Hey Guys, Name is Lorenzo. I've had my Ranger for a good 7 Years now, just ready to finally do something with the ol' dear instead of buying something new. I'm more of the built not bought guy. So as of now, she's looking pretty rough but plan to change everything in the upcoming year or so. Looking to do a COMPLETE tear down and rebuild of the entire truck. I plan on doing any frame work and body work that arises but that's for later, right now we're still in the planning stages of things before starting anything because I'd really hate to get halfway into something and have to stop and replan. SO Here's the big plan and small back story. My brother recently bought a SN95 and thinks I can't build the ol' dear to be better than his car, he calls her, the "Old tin can" and has stated the phrase "ProjectTinCan.

All in all, here's the plan;
I plan on removing the bed and finish all the body work with that. There's a few dents here and there that need some special attention as well as a new tailgate. The cab has very little body work that needs to be done so not much there except a minor dent in the top of the cab where someone sat at one 4th of July. I will be removing the cab too to finish what I would like to do. EVERYTHING will be removed from the ranger. Engine, transmission, and rear-end will be replaced.

I purchased a 93 Mustang a couple years back and the car has way more body work than what the time and effort is even worth so that's where the transplant is coming from. The 5.0, T5, and drive train will be coming from the donor car as well as ALL of the wiring just to limit the hassle of "Making things work." The rear end I plan on getting and have one ready to pick up will be 8.8/ 31-spline from an Explorer with rear discs. One issue I'm running into is if I will be able to use the driveshaft from the ranger or would purchasing a new one be a better route. After all the research I've done I can't find a direct answer to that. Another big debate is either keeping the 4.10 gears in the rear end that comes with the explorer, or going with the 3.73 ratio for the mustang. The 5.0 SHOULD fit with little fab work, I'm hoping, as well as T5 fitting with little cutting to the floorboard. It will be an auto to manual swap too. Everything should be just body work and making everything fit nicely and as stock looking as possible. Once All the body, engine and drivetrain is complete I will be looking into redoing the interior. That will just be last considering the amount of paint and prep going into the body first.

The interior will be completely revamped since it is all manual, door locks, windows, and mirrors. The XLT trim from the 00-04 should also swap right in with a little alteration here and there for the window regulators to fit and be mounted and some wiring adjustments for the power windows and locks. The gauge cluster will also be replaced with the sport trac version from the explorer as well. Sterring wheel will be replaced along with column since it will be the auto to manual swap.

Everything will be a steady process once I start getting my odds and ends. I would love to hear what you guys have to say or to give any pointers or anything or any more reasonable suggestions. Also, I forgot to mention about ol' dear. she's a 98 Long-Bed work truck. 2WD 3.0. I'm not exactly looking to lift or off road with the truck as you can tell. It will mostly be my cruise around street truck, possibly show truck. So, I'm definitely in need of some feed back for ProjectTinCan. Thanks Guys.

 

Welcome to the forum

5.0l swaps into Rangers are fairly common so loads of info out there

The T5 trans presents an issue because of where the shifter is compared to the M5OD-R1 manual used in Rangers
First thing you need to do is to measure from 5.0l motor mount to the T5 shifter

Then use that to measure from the Ranger motor mount to where the shifter would need to come up thru the floor of cab
I think its between the seats, so............tough placement
You may be able to move the 5.0l forward a bit, using short water pump and electric radiator fan, but there is not much room there

Once you have the transmission position set, THEN you can sort out the driveshaft length, the rear axle placement is the same for ranger or explorer so current axle can be used for this measurement
With the T5 it will most likely need a custom length, so cut and balance current 1998 Ranger long bed driveshaft, as I think the T5 is longer than the 4R44E in the Ranger now, but not sure

The 1997 to 2003 M5OD-R2 transmission is a popular choice for 5.0l swaps, the F-150s with the 4.2l V6 engines used these 5-speeds in those years, and the 4.2l V6 uses same bellhousing pattern as the 5.0l so matches up, the R2 was used on all the V8s of this generation, but the 4.2l V6 is the only one that matches the 5.0l Windsor small block pattern


4.10 ratio is for lower torque range, better for off the line and pulling trailers
3.73 ratio is a mid band ratio, lower RPMs at highway speed for better MPG than the 4.10 but can still pull a load
Best Rear axle ratio is determined by use, what you will use the truck for.

 

Thank you, Thank you. Glad to be somewhere where I can ask questions if I can't find the answer first.

This may sound a bit odd, but I'm kind of digging where the placement for the shifter would end up, I was planning to swap out the seats with bucket seats so there would no longer be a third seat. Mine are completely trashed anyway. Torn too badly for me to want to keep them or get them reupholstered. The main reason for using the T5 is because I already have it, trying to keep the build as cost efficient as possible so if it's one less thing that I'll have to buy, the better lol.

I've already gotten a radiator for performance for the ranger with electric fans but never put it in so that too is going in. (The big fans are a qwerk of mine). My biggest concern was mostly for the driveshaft since it was difficult to find a clear answer. I was thinking I would have to do a little fitting at some point.

The Use of the truck would probably be more for cruising and weekend driving. Pretty much just for show but also have a little vroom if I need it. After all the work I probably wont be doing much towing with it if any at all. SO with that and your response, the 3.73 Gears seems like a better choice for me and what I want to do. In the end, it'll be used mainly for my enjoyment and not work or competition.

Thanks!

 

Not sure you understand where the shifter comes up, its between the seats in a ranger

Picture here of mustang T5 shifter location: http://www.moderndriveline.com/images/T5-Z.jpg

Look at this article: T5 conversion - Ford Ranger Forum

Apparently the Chevy S10 pickup used the T5 for a while and a new tail shaft housing had to be made to get shifter farther forward for pickup truck use

See the difference

Free or not, I doubt mustang T5 shifter placement won't work for you

 

Using the S10 T5 tailhousing isn't recommended by professional transmission builders. I spoke to several professional T5 builders. There are internal oiling issues that aren't easy to solve when swapping them so you may end up with future (lack of) oiling issues that may cause parts to wear out prematurely. There are also issues with the speedo drive between the two housings/output shafts, and the common fix is less than ideal.

The Modern Driveline front shift tailhousing on a brand new T5Z is what I went with in my swap and I can't recommend them enough. With the "MDL front shift, rear socket" housing, the shifter ended up in the stock 1987 Ranger floor location. I also used a billet shifter from MDL that was meant for a Mustang II. It also moves the lever further rearward another couple inches, which was needed with the front shift tailhousing.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably just buy a brand new TKO or a T56 Magnum instead.

The early 90's 5.0 front serpentine setup is pretty slick. Very compact to the block. Much like the Explorer front dress.. I used a 92 Thunderbird EFI engine and front accessory drive, and a Telorvek harness with a Mustang A9P computer.


GB :)