CA legal 5.0 swap in 1987 Ranger advice needed

[alsalp]

Hello all. I'm a new member. I'm here to research a v8 swap into my 1987 Ranger. It is a 2.3L with 5 speed, non-air, manual brakes and manual steering. I'm in CA.
I always pictured doing a Turbo Thunderbird swap but as of 2018 CA won't let me. I just talked to a CA smog ref. He did say I could put a 5.0 in as long as it is out of an Explorer. Can't be Mustang or F150. Has to be a "light duty truck" donor. He also suggested it would be easiest to stay with OBD1 like my truck. So I would be looking for a 1995 5.0 Explorer. Fortunately it's easier to find than a Turbo Coupe. I would buy a driving donor rather than crawling around the junk yard getting nickel and dimed and rolling the dice on parts. Also the 8.8 should fit too. I'm good with using the AOD. I've done 20 years of shifting that 5 speed and I have another car for that purpose.
I know the heater box needs to be dimpled to clear the valve cover but If I wanted to convert to factory A/C can I get the Evaporator case to clear?
With regards to the engine performance I'd like to be able add some internal upgrades as long as it blows clean as and looks bone stock Explorer. (CA sucks)
Anyway any relayed experience or suggestions would be great,
Thanks, Al

 

[Dirtman]

The simplest thing to do is move.

 

[alsalp]

Not useful dude.

 

[Dirtman]

I know, I rarely am...

 

[stsalvage]

I have a Friend out in Texas He has a 1991 ford ranger extended cab it had the 4.0 with the auto in it. But he gutted it and first he was going to go with the 302 option Then one of his Race buddies from the Baha trucks and hill climbers. Turned him on to a wrecked Baha ranger that had a 351 Winsor motor in it its been punched to 406 He got a set of Turbo's for it throw another racing friend So he got a race trans from out of the Baha ranger A brog warner T10 I might be saying it wrong. But he bought him a quick change rear end and got a gear vendor He can twist that mother into the high 9's. He tells me all your guys running 302 what a waste of time. The 8.8 will not handle the 351w build a narrow 9 inch

You can find the 351w in the full-size Bronco's junk the smog heads and build it with a steel crank and hang on you want speed the 351w will provide it to you I have a long block here from a 1997 Bronco

 

[snoranger]

Good luck finding a 1995 5.0l Explorer... Ford didn’t make them.

 

[Dirtman]

Yes they did. But you have to BELIEVE.

 

[stsalvage]

That's funny

 

[Josh B]

Not useful dude.

Actually I believe he was being somewhat serious sir, translated as it'll be a pain to make that swap

 

[alsalp]

Good luck finding a 1995 5.0l Explorer... Ford didn’t make them.

According to the CA smog ref he just they did but I can't find listings on parts store web sites. I did find a craigslist ad for a 95 5.0 but haven't called.
The ref seemed to thing changing to OBDII would be too much of a hassle but it's gotta be doable. Anyone here ever convert to OBDII?

 

[fastpakr]

Plenty of 96-01 5.0 Explorers out there, but no real 95's.

 

[Josh B]

Have you checked in the tech articles and the non-tech, Other Articles threads?
I can't tell you much about any of this Al, but I usually use a search engine with therangerstation.com and a search term like 5.0 obdi or obd1

 

[adsm08]

The 5.0 wasn't offered in the Explorer until the 96 model year. You may find a 5.0 Explorer with a 95 calendar year production date, but it will be a 96 model year. Government listings for things like this are often incorrect. For example our emissions machine keeps decoding Focus and Fiesta VINs as belonging to Super Duty trucks. That is info retrieved from a government built database.

Also, the Explorer, the Ranger, and a few of Ford's cars were OBDII for the 95 model year, so you still aren't getting an EEC-IV computer from a 50 Explorer any way you cut it.

The only EEC-IV computers you will find for a 5.0 are going to be out of a Mustang, Thunderbird, CVGMTC, F-150/250 or E-series van.

Explorers also didn't get an AOD. With their 5.0s I think they were using 4R70 transmissions from the get go, which is more AOD-E than AOD.

Most states have emissions, and rules about what can and can't be done, but when planning something like this, no matter what your ref says, step one to making an easy and legal swap is to GTFO of California and New York.

I haven't done the OBD-II conversion yet, but I think I still have the parts to try on my 4.0s. I may give it a shot before too long.

 

[alsalp]

Well I'm not moving out of CA, otherwise thanks for the useful feedback. It would have to have all the stock emissions, intake, stock or approved exhaust. OBDII wouldn't be a bad thing for it's functionality. I would have to work out the electronic speedo. Could graft the 96 stuff or go aftermarket. I wonder if I could get away with using an "OBDI" Mustang computer to run it.

 

[Dirtman]

Same amount of wiring and work. Actually more since you'd be blocking and bypassing sensors and need to get a 96+ explorer intake anyway to fit under the hood.