hey everybody, so here's the short and sweet version: i'm looking at putting a 302 in my ranger. i found the engine, and the rebuild kit for it too. but what i'm wondering if anyone has any advice on what to look out for. where i'm getting the block also is coming with the ecu, and the pump, which i'll probably replace initially after i figure out which one i'll need. so what the big question is; what are the biggest mods anyone has come across? any help or knowledge is much appreciated.


thanks all

 

Depending what year truck you have, this maybe a wiring night mare.

There are so many variables in a swap.

 

ya man u gotta give details on what year ranger, donor motor, ecm etc.

 

A 5.0L is a short stroke motor. Which means with a few key parts / machining you can have a perfect TQ curve for a light vehicle.

IMO do these:

Balance the rods & pistons to within 1/2 a gram of each other.
Balance the wrist pins
Then send them along with the crank, flywheel, and pulley to eagle.

Make your piston to wall clearance in the 0.003" area
B303 (or E303) cam
valve springs to match (7000rpms)
1.65 roller rockers
Intake
Headers
3.55 rear gears w/traction bars
2200-2300 stall convertor


Do those things and you'll have a motor that can spin to 7000 rpms w/o a problem. The low end TQ will be manageable and that ranger will be fast yet civil on the streets.

As far as the rest of the truck.. you'll figure all that out. Only thing I've seen a lot of guys do is to try and keep the stock radiator. Forget that.. get your self a slightly smaller 4 core radiator, move it as far forward as is possible, and get a nice big curved blade e-fan. IMO the fans on a V6 fusion or milan are pretty nice.

Rich

 

I just did my swap and some of the things i had to do is put in an electric fan and an oil filter relocation kit. If you get the kit, try and get the one that has the hoses come off of the piece that screws on to were the filter used to be at an angle instead of straight off. I got the one that comes straight off, then I had to go to home depot to get some 90 degree fittings. Also, when it comes to wiring, all the gauges can be wired, the only one that would be inaccurate is the speedo. And you may have to have your drive shaft shortened. I have the T5 tranny, so the front half had to be shortened 2 inches.