My plan a prostreet drag truck help?

[RangerRyan]

So I bought a 1988 ford ranger reg. cab. with a little 2.0l carb and a 5 speed intending to make it a badass little truck. I came up with the idea of a prostreet drag truck. So here's my plan and questions I drop a fully built 302 in it with a good tranny and rearend. My questions are what kind of tranny should I use (want it to be a manny)? My friend has a efi 302 that he's going to sale me for cheap and I want to make it into a carb, how hard is that? and would a ranger 8.8 be strong enough?

 

[RangerRyan]

And that includes droping it a little bit, adding "big ol' drag tires" in the back doing so interior work and a small cowl induction hood scoop. Oh yeah and a toolbox with a tonneau cover and a little exterior work. (paint, new bumpers, etc.)

 

[allnpt0]

T-5 out of a Fox body Mustang.

 

[BlueChariot]

So I bought a 1988 ford ranger reg. cab. with a little 2.0l carb and a 5 speed intending to make it a badass little truck. I came up with the idea of a prostreet drag truck. So here's my plan and questions I drop a fully built 302 in it with a good tranny and rearend. My questions are what kind of tranny should I use (want it to be a manny)? My friend has a efi 302 that he's going to sale me for cheap and I want to make it into a carb, how hard is that? and would a ranger 8.8 be strong enough?

Whether it's strong enough depends on how built the motor is. Obviously past a certain level of torque you'd have to box the frame, but that'd have to be a big number.

As far as trannys go you have you pick of the litter, but again how robust of a trans you need is also dependant on how built the motor is.

And as far as carb conversion, I'm pretty sure all you have to do is change out injectors, feul pump, and the intake manifold to accept carbs. People have deffinitely done it, so look around a bit for more detailed info.

 

[RangerRyan]

I don't want too much power just enough to smoke a couple ricers!
So hopefully that will help you a little better..

 

[bilzy7]

ricers... i raped your "average" ricer with my stock altima, and some weak v8's. that 302 in ur ranger and right gear alone should take any 4cyl out there without a turbo... obviously then you will need some additional things... depending what they are actually pushing.

 

[BlueChariot]

I don't want too much power just enough to smoke a couple ricers!
So hopefully that will help you a little better..

You won't have to build it up a whole lot to do that.

Frame should hold up perfectly fine then, I'd suggest 302, possibley stroked, upgrade all the small stuff like performance plugs wires etc, you said you want to go with carbs so thats good for some extra horses over EFI, you'll need a new intake anyways but get a good one with a good set of carbs and upgrade anything you see fit thats within your budget.

As far as trans goes, on a mild engine build you still have your pick of the litter but I'm not so good wiht transmission models matching up to engines. Shouldn't have problems finding one to work wiht a 302 tho.

Overall, if you want some good power but don't want a full blown wallet breaking ammount of power, aim for around 300-350hp.

I highly doubt the Ranger 8.8 would hold up for very long under those conditions, thoguh I do know the Explorer 8.8 would hold up longer, I'm just not sure how much longer. You WILL want positraction tho.

 

[bilzy7]

on ebay ive seen 302 for 2200 they "say" is rated at 320-325hp crate engine dressed. and a 327 at around same hp for 1825. and thats shipped. but id check into those companies before ever ordering. prob better getting a real engine then a crate... but im not a muscle engine know it all...

 

[BlueChariot]

Personally, I'd build the engine myself to my own specs. That way it's tailored to your specific needs and you know EXACTLY what it's about.

 

[RangerRyan]

I was asking about the ranger 8.8 because I don't know if I have enough confidence in my welding to swap a explorer 8.8, but thank you that's what my plan was for building the engine. Cheap and fast.

 

[RangerRyan]

Also is the EFI 302(that I was going to convert to a carb.) a good idea he says he wants 100 bucks for it.

 

[BlueChariot]

It's a perfect engine build candidate then to be on the safe side I'd get a rebuild kit for it and then start from there. I think with a good exhaust, intake, and upgrading of all those small things would see a big jump in power for comparably little money. Like I said the carb setup could change alot too.

 

[bilzy7]

ya im gonna hafta have someone weld the 8.8 from exp im about to buy if guy sells me to have it mounted on the top... if not i mean... anyone know how the chevy leaves might match up from under axle? id assume same just dont flip the shackle hanger. disc brakes they say dont improve braking its just easier for alot of people to work on disc brakes on their own. alot of people hate drums.

 

[BlueChariot]

ya im gonna hafta have someone weld the 8.8 from exp im about to buy if guy sells me to have it mounted on the top... if not i mean... anyone know how the chevy leaves might match up from under axle? id assume same just dont flip the shackle hanger. disc brakes they say dont improve braking its just easier for alot of people to work on disc brakes on their own. alot of people hate drums.

I don't know about chevy leaves, but disc brakes certainly DO help with braking and they are easier to work on. A stock disc brake setup will always stop better than the comparably sized stock drum brake assembley, or at least that's my experience.

 

[--weezl--]

why do you want to go with chevy leafs if this is a street truck?

what 302 is this anyways? there are 3 basic 302 efi's your mustang 302 efi (ho) your explorer and your f-series 302, they are all different, and all have advantages and disadvantages...

between the explorer and f-series, the difference as far as i know, is the intake, but i would assume the cam is different also, giving more low end torque to the f-series, for towing.

the mustang (ho) motor uses a different firing order, it does NOT use the 302 firing order, it uses the 351w order, which eleviates stress on the bottom end, and allows more power to be put through it, with less wear...

anyways, your motor can be converted to carb very easily, by mainly just changing the intake manifold, and adding a carb, personally, when i build the motor for what ever truck i put it into, i will be pulling the motor out of my 89 mustang, and putting an edelbrock rpm airgap manifold on it, with a holly carb.

you might want to look into a new cam, or different ratio rockers, to give you a little more power...

tranny, without a doubt, t5 transmission! if and when the transmission in my 07 goes on me, i'll be doing what i have to, to get a t5 put into it, the t5, in my opinion was the best transmission that ford ever made, they are bulletproof, and hold up against the abuse of thousands of 18 year old kids driving their first muscle car

as for the 8.8, the 28 spline (what most rangers have) will be fine, up to a certain point of power, but honestly, i woudln't worry about it too much... the 8.8 is what all of the mustangs between about 78 and 96 have (and possibly mustangs out of that range also) and a lot of them have 300+hp put through the stock t5 and 8.8 (though i don't know the spline count on the mustangs, i would assume it's 31)



does that answer your question?