What should I keep from a 302 f-150 donor.....and driveability ?'s too!!

[waynaferd]

I'm working with a bare-bones, manual steering, 5-speed, 2.3L reg cab short bed 2wd 96 ranger.

The donor is a running 92 F-150 2wd auto w/ around 120K miles. So far I plan on yanking the power steering box to have that luxury, and obviously the motor and trans.

Is there any other parts I could use, like front coils (cut to lower the front a tad)? I plan on hanging onto it for a little while, as I may find some good parts for my 94 4x f-150.

And lets fast forward with fingers crossed and all is well.....I only plan on swap headers, a cold air intake, and a noisy timing gear ( I figure the chain might be stretched, so best to be safe ), and maybe a shift kit for the tranny, and a tune-up and fluid change, of course. And aggresive sounding duals.....

What could I expect for rough MPG estimates, after say 2 mos of the newness (read: racing everything in sight and seeing how fast I can wear rear tires)?

How's the roll-on acceleration from 65-70 to faster? Right now there's some grades on the highway I lose about 15mph, and with a strong head wind I need to use 4th gear to keep up speed. Then the Hemi RAM A-holes that ride beside me or go too slow after passing because they know I can't do anything about it....would the stock 5.0 cure all that?

Actually, I had a 96 T-bird 4.6, and went good for its size/weight, and was wondering if anyone could give a power comparo. I know the Ranger will haul A with a 302, but I dunno about a stock high mileage 302.

Thanks for any insight, and so far the tech library has been awesome!!

And would this motor have the good intake and heads? I read there was some improvements thru the years....

 

[Teddyzee]

As far as stuff to grab from the donor-

Rear shackles and shackle hangers are the same as Ranger. spring wold bolt up, but I have to assume there would be some lift...

Silly stuff like throttle cable, rear abs sensor, bolts, etc. will all be useful.
Probably has an 8.8 rear. If it's Traction Lok, you could sell it to a Mustang guy. (it would be 31-spline, those guys often upgrade to 31 spline axles)

 

[waynaferd]

O, good to know on the springs and such, as my rear hangar rusted off leaving me a frame to repair.....

And I had a question about fuel.....would the rangers pump and such work with the 5.0, or what would I need there? I think that was my other big Q before going at it...

Thank you!!

 

[Teddyzee]

Mine is approaching twice the power of that f150, and the stock fuel pump works fine.

But there's something else to grab out of the F150...

 

[waynaferd]

Alrighty, drove the donor home today and it is saweet!!

And its a 95, but I fear the intake is too tall to clear the hood (not a prob) and the wiper cowl (pretty inconvenient) so what would be a good intake to track down? Is this MAF and shouldn't I try to keep that?

I guess that's the major issue for now, since it looks like it won't fit. Would a carb swap be a better-er idea?

The way the 5.0 moved the f-150 is pretty impressive ( I thought), and with just a few minor tweaks that ranger is sure to be a handful. An animal, even!

 

[ChrisR1S]

yep intake is too tall. Grab the upper and lower intake from a 5.0mustang or 5.0explorer unless you go aftermarket.

 

[RangerSVT]

Where are you located?? I might be interested in some F150 parts if your not too far away...
SVT

 

[baddad457]

Nope, there's a good chance the intake will fit in the Ranger. Never know til you try it. And that it's a 95 is a definate plus, better cam than a 92, it's the same grind as the Explorer roller. Intake setup will be Mass-Air too. You'll need to swap the oil pan and pickup though. You can always do a carbed swap too, the cam will work great with a carb. Take the heads and port the exhaust sides, or at least remove the thermactor bumps from the ports. Bolt on a set of 1.7 full roller pedestal rockers and new pushrods. Cam specs at 256/266 advertised duration, lift with the 1.7's is .445/.473, with a 116* LSA.

 

[waynaferd]

SVT, I be in central Maine, and unfortunately the only good thing on the truck are the motor, trans, grill, and sun visors she's pretty well rusted out and needs mucho work on the front end......and the rear shackles are both rusted away so the springs are actually pushed up thru the bed floor. Oh, the tailights and headlights are good, too

I have a 94 4x so most of the good parts I'm going to save for that, and unfortunately the clock spring is about all thats useful so far. If I was smart-ish I should have trailered it home, but I made it safely so no biggie. Once the ranger is up and running good the rest of the truck is going to the scrapper, because sadly that's all its good for. Fenders, bed sides and floor, tailgate, cab corners, radiator support, doors....all garbage.

---------------------------

BD457....I've been looking at pics all over the web and eyeballing both trucks side-by-side and I think the intake will be far enough forward that a hammer could make room in the cowl area for the rear of the intake if needed. If not maybe James Duff mounts will allow me to move the motor a hair forward enough.....And thanks for the cam info too...new rockers would be easier than a cam swap, and I wanna get the truck running before worrying about making it faster, so no tearing apart for me yet. A scoop could cover the intake if it does hit the hood, tho.

But I'm imagining the truck intake has longer runners for more low-end torque, and since the ranger is light and mostly driven on the highway, a more mid range intake would be more desireable, probably like a stang is set up for. IDK....

So if I do go carb, how could I make the auto tranny work? I would really like to leave it as is, because EFI is soooo nice on 10* mornings in the winter, and it is pretty much a DD.

Thank you!!

 

[waynaferd]

Actually, after surfing thru ebay, I found several mustang and explorer upper and lower intakes for a helluva alot cheaper than a 4bbl carb and intake, and distributor.

Does the year matter much? I figure low-mid 90's era...And could I use my TB and MAF and stuff? I guess that would be my next questions.

Thank yous!!

 

[baddad457]

Holley now sells an electronic transmission controller that bolts onto their carbs, if you choose to go that route. The truck T/B is a 2 bbl unit, it doesn't bolt onto any of the car intakes.

 

[waynaferd]

Well I put in a low bid on an intake that's still 4 days away from ending, so if I win I win if I don't I don't! I just as soon keep what I got for now anyways and save $ for future upgrades/fixes.


The local Napa 2 miles away has the mustang conv. mounts I think for $23 or $26 each, so that's a lot cheaper than any aftermarket swap mounts, and I see you used them in the other thread I bumped back up.
I'm going to throw on some cheap hedman swap hedders, and in the tech section it says truck pans will fit, so that's what this will be wearing the first drop into the engine bay, then I'll go from there!

But the dual sump pans are cheap anyway, and I want to throw on a new oil pump for assurance/insurance.

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[Mac]

Which Hedmans, part number? A lot of people have trouble with fitment. I think someone just used a set of Hedmans for the early small bodied Fords (Comets, Mavericks, maybe Mustangs) and said the worked great. I guess I should have saved more info on them.
Dave

 

[waynaferd]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-89500/

I was thinking these ones for the cheap-ish price, and I've used hedmans on 3 different vehicles trouble free, save for when I used header wrap on a 4x and the moisture rotted out a pair fairly quick.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[baddad457]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-89500/

I was thinking these ones for the cheap-ish price, and I've used hedmans on 3 different vehicles trouble free, save for when I used header wrap on a 4x and the moisture rotted out a pair fairly quick.

Thanks for the info!!

You really need to do more researching before choosing parts. Hedman's swap headers (89500) are far from a perfect fit in a Ranger. Al little research will tell you the whole story. The passenger side sucks, litterally. It dumps straight down into the axle, leaving about 4-6" clearance to install a 90* elbow, which in most cases gets crushed first time you bottom out the suspension (and that's going to happen eventually, nomatter how careful you are) You also have to remove the header to remove the starter in most cases. Hedman's 88400 headers (for the early Fairlanes) fix all this. As for the truck oilpan, these do not fit, period. The sump either contacts the crossmember or the sterring linkage. The fox pan is a definate fit.And one last piece of advice, NEVER bid on an auction til the last two minutes. Some one will always outbid you, driving the price up. This is good for sellers, but bad for a buyer.