~ an idea I have thought about off and on for several years.

The thing that makes planting a V8 in a Ranger the toughest, is the Ranger engine bay (and firewall) were not designed around a V8. A big part of it is that the grill is too close by about 3 or 4 inches. Two other probs are the shock towers and the steering shaft.

A number of Explorers have a firewall and E-Bay designed for a V8 plant, and also a much better chassis overall. To me that kinda points to "ABANDON RANGER" in some ways... But an SUV with a Mustang, Taurus, or some such front end wouldn't look right.

The front "BOX" on a Mustang or Taurus from the firewall forward could be cut and welded to the "BOX" (the structure between the fenders grill and hood, and the engine and firewall) on a Ranger cab or the front half of an Explorer body. Mustang and Taurus have McPherson strut towers that could be or may have to be cut out or adapted... But anyway - that would put the right structure under a front clip from something else to make the fenders, hood, and grill bolt right up while at the same time making a lot more space.

Al of this is long range thinking, of course.

But from the front bumper to the firewall it would be 'Stang, firewall to front seats at least Explorer, from the seats back some kind of Ranger.

I've been comparing 'Stang and Ranger fenders for a while now and the only parts really different are the front and back three inches or so.

A Mustang grill itself is forward sloping, and the "BOX" extends the radiator mounting about 3 inches forward.

They really are pretty close when you look at maybe taking the front parts of the sub-frame and maybe the K-frame from under the engine to transplant to a Ranger or Explorer.

 

Why not keep the pick up, and go mustang II like a street rod?
That eliminates most of the problems

Here is a kit from Heidts
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Mustang-II-IFS-Stock-Control-Arms-Springs-and-Shocks-Dropped-Spindles,22750.html?sku=91034101-4 1/2&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=CjwKCAiAmvjRBRBlEiwAWFc1mNlMnkkGGNGJ1_4njemRJO919oPO1yZSObqGVloxCBGAe2ESFuFRThoC6HsQAvD_BwE

The last 5 street rods that went out of here I built like that
I have 2 here I am building now

 

Having biult a Vega "el-camean-o, I can tell you, a uni body car is not a lot of fun to cut up, and put back together. Then the V8 in there, it just cracks and breaks apart.
Worst project I ever put together. Lucky it didn't kill me

 

Silly questions...
What year/ Chassis/Body Ranger?
What is the application?

 

He has an 80's ranger he already started. I think 88?
He ran into some problems, 1 of which I will solve here after the holidays for him

 

89, that had a four banger. A lot about stuffing a 351W in it was a squeeze-play

It still doesn't add up, I think a lot of it needs new ideas. The gear box for steering is a biggy...


If the new headers drop the pipes out of the way nicely it will help a lot. As it stands, the headers and the steering shaft need the same space

~This is a thing I see in 'Stangs too - the steering gear shaft is spaced away in those box frames so that they have adequate clearance

I need to go next door and take another look, but as I recall stangs do not have steering gear and shaft problems. I need to look at how they are arranged.


If it didn't need a frame under it, it might almost be simpler to cut the trunk out of a Mustang and weld a bed in...


But the target to hit is this:

#ad


WE DO NOT HAVE FALCON UTES in the USA - and I want one of them, or something BETTER!!!


I have said so for a long time, and I mean it


Want to go off the deep end? Imagine a truck with a FORD GT front end...


But the Aussie Falcon UTE was what got me started thinking down this road a long time ago. The obvious American version has to be either a Mustang or GT front




*You can import a Falcon UTE, good luck kitting the steering gear over from right to left hand driving.

 

Mustangs have rack and pinion, with coil spring outside the frame under a cap mounted to the frame.
There is probably an option for the ranger from heidts or fat mans.
#ad

 

Been pondering this because the concept is sound.
As I see it "I" would be better served simply buying a 70-71 Ranchero, then starting with a Ranger and definitely not a Mustang...

 

I've given this a great amount of thought over the years, I'll give you a quick rundown of the results of my research.

All Rangers from 83 to 12 have basically the same frame. Here is why I believe that: First redesign in 93 was the body only. Then a facelift in 98, 01, and 04/05. The cab sheet metal from 93 to 12 are the same, but interiors have obviously been updated.

In 98, the 4x4 front end was updated to a torsion bar suspension. In 01, the 2wd Edge trucks also got torsion bars.

Now, this same era of Explorers were built from the beginning, (88 I think?) till 02. You could get a V8 with the GT40 intake starting in 96. I'm pretty sure the Explorers came with torsion bar suspension with the introduction of the V8. The only outward difference between the 88 and the 96 was front end sheet metal and front suspension.

So understand the Explorers and Rangers got updated sheet metal ~around~ the same time, and the torsion bars ~ around~ the same time. But only the Explorer got the V8. I wonder if Ford intended to put a V8 in the Ranger also, since the same changes were made.

Here's where it gets interesting.

To do a plug and play V8 swap into a 1998 or newer Ranger, with torsion bar suspension, you only need a complete V8 Explorer, then start swapping parts over. Everything bolts up except the driveshaft

That much, I'm sure of.

So, since the frame didn't change, except for the addition of torsion bars, it shouldn't take much to convert your truck's front end to torsion bars. Since you're going full custom anyway, you probably won't need the whole Explorer, just the engine mounts. The 351W is still a SBF, so it should fit.

And while the 93 and up sheet metal is different than yours, going with the 98 and up front end ~might~ give your truck a pre-runner look. It'll probably take some massaging to get it to look okay, but if you were contemplating grafting a Mustang front sheet metal onto it anyway, you'd have to figure out a custom rad support. I'd suggest getting a 98 rad support, and hang a Mustang fender on it just to see how it looks. Just remember, where that rad support fits on the frame, is where it has to go to fit a fully dressed GT40 5.0 engine.

Or I might be way off.

But my plan is to find another Ranger Edge (it would be great if I could find mine and get it back), do the Explorer V8 swap complete with the awd, and let my kids have their fun with it. Then find them a small 13 foot fiberglass trailer to go camping in... Heck, I should just start building a fleet of V8 Rangers and fiberglass trailers. One for my daughter, one for my son, one for me, then a Jeep for my wife.