I am about to begin a cool adventure, I am getting a 1994 Aerostar with 4.0L, all wheel drive automatic to be my donor vehicle, the recipient vehicle is my 1986 Ranger 4x4 2.9L automatic. I am able to get aerostar for $500 and it makes since to upgrade the engine and tranny before sinking hundreds into the current 2.9 to make it run right again. Plus I can take what is left of the aerostar to the scrap yard and get a few bucks for it.

I will be taking my time with this swap by photo documenting the engine setup, labeling each plug on the 4.0, taking the wiring harness and computer, plus I will measure to see if the dash will fit. With the van being AWD, I hope the tranny will have the correct adapter to fit on to my rangers transfer case so that I get the 4.0 tranny with no modifications needed. The previous owner of the ranger took out both gas tanks and put in a small boat gas tank in the bed. Does anyone know if I have a prayer to try and make the aerostar tank fit in that frame?

If any one has any more tips or suggestion for this swap please feel free to give me knowledge . I plan to phot document this and post as much as I can and share with others that may want to do something similar to a ranger of bronco 2.