sm420 in a ranger using a 700r4 adapter

[RockRanger]

Ok hear me out on this and tell me if you see any problems with this i am over looking.

Advance adapters makes the 700r4 adapter that will basically make the back of a 4.0 look like a gm 2.8 motor correct?

Also a jeep 4cyl motor from a yj (maybe even the six) share the same bellhousing bolt pattern as GM 2.8 motor.

By using a bellhousing and clutch parts off of an s10 with a 2.8 and a 5 speed you can bolt an sm420 to a jeep 4cyl motor. The s10 YJ and ranger use hydro clutchs so that should be easy to resolve.

Then because you can bolt it to a 4cyl jeep motor you should be able to bolt it to a gm 2.8 motor.

Then because you can bolt it to the gm 2.8 motor you could use the 700r4 adapter and bolt it to ford 4.0 motor.

The for the tcase you can use any of the hundreds that get swapped into jeeps allthe time behind the sm420.

So what am I overlooking that would make this not possible?

 

[tdavis]

Is the AA adapter a plate, or a bell housing?

If it's a plate, it should work.

I haven't looked at it, so yes, it's a stupid question.

 

[410Fortune]

have you called AA on this?
Way to think outside the box, again, as per usual

 

[Brian1]

Are you planning on driving the ranger around town or to/from the trails? IMO I wouldnt want to run a 420 very much on the pavement for a few reasons. 1st, 1st and 2nd gear are a ***** to shift into because they dont use synchros. I dunno, could just be my sm420 but I doubt it. 2nd, you would only really have 3 forward gears. You wouldnt need the 7:1 on the street. Highway crusing RPM could be effected. Also be aware that new parts are very rare and hard to find. You can get new gaskets from Novak adapters and probably Advanced Adapt. also.

On the other hand the sm420 is a sweet tranny to use for crawling because the case is bulletproof and it has the 7:1 1st gear. That is why I run it in my jeep, well that and it is really short. I run a dana 300 behind my 420.

I think the 420 in a ranger would be very cool so if the reasons above dont bother you do it!!

 

[RockRanger]

Well my ranger isnt a daily driver. It will see some street time to and from trails till I get the money for a trailer. Mostly I just kind of randomly thought of the idea when I saw a thread on pirates about the sm420 in a jeep and how it was done and it got me thinking. I already have a np435 I am going to try to swap into my ranger anyway, it was just a random thought and was trying to see if anyone saw something blatent I was over looking. Maybe down the road I will investigate it more if I cant get my 435 to work in the ranger.

 

[Jefe]

I read this two days ago and couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't work, but on rethinking. . .
The 700R4 adapter will definitly get you to the correct bellhousing bolt pattern if what you say is correct. The problem comes with the other half of the adapter. With the 700R4 you have an adapter that couples the 4.0 flexplate to the 2.8L torque converter. With a manual transmission I'm pretty sure this adapter would be useless, and so you'd have to come up with a way to bolt the 4.0 flywheel (so the starter still functions) to a clutch assembly that would properly mate with the trans. With a lathe and the proper dimensions it could be done, as the bellhousing adapter adds room for adapting, just takes a bit of work. Would be easier than trying to fit the NP435 though, as matching the trans case to the engine is the hard part and requires precision, not to mention the size of that thing.