I have seen generally what people are doing when swapping a V8 in is taking a similar year explorer 5.0 and dropping it in on the stock engine mounts. That sounds all well and good but I had a few questions on this as I couldn't find it from my research. What I want from this 5.0 swap is to keep my ranger as stock as possible, I want it to look like nothing even was changed (visually obviously). So hear are my questions:

Can I keep my stock gauge cluster?

I have a 4x4 switch in my ranger, if I swap in an engine and trans from an all wheel drive explorer, does that make it so it is now all wheel drive? If so, is there a way to keep it like stock?

Can I keep the OE drive shaft or is an upgrade necessary?

Every swap I've seen so far is for a automatic, is this swap possible in stick shift? If so does it slot right in like in the automatic?

Each picture of the engine after looked like everything was in place, but is there any amenity from the engine such as A/C that won't fit/ work?

I'd appreciate any help thanks.

 

Depending on your year, you can keep everything looking and functioning like stock. My 99 is a factory automatic and I'm using the original shifter, air conditioning controls, gauges, etc. You can source a transfer case from an F150 that works with your stock 4wd switch. On the transmission side, you should be able to acquire a 4.2 V6 M5OD-R2 with the shifter in the same location as your current one. You'd need to get the computer programmed to remove the automatic functions to keep it happy.

 

Sorry I forgot to specify, I also have a 99 with a stock manual transmission, does the same transmission exist in manual or do I need that one only to disable the automatic part. Sorry if I don't understand I'm a novice with auto work.

 

If you were to switch to an automatic you could use the one from your donor explorer. For a manual you'd need the 97-03 F150 manual that I mentioned above.

This project isn't exactly difficult, but there's a lot of individual things to it that you have to keep track of or it gets overwhelming in a hurry. Read obsessively. Gather parts slowly as you are confident of what you need. Take tons of good notes and pictures as you do, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Where are you located? You might also get lucky and have someone nearby that can show you their work as well.

 

Hampstead, NH. I see a lot of rangers on the road around here so maybe there might be someone. Thanks for the help.

 

A lot of helpful info here

https://therangerstation.com/tech_li...er_ranger.html