Scott B.'s V8 Ranger Conversion

I purchased my Ranger XLT new in September 1993. I ordered it from Ford – even had to wait an extra 2 weeks for delivery due to the floods in the Midwest. After driving the truck for almost 18 years, (including 9 trips across the country) I have put 320,000 miles on the original 4.0L engine and A4LD transmission. The time has come to replace the drivetrain.

The new drivetrain will be a 5.0 L engine (SN95) with an AOD transmission. I am going to run my stock BW1354 transfer case. I have already swapped in a 31-spine 8.8 rear axle.

The objective of the engine build is reliability and reasonable performance. I am looking for 275 – 300 horsepower, lots of torque, and to start every time I touch the key.

I plan to keep the truck OBDI for simplicity, and use my existing column shifter for operating the transmission.

I will detail the engine build here, and the conversion/installation in my build thread. (Starting on page 10, post 192)

 

[Turdle]

Nice. Is that anodized?

 

[Scott B.]

Yes, they are.

They are really too pretty to hide under a valve cover!

They have both a roller trunnion bearing and a roller tip - minimal resistance and no valve stem bending/flexing.

 

[Rick]

Don't cha' love boxes of new go fast goodies? I know I did

Looking good!

 

[Scott B.]

Crankshaft Prep

I did a little work on the crank before it gets ground, polished and balanced.

I removed the cast flashing with a burr, and sanded the counterweights with sanding rolls. I didn't remove a significant amount of material, but did smooth the surface. The smoother surface has less windage, and will carry less oil as it rotates.

 

[Scott B.]

How To

Remove an AOD transmission from a crate when no one is around:

 

[Scott B.]

Shiny!

I spent a little time playing around with the intake plaque.

Not finished yet, but looks so much better than when I got it.

The upper surface (around the Ford logo) is polished, the lower area is blasted and sanded.

 

[Scott B.]

Trial Fit

It will be about here...

 

[Turdle]

It will be about here...

Ummm, hmm, a little to the left

 

[Scott B.]

PCed Parts

I got these back from Jon...

 

[Scott B.]

More Parts

Everything but the wiring harness is here from my recent trip to Summit.

 

[Tbars4]

..When are you going to get some mud on them joints and bead?

 

[Scott B.]

It's on the list.

Feel free to come over and get started...

 

[Scott B.]

Crank Balance

The crank was balanced tonight!

Setup

First spin - need to remove over 100 grams!

Removing weight

Spinning

Done!

 

[gmanpaint]

That's way cool to see in action! Thanks for posting those Scott.

 

[Scott B.]

I fabricated a set of engine mounting plates, and mounted a "spare" small block in the truck this weekend.

(Details in my build thread.)

 

[Scott B.]

Short Block Together!

The short block is together! The cam gets degreed today, and everything should get painted tomorrow (in the warm weather.)

I'll get some pictures tonight, and post tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Scott B.]

Here is the short block.

You can see the H-beam rods. (The original pistons/rods are in the pan below the engine.)

The rest of the engine should be together now, but twice the parts supplier delivered the wrong timing set. Maybe tomorrow...

 

[Turdle]

That looks real good. Nice and stout.

 

[Scott B.]

Progress!

The cam was set up with the degree wheel, the timing cover and water pump installed, the oil pump, driveshaft, pickup and oil pan were installed.

The lifters, dogbones and spider have been installed.

And, it is painted!

 

[Scott B.]

Here, you can the heads sitting on the shortblock.

The valves have been removed to check the seats and to powder coat the heads. I'm going with a glossy clear - got to let the aluminum shine through!