Shout out to all the 83-88 V8 Ranger guys

[fordmike1]

I just picked up a 83 Ranger and I am going to put a 5 liter in it to along with a T5 trans. I have been looking for on of these trucks for quite a while and I finally found one for a great price. It a regular cab short bed 2wd and I am going to do a prostreet look to it. I am going to run 3.5" skinnys in the front and 10 fattys in the rear and lower the truck down on them for that look. I am looking for any info on doing a a V8 swap on this year Ranger. I have a 94 excab that is done and running with a EFI 5 liter and a 4R70W trans and its a fun truck but I love the look of the 83-88 much better. I will post up more pics of it soon as this is the only one I have right now. I am going to try a take pics all the way thru this project and post them through out the build. Any info that you guys can share would be great.........Mike.

 

[bobbywalter]

I just picked up a 83 Ranger and I am going to put a 5 liter in it to along with a T5 trans. I have been looking for on of these trucks for quite a while and I finally found one for a great price. It a regular cab short bed 2wd and I am going to do a prostreet look to it. I am going to run 3.5" skinnys in the front and 10 fattys inthe rear and lower the truck down on them for that look. I am looking for any info on doing a a V8 swap on this year Ranger. I have a 94 excab that is done and running with a EFI 5 liter and a 4R70W trans and its a fun truck but I lovethe look of the 83-88 much better. I will post up more pics of it soon as this is the only one I have right now. I am going to try a take pics all the way thru this project and post them through out the build. Any info that you guys can share would be great.........Mike.

its the same thing.


i would likely cut the rear inner fenders and bow the bedsides to help with tire clearance and run a sploder 4.10 t/l 8.8.

 

[fordmike1]

its the same thing.


i would likely cut the rear inner fenders and bow the bedsides to help with tire clearance and run a sploder 4.10 t/l 8.8.

It looks way tighter in there then my 94 does. I am planning on doing the Explorer rear, its leaf springs and mounting brackets so they are under the the frame rails to gain more wheel clearence. I am going to split the wheel wells and move them in on the bed to. Will the same Tri-Y's fit this chassis also like it does on the 93-97's ? Does these 83-88 also use a hydrolic clutch set up? Any pics that you guys have of these would be great to. Thanks Mike.

 

[bobbywalter]

yes.

it is a little tighter rail wise, i need to trim the earlier rails where the later ones i just roll them down.

 

[fordmike1]

yes.

it is a little tighter rail wise, i need to trim the earlier rails where the later ones i just roll them down.

Well it looks like it should be a breeze then on this truck. I have a 5 litre with Trick-Flow heads, TFS stage 2 cam, Vic jr. intake, Holley carb, and all MSD ignition. Its also got a world class 5-speed bolted to it with a Hurst short shifter and a King Cobra clutch. This set up is in a 79 mustang coupe that I have and it screams in that car so it should be very fun in the Ranger.

 

[The Weasel]

It does use a hydraulic clutch. I used the 7/8 master cylinder out of a 88 ranger. The slave cylinder is a 3/4 bore that is made for a mazda b2200. I used the bracket from dazecars.com for mounting the slave cylinder. Not sure what you are planning on doing for motor mounts but the way I did it was to use some 302 mounts (mustang I believe) and drop them in the holes for the stock motor mounts. I then attached some half inch steel plates to the block, lined everything up with my transmission in place, marked and drilled the holes to mount the steel plate to the motor mount. It took one on the passenger side and two on the driver side. One of the ones on the drivers side is just a space to account for the offset in the frame.

 

[fordmike1]

It does use a hydraulic clutch. I used the 7/8 master cylinder out of a 88 ranger. The slave cylinder is a 3/4 bore that is made for a mazda b2200. I used the bracket from dazecars.com for mounting the slave cylinder. Not sure what you are planning on doing for motor mounts but the way I did it was to use some 302 mounts (mustang I believe) and drop them in the holes for the stock motor mounts. I then attached some half inch steel plates to the block, lined everything up with my transmission in place, marked and drilled the holes to mount the steel plate to the motor mount. It took one on the passenger side and two on the driver side. One of the ones on the drivers side is just a space to account for the offset in the frame.

What radiator did you use on yours? I used a 97 Ranger 4liter HD cooling rad on my 94 and it works great but not for sure that it will fit into this 83 Ranger. Do you know what year Rangers that I can use for a clutch peddle set up? I know 83-88 but will any of the newer ones work say like 89-94, 95-97? My 83 is an auto right now and needs to be converted.

 

[The Weasel]

Mine was an automatic also. I went to a junk yard and got the master cylinder and clutch pedal assembly off of one that was the same body style, not sure what year. Make sure sure that the master cylinder is a 7/8 and not a 3/4 like the 83-87 rangers used. The radiator sits under the cross member that the stock radiator bolted to. I only have about 1/4-1/2 inch of clearance between the front of my water pump pully and the back of the fan. I would post pics but this thing won't let me (or I'm just to computer illiterate to figure it out).




http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ADD-713017/ motor mount
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BCI-68161/ radiator
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BCI-75083/ fan
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DHB-CM39896/ master cylinder

 

[Sighman]

I cut my core support and put my radiator back where the old one came from. I have about 2 inches clearance between my fan and radiator. I went with a C4 auto with a 2200 stall converter. Changed out the rear end for a possi unit with 4.10's. I also did the cheap rear spring perch flip and cut the front springs which did give me about a 1.5 inch drop. Havent looked into tires and rim just yet so can't help you there!

 

[sohc86-06]

nice looking project man best of luck

 

[Teddyzee]

Coincidentally, I used a slave cylinder off an '83 Ranger for mine. Money saved if yours is manual already.

It's an external slave for '83/'84. Three different mount positions, though, for 4cyl,v6, diesel.

 

[bearsrngr]

Should be an easy build since you have experience. For the radiator in my 86 I narrowed the rad support 1.5" and slid a 94 4.0 hd radiator in the stock mounts. I'm using an F150 FEAD so there's only a little over an inch clearance to the W/P. I'm using a 1/2" spacer and a 17" slimline fan, hope it works as I did'nt get it on the road before winter. Good luck and keep us posted on you'r build. Can't wait to see it complete!

 

[fordmike1]

Hey guys thanks for all the input. I was out at the wrecking yard for quite a few hours today and I found a grill in near perfect condition and a front bumper that was just as nice. I was looking for some front fenders and some newer door mirrors to but didnt pick them up at this time. I have decided that I am going to do more of a road race type setup instead of the Prostreet as road racing is 20 min. of pure fun around the track and drag is over in 12 sec. or less. I have a 91 Mustang coupe that runs 10's now so road race it is. Teddy why did you go with the older clutch master instead of the newer one with the bigger boar dia.? I was looking at them today and found that the newer ones use a diffrent mounting pattern then my 83 does. Teddy did you have to drill new holes to use the early one? Any ways any pics that any of you guys have of the 83-88's that are done please post some up as I would like to see some diffrent ways that you guys did your trucks. Oh and by the way it was HOTT out at thewrecking yard today and we were sweating our butts off looking for these trucks........Mike.

 

[Teddyzee]

I used the '83 slave. I used the diesel application, it has bolt holes in the proper direction so I could mount tit on a piece of angle iron bolted to the belhousing. The v6 has a mount pad in the opposite direction, and the 4cyl clips on.

For a master cyl, my '97 used a 5/8" that is clipped into the cast pedal assemble. I cut the bottom off the pedal bracket, and mounted a '90-ish 4.0 7/8" master by bolting it directly to the firewall. Works well.

Mockup, not the final postition, but close:

The slave is now pushing the area where the large hole is on the clutch arm. This give less leverage, but much more throw/movement of the clutch. Even in this location, the pedal is only a fraction of the effort required in my (cable operated) Mustang.

 

[fordmike1]

I used the '83 slave.

Sorry I read it to fast and didnt catch that you said slave cylinder. Damn I hate when I do that lol. So its from a 83 4cyl diesel? How does the line hook up to it? I know that you have posted pics quite a few times. I really never payed much attension to posts for stick shifts as I did a auto in my 94. I found a 83-88 Ranger today with a clutch peddel setup in it but I didnt have the tools, time or money with me today to get it.