoir/filter before the HP pump, thereby keeping the pump cool and fuel from boiling (I think).

 

[84FreakRanger]

I had a DS from a 2000? F-150 cut to size and it is 50' 5/8" from the middle of the front u-joint to the the middle rear u-joint.

 

[Moose_]

its alive!

So I spent a bunch of the weekend working on the truck, and she starts and runs now!

I'm picking up a tstat and rad hoses tonight, and plan to mount the radiator in and fill it all up. I will also fill the trans back up to preserve the seals/ TC.

I couldnt get power inside the cab yet, pretty sure I dont have any power to the fuse box. I was struggling to figure out what to do with the alternator wiring. Not as straight forward as I was expecting. The following is from the tech article:

Charging System / Power Distribution 1986 - 1988:

Black Wire - Ground

Black With Orange Stripe Wire - Power From Starter Relay To Red With Orange Stripe Wire, Yellow With Light Green Stripe Wire - Yellow Wire, Yellow With White Stripe Wire, Alternator, And Fuse Block

Brown Wire With Pink Stripe - From Start Ignition Position To Light Green With Red Stripe Wire

Light Green With Red Stripe Wire - Alternator To Light Green With Red Stripe Wire

Red With Light Green Wire - From Ignition Run Position To Light Green With Red Stripe Wire

Red With Orange Stripe Wire - From Black With Orange White To Ammeter

Yellow Wire - From Black With Orange Stripe Wire To Ignition Switch And Fuse Panel

Yellow With Light Green Stripe Wire - From Black Wire With Orange Stripe To Ammeter

Yellow With White Wire - From Black With Orange Stripe Wire To Alternator


There isnt any diagram, so I will try to do what I can, but snce I have an old-school alternator, I am not sure where to run the wires to and from.

Can anyone who has done this swap provide some guidance to how to clean up the whole mess of wiring?

I want to ditch the ECU entirely at this point, as I am not seeing it being very helpful. I would like to keep the gauges working, but if its a huge PITA, then I will just buy a 50$ kit of gauges and be done with it. Looking forward to getting more of it together tonight.

 

[Moose_]

Big project update

Its been a while, so heres a big (ish) update.

-Motor mounts and trans mount tightened down.
-ECU removed, wiring in progress
-Fuel pump, ign on switchboard. (one more switch... Efan maybe)
-Rad brackets and crossbar welded in
-Got new rad hoses (1971 mustang to match rad)
-Filled rad with coolant (still need belt and heater hoses)
-Fixed broken trans dipstick (replaced with one from A4LD- cut it to match the C4s stick. Will scribe matching full/low lines)
-Put 5L of trans fluid into trans. Not leaking (yet)
-Bedlinered cab floor after patching holes as best I could
-Mounted driver seat.

Still lots to do. Picking up a pair of 2013 mustang OEM mufflers tonight to tackle the exhaust. Still worrying about driveshaft. E250 shaft I had lined up fell through. Leaning back towards trying to modify the original 2-piece to fit (+4"~)
Rear end not in yet. Thats the next big thing to do. Rear end+DS+shifter= driving. So thats exciting. But also expensive.

The truck now starts and will run (only running it 10s at a time because loud and no tach) without much fiddling. Once it kicks over, it really wants to run. No tach so scared of it revving a ton.

Thats all for now, hopefully more updated soon! A water pump belt, exhaust, and tach, and I will be able to actually get the thing up to temp.

 

[Moose_]

Just a quick note on the wiring:

All the merretts in the photos are my "placeholders" to help me test the wiring. These will (and have already started to be changed to) soldered connections or crimp connections. I am also labelling everything to save me headaches later.

 

[Needsav8]

Nice!