I am only 16 and this ranger is my first vehicle. I really want to swap it with a v8 just because i know nobody around here has one like that. I can only work in the summer so money is kinda tight for me. I was thinking of investing into buying an explorer engine that would work and just keep it in my garage as like one of those projects to just work on whenever i get the money. I was wondering how much it normally cost everyone to do there swap and is it really worth it?

 

You have a good year to swap out to an expo 302.

if your truck is running fine now, then its a good time to start working on building up a motor instead of when your motor goes out like mine and you have to cram one in there and get back to work.

try to find a whole expo vehicle and buy it, you'll need a lot of the wires and hoses.

if you can, try to find one with the same gears as yours and swap the rear axle/leaf springs into your truck since it looks like your lifted or going to be lifted.

 

x2

Get on TRS and look at the tech articles. It'll tell you what years would be the best years for the donor car and a few other helpful tips

 

What is trs?

 

Nvm I googled it. It's the ranger station and I found everything so I guess I'll save up and buy a decent explorer

 

First off, I'm 19.

Second, don't risk your DD until you have another working vehicle.

Third, I almost bought a 1986 Camaro when I was 16. It was perfect, 305ci, red, 51,xxx miles, perfect. I didn't have the money to buy it, so I told my older friend, who was 18. He had the money so he bought it. He wrecked it the next week because he was speeding and lost control. Too much power for an 18 year old...That was a car with weight spread evenly over the 4 wheels, truck do not have that. My 4.0 has caused me to fishtail sometimes, sure I want to put a 302 in it, but not for a while, like when I have the time and money.

Seeing as your 16, and probably not much "legal" driving under your belt, just wait until your older, have the (financial) means to do this in a short amount of time, and have better judgement about things.

With that being said, I'm not trying to be mean, rude, or disrespectful to you. I'm just trying to tell you to be careful. Things can go wrong in a split-second and being young, you just don't want to risk your whole future ahead. That's all. Just think about what you're going to do before your do it.

 

Good advice! I'd hold off on the swap until you have another vehicle. That way you can take your time and make sure everything is done properly. That and you'll have a backup vehicle because it's guaranteed that you won't have everything you need with you to do the swap and it always takes longer than you expect it to!

 

Well I thought it over and I dont feel like dropping a ton of cash into it and getting worse MPG. And I really dont think id like the awd thing. It would be alot harder to spin all 4 tires

 

My plans were to save up, bye another DD, then start chopping away at the ranger.

As said above, dont risk your DD. IF you did start on the swap, then ran into a problem....then your screwed out of a ride.

Are you saying that you want to swap in a V8 just to spin tires? lol.

 

I just kept awd because of money and my timeline to get it done.

and i actually get better mpg than my 3.0 v6 got. even with it being awd.

 

haha no thats not the only reason. I want to be different then everyone else around here and i want the v8 sound but it will probably wait a year or two before I start something like that

 

Another thing you will have to do is search really well for a decent donor engine.

If you want to buy a running explorer and take then engine out of that....then there is a couple grand right there (depends on seller's asking price)

Bob (his username is rwenzing) found a decent 5.0 in a junk/salvage yard. He took that engine, rebuild it and all that good stuff, THEN he started the swap.

So hunt well for an engine. Even if its a couple hours away, it still might be worth it.

 

^^THIS!!!!^^

Excellent post. And I too speak from experience. Sure wanting and owning a v8 Ranger is nice.....but man you'll be broke fast if you can only work during the summer. Just be thankful to have that new of a vehicle that's reliable during high school. I would have loved that when I was your age. Of course my talking of "being broke" come from me paying all my own bills(truck/ins/gas) in even the jalopys before turning 18 and getting the Ranger. When I got the Ranger, the first two years I BARELY was able to make the $200 payment, $200/mo ins, and gas working almost every day after school and on the weekends.