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Old 04-28-2008, 11:50 AM   #6
lownslow95
TST Ruined My Life!
 
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Eastern Shore Maryland
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2011 Lancer GTS

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Cooling:
Radiator - You will have to upgrade to a larger radiator. Most Ranger radiators are 2-core. You should swap in a radiator from an Explorer 5.0 Explorer or purchase a 4-core radiator from Advance Adapters Part NO. 716683 or James Duff Part NO. 3630. I use a Griffin aluminum radiator that measures 27-1/2x19 inches and is about 2 inches deep. I had to cut away a great deal of the radiator support and fabricate new mounts/supports. I have also seen a 351W powered Ranger using a International Scout radiator.

Fan - You may be able to use a mechanical fan and still have 1 to 1-1/2 inches of space between the fan and radiator. If you get the radiator tucked in under the radiator core support you will have a few more inches for fan clearance. If using a mechanical fan, remember to use a shroud. The shroud will greatly improve the fans ability too cool. If you choose to use an electric fan you should use the biggest one that will fit on the radiator. Mount it on the engine side if there is enough room and use it as a puller fan. I would recommend two 12-inch fans so that the electric fan motor will not be directly in front of the water pump. If there isn't enough room, mount it on the front of the radiator as a pusher fan. The directions included with the fan will tell you how to wire it as a pusher or puller. You should use a fan rated at least 1200 CFM. Advance Adapters suggests a minimum of 950 CFM. The stock water pump places the pulley close to the radiator. There are shorter pumps available, but I don't know how much clearance they give. You might want to use one and still use an electric fan for plenty of clearance. Remember that everything flexes while off-road.

Water Pump - Ford Motorsports offers two(2) short water pump kits. The first is a short pump for "V" belt drives. Will fit 289/302/351W drivers side outlet and provides approx. 1 1/2" of additional clearance (Part# FOR-M-8501-E351).Must use 3 piece steel pulley kit (Part#FOR-M-8509-N) or 3 piece aluminum pulley kit (Part#FOR-M-8509-P) for proper belt alignment. The second is a short pump for serpentine belt drives. Will fit 289/302/351W drivers side outlet and provides approx.1 3/4" of additional clearance (Part#FOR-M-8501-A50).Kit includes special timing chain cover pump and gaskets. Must use electric fuel pump and 3 piece steel pulley kit (Part#FOR-M-8509L) or 3 Piece aluminum pulley kit (Part#FOR-M-8509-M) for proper belt alignment.

Automatic Transmission:
A4LD

Most Rangers use an A4LD automatic overdrive transmission. If you have an overdrive automatic in a Ranger or Bronco II it's an A4LD. There is no bell housing available to install a V8 to this transmission, and even if you could, these transmissions had durability concerns with the torque from a V6, so a V8 would probably destroy an A4LD in a short period of time.

C4-C5

I strongly recommend using a C-4 automatic transmission and getting rid of the manual. Advanced Adapters offers a tail housing and output shaft to mate a C-4 to your current transfer case. You will have to measure the length of your current transmission and provide the transmission code to order the proper kit. If you have a C-5 transmission you will have to install the bell housing, torque converter, flywheel and valve body from a C-4. It is cheaper to take the output shaft and tail housing off of the C-5 and install them in the C-4. The C-5 was only offered on the Ranger in 1983-85. They're are more commonly found in Bronco II's during this era. There are no special modifications required when installing a C-4 into a 2-wheel drive Ranger. An adapter is also available for the AOD transmission. The C-4 adapters can be obtained from Advance Adapters and James Duff Enterprises. On some transmissions, such as the C4, Ford has used a variety of bellhousings, flywheels, and starters over the years. Whenever you have a choice, use the smallest diameter flywheel and bellhousing available to you to install the V8 into your Ranger. The bellhousing bolts are all ready extremely tight to the firewall. You do need to use the correct starter and flywheel for the bellhousing your using, regardless of which transmission you choose to install. Worth mentioning, 1975-78 Mustang II's with a 302-C4 combination had a special small diameter bellhousing, flywheel, and starter assembly, which fit the Ranger and Bronco II chassis nicely.

J.W. Performance Transmissions makes a ULTRA-BELL bellhousing for the C-4 tranny. It fits 157 tooth flywheel mated to a small block Ford. I purchased one of these for my V-8 conversion. This is a nice heavy duty piece although it is not SFI approved for racing. In my area the factory 157 tooth bellhousings are rare and hard to find. JEG'S offers these at this time for $149.99. JEG'S part #564-92480. (This paragraph submitted by Marc)

If your Ranger was originally equipped with a 4 speed manual transmission and is a 2-wheel drive, a C4 will bolt right into the chassis with the 4-speed transmission mount and cross member. The existing drive shaft will be the correct length as well, but will require a different yoke for a C4 or C5 to install it in your new transmission. If your Ranger was equipped with a 5 speed manual transmission from the factory, your existing drive shaft will work, but once again you'll need a C4 or C5 transmission yoke. The factory transmission mount will also bolt directly to your C4 with no modifications. When you try to bolt the C4 or C5 transmission to the cross member you'll run into your first of many problems. The cross member is further rearward on the chassis on a vehicle originally equipped with a 5 speed. You have two choices for the cross member. You can build a bracket with slots for the transmission mount to bolt onto to and weld it onto the cross member. This bracket is welded to the factory cross member to allow the transmission mount to be moved a few inches forward from where it originally was located. The other choice is to remove the frame brackets for the transmission cross member and relocate them a few inches forward of where they were located.
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You'll lose a large part of those 35 lbs. when you pop out that crotchfruit.
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