94 ranger 302 swap

[sean11]

Hello,

This is my first post in a long time, hopefully I’m posting in the correct forum.

So I know 302 swaps have been beat to death and yes I have read nearly every tech article in the library. I love this site. Anyway, down to business, I have a 94 ranger extended cab with a 4.0 M50d. I am being given my dads 86 E-150 with a 302 C6 and 9inch rear so my plan is obvious, swap the 302 and 9 inch rear into the ranger. The ranger is my first truck but now it’s a toy I plan on using to go hunting and some mild off-road, something similar to an overland truck is the direction I’m heading currently. I plan on a compete rebuild of the 302 and want to do new heads and cam (I think I have to convert something for this) and create a mild build that could possibly be charged someday. So my main questions that I’m not sure of are as follows:

1. I want to keep EFI. Should I switch to something like Holly throttle injection or retain the stock 86 EFI? I don’t really want to trailer it somewhere to be tuned and I’m not a fan of keeping a laptop in the truck for something like mega squirt nor am I very computer savvy so I’m looking for easy... I’ve seen the after market multiport injection like Holly’s but I don’t really want to spend 2k on injection.

2. Retain the C6 and have it converted from 2wd to 4wd or throw a manual behind it? If so which one would someone recommend?

3. Convert from v belt to serpentine? Worth it? I know I need a different rotation water pump.

I’m sure all of these questions have been answered a million times, I’m just still not sure I’ve found the answer I need/want. Thank you in advance, I appreciate your time.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I'd use as much as possible from the van. Leaving the v-belt if that's what it has. If you want to convert that V8 powertrain to 4x4, then I'd look for mid 80's F150 4x4 transmissions and transfer cases. You should be able to pick that stuff up for dirt cheap these days. IF you can find it.

For the EFI on my 2wd 5.0 street truck, I went with the Ron Francis Telorvek wiring system. It was all plug and play with my sensors on the 92 Thunderbird 5.0 EFI engine, and I picked up an A9P (for the aggressive fueling) computer to run it all. That might not be cost effective for you though. You can use the vans harness and ECM to make it all run in your Ranger, it'll just take a lot of hours going through the old harness to make what you need of it.

The Ford Motorsport harness might be another option if you need it. It's been copied these days by Ron Francis and/or Wild Horses.


F150 EFI harness converted in to a stand alone harness.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1423515-making-a-stand-alone-efi-harness-pics.html

This guy's Youtube channel has some excellent videos on the subject:

https://www.dufftuff.com/Bronco_II_Ranger_Engine_V8_Conversion_Swap_Parts_Info_s/81.htm

These can come in handy for wiring, depending on which harness you start with:

>>> http://www.grandmarq.net/oldfuelinjection/page1.html

http://www.vintagebronco.com/newberry/pages/tech/efi/efi.html
http://www.fuelinjectedford.com/5.0Lpinouts.html
http://www.rowand.net/shop/tech/fordefiswap.htm


https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-hardcore-tech/45309-totw-ford-302-engine-swaps.html

http://www.harwoodperformance.bizland.com/Parts List.htm

 

[sean11]

Thank you for your quick reply, I definitely want to retain 4wd in the ranger, so switching the ECM will be a must. I just completely lack the knowledge of EFI tuning so this will add a new adventure in learning for me. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions in the near future as I plan on pulling the engine soon and beginning the process.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

You won't even have to worry about changing your ECM unless you use an Explorer harness and ECM of a similar year, and being as old as it is, I don't think that's an option. With your choice/year of donor engine, you'll have to use the entire EFI harness that's in the van and convert it to a stand-alone harness to run the engine, or buy an aftermarket harness and use it.

With the year of 302 you plan on using, honestly, the route I'd take would be a Fitech EFI system or similar brand.. Bolt on, hook up a few wires, and you're wheeling. The extras like a speedo and other gauges could be figured out as you go. There are a lot of affordable modern aftermarket speedos that use GPS to determine speed. Other aftermarket guages (oil psi, coolant temp, fuel pressure, trans temp, battery voltage, etc) are cheap and easy to hook up as well. Using your factory Ranger gauges complicates things quite a bit.

It sounds like you've got a TON of researching and reading to do.

 

[sean11]

I’ve read a vast majority of the things you have said so far; I did not know about the ECM part though, I was under the impression that the 86 would need a 4wd ecm if I convert it to 4wd like you would with the later models but I guess the 86 transmission is not computer controlled if I remember right.
More or less it’s attempting to take what I’ve learned and put it all together as well as settling on what route I want to take in the build. Also hopefully it will all make since as I begin the build and tear things apart. Im probably also over complicating it in my head haha. As always I appreciate your time and knowledge.

 

[Elutheros]

I know you are getting a ton of advice--and I'll add my two cents. Get yourself an Explorer intake, heads, and front accessory drive. Scrounge up a harness from anything that ran EEC IV and modify it to fit the Ranger. I used an A9L initially, and eventually went with a MegaSquirt PNP Gen 2 ECU in order to tune the engine. The Explorer FEAD will give you a lot more room in the engine compartment and allow you to convert to a serpentine belt. The wiring takes a while to put together, but it's cheaper than buying a new harness. The M5ODR2 is an easy choice although less convenient to drive than an automatic. Any automatic available for your combination of drivetrain will probably require a rebuild and add lots of cost to your project. Save yourself a lot of hassle and do a 3" body lift to make everything easier to fit.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

The 5.0 Thunderbird front accessory drive is also very short like the Explorer. So that's another option.

The Thunderbird 5.0 also came with an AOD up to 1992 which besides the OD band being weak depending on which "apply" piston is in the trans, I've seen less failures of this trans than the Explorer models.. But you wanting to retain 4x4, you'd have to find an AOD from a 4x4 application.

I went with an aftermarket EFI harness because I didn't want to deal with 20 year old wires, brittle and corroded connectors, and end up chasing phantom wiring problems. So for me, spending the extra money was well worth it.


Just some more food for thought.....

 

[sean11]

Update:
I have pulled the engine/transmission on Saturday and I decided that I’m going to retain my 8.8 axle and sell the 9inch to a friend. This build won’t be happening very quickly but I’ll keep the thread updated for anyone that’s curious.

I still haven’t decided what I want to do with the EFI, I keep going back and forth between reading about stand alone systems and systems like FiTech.

I’ll attempt to add some photos from my first engine pull (keeps telling me my file is too large). For anyone who is also new to this stuff: a trick when pulling an E150 motor without removing the body is to get the van as far off the ground as possible to compensate for the angle of an engine hoist. Might be common knowledge but while doing my research almost everyone suggested just removing the cab from the chassis, not realistic in my garage.

 

[sean11]