New from Ohio

[HvyFt4spd]

Hello,

I've been lurking for a bit and figured it was time to do an intro. I picked up an 83 single cab long bed with a rather healthy 302, a 68 Torino toploader and a Detroit locker in the original 7.5 3.73 differential. I found it by accident answering an ad for a "Ranger" off Craigslist that I assumed was stock and happened to be a few blocks away. Here it's a truck I had seen at local shows years ago and installed the rear replacement bumper on by chance while working at an automotive trim shop.

What I thought was cool was that the truck was the guy's fleet unit at work and he was given the option to buy it. He hoped to get himself a boat and a new truck at retirement but still really liked the Ranger. Plan B became to V8 the well preserved little refrigerator and buy a nicer boat. During the build he found a rearended 89 the same color and swapped the nose to the 83. I'm not sure why I remember all this but every detail thus far has has proven true and rather useful.

I've had it close to two years now and I'm currently swapping in a stock 302 and making a few changes with daily use in mind. The old engine required mixing fuel to keep it happy and the heads were severely ported. I was originally thinking of stepping things up, even considering putting the 347 out of my Altered in it. Having two intake ports crack out of the blue while both the drivers were also down forced my hand a bit. Talking with a pal he had a 82 F100 for cheap he had given up on restoring due to his son's lack of interest. Going over it, it could have been a good beater but was a bigger project than I needed. Another buddy wanted the body so my solution is to swap the fresh 302 in the Ranger, so here we are.

I'll try posting on the main board but my question pertains to running a mechanical fuelpump. I've searched quite a few old threads and found one where it was noted that a standard fuelpump could be used and that the 70-73 Econoline inverted unit was actually not necessary. If this is accurate it would be useful to know which pump was used and if there is clearance to replace it with the engine in the chassis. Part of this is that even though I can find the inverted pump listed they seem to be out of stock for the next month or so. I have contacted Advance Adapters to see if they can provide one directly but a more common part would be a huge plus. I'm going to put a mockup in it double check some of the changes I'm making in headers and new mounts but any heads up tips would be of use
Thanks, Dan

 

[Jim Oaks]

Welcome!

 

[donaldcon]

Welcome fellow ohioian

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[black06xlt]

welcome im from the ohio also

 

[deathbypsi]

Welcome from the Toledo area

 

[HvyFt4spd]

Thanks

Hey guys thanks for the welcome. I haven't been on here in a bit and the little truck got stalled but I'm slowly getting back to it.

I'll have to keep playing with the photo editor, these were all that would post as is. I did find with my mounts that the stock fuel pump would work but was not possible to replace without lifting the engine so I went with the inverted part. This along with the passenger side waterpump inlet allowed the benefit rerouting the remote oil transfer lines. What did post are the modified headers. My intent was to build a set from scratch but looking over the Tri-Y posts I gave that a shot. In my case the driverside was almost perfect but the passenger was out in left field. I basically rerouted them into a midlength header that allows easy access to changing the starter and slave cylinder.

Thanks, Dan

 

[HvyFt4spd]

A few more

Here's the kid dropping in the 302, the new shifter bracket vs the old one and some quicky homemade cherry bombs from scraps around the shop.