V8 Swap in a 99 ranger

[Dosxxrider]

Hi, I'm Dexx. I'm 16 and I've had my 4-banger 5-speed ranger for about 6 months now. I live in a part of Texas called the "Hill Country". Because of this my little truck is a little under powered at times.. The thought of having a v8 in my truck is a very cool and realistic thing I believe. I've looked for a while now and I've decided (for the most part) what I would want to do; buy a 98-01 5.0 explorer (wrecked) and take the engine (and components pertaining to the engine) out of it, along with the seats and maybe a few other little things, buying a T5 manual transmission, doing a 2/3 drop, beefing up the suspension, and adding wheels and tires to it. This summer my mom is getting a new car so I could use her old one in the mean time.. But my question is: Could any of you point me in the direction of finding out (I'm sure there is a thread about it) or just tell me if it is possible to have all of the work done in a month or so? I will expect to be working on it all weekend every weekend and during the week after work along with my dad, and one of my good friends who knows his way around a car. I've never dropped in a transmission or an engine, but i'm very mechanically minded and have been fixing and riding dirtbikes/racing karts since I was 9. My dad has a lot of experience in building cars from high school when he built his mustang (from nothing), and my friend is about the skill level I am if not a little better gifted.
Thanks,
Dosxxrider

 

[Snal]

http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/5_0_swap_in_newer_ranger.html

http://therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2009/explorer_v8_swap.htm

Read through both of those

 

[Dosxxrider]

Thanks Snal! I've actually read threw those several times.. But they never really give a start date and finish date..

 

[stiluv]

its not to hard. just do your research and get all your parts together before you start. i did mine in about 4 days by myself. with help i could have done it in 3 or so. that was a 98 explorer 5.0 in my 99 4x4 ranger. it was a bolt in swap. not to sure about 2wd's.

 

[Mac]

With your combonation of Ranger and the right year Explorer, should have it done in a month easy. Always expect some problems and delays. Good luck and have fun
Dave

 

[redbird]

the seats may be an issue, ford changed the seat frame design in '98 i believe it was, prior to that the seats were mounted to separate seat tracks, in the 98+ the seat track is part of the seat frame. also, the regular cab ranger and extended cab ranger both use different seat mounting configurations. however, the extended cab ranger and the explorer configuration are the same. so if you want to put explorer seats in a 98+ ranger, you will need seat tracks from a pre-98 reg cab. if yours is an extended cab, they bolt right in