I'll take the OHV 4.0L in my BII anyday. It;s a perfect suit, of course my BII doesnt weigh as much as a 4dr Ex, I know these things are a little "doggy" to say the least, but the OHV is perfect for towing a small boat (like mine) and for four wheeling with 33's (like mine).
Everybody "wants" a EFI 5.0L in their Ex, but unfortunatley it can cost a ton to get one in there and it takes ALOT of time and work, not always possible. After seeing what Joe Dietz went through I;ll stick with my OHV.
I really want to see a early 2wd sport get a 2.3L Turbo, I think that would make a sweet street truck!!! If I was gonna do the 2.3L t into something though I would do a 2wd Ranger, boost teh crapola out of it and surprise just about anything on the road with a 300+ HP Ranger, 4 banger.
Diesel would be nice, but they stink!!!!
BTW the 3.0L is a good engine, the Yahama SHO 3.0L can be mounted in just about anything because it was both FWD and RWD, they use these alot for buildig hot rods. I actually built the wiring harness for a freind in new Mexico who built himself (he;s a machinist) a monster of a 3.0L and put it in a 86 Bronco II, so it;s kinda been done before, just without the twin turbo's. Not runnning yet, I just sent the harness.......
there is also a Ranger that got a 3.8L SC motor from a Thunderbird, thats a great swap!!!! just a little smaller then a 5.0L but the SC makes ita tight fit. The 3.8L SC can be built into a monster as well.....