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460 big block ranger.

47K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  sparker91ranger 
#1 ·
Hey ive been kicking around the idea of a early to late 80's ford ranger 2wd regular cab short bed to put my 460/c6 in. I have a 93 forx body i was gonna do. but Due to previous owner REMOVING ALL the cars wiring. id just rather sell the shell for a couple hundred bucks and find a ranger. Ive LOOKED and googled and searched some more about the ranger swap. i didnt really come up with anything. i just finished a 302 swap in my dads lifted 88 ranger. that was actually easy. SO any and all INFO ,advice ,PICTURES, would help. like what pan can i use? what for mounts. and it looked like im gonna have to go custom headers. but will my stock cast iron manifolds work? MY 460 is out of a 78 ford/delta 25 footish motor home.
 
#3 ·
Hey buddy. I seen the site. Is that ur truck?! thats soo cool! im staying carb.its easier for me. WHAT mounts did you use? i seen that the ones u got off ebay u thought might have sat the motor to high? did u make custom ones? and what for oil pan did you use? And your trucks a long bed isnt it
 
#4 ·
The mounts are BB to fox body pedestals with a 1" spacer on the driver's side. The rubber isolators were not used.

Oil pan -> truck rear sump. Same pan as used in a fox conversion.

Yes it is a long bed.

There are several guys on here with BB Rangers. Maybe they will chime in and add their swap info too.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The oil pan is the same "rear sump pan" that would be used in the mustang. You can use exhaust manifolds if you notch the passengerside frame rail and don't mind givining up some horsepower. Headers would have to be custom fenderwell headers. Either cut the firewall to move the engine back, or cut the radiator suport to move the radiator forward. Install traction bars or ladder bars to eliminate wheel hop. I broke two U-joints because of wheel hope and bent a leaf spring. I think a long bed truck would help with wieght distribution and handle better. I made solid motor mounts for my truck.

My 84 long bed Ranger with a 501 stroker went low 12's at 111 Mph with open exhaust manifolds, then 11.4 at 118 Mph with small tube headers. Maybe with a smaller engine the difference wont be as much. At first it had a stock shortblock 429, with a Lunati Special Purpose Solid cam, Stealth intake, Mild DOVE heads, Exhaust manifolds, 2.5" full exhaust with thrust turbo mufflers, 3.55 gears, 750 double pumper Holley, and ran 12.5's at 108mph. Now it has the pump gas 501 with Victor heads, Torquer II intake, 850 double pumper, 284 comp solid roller cam, C4 transmission, 3000 rpm convertor, 4.10 gears, 31x14.5x15 Et streets, and runs 10.57 at 124 Mph open headers and 10.62 through Magnaflow mufflers:D. I still drive to the track evertime I race it. I have it in the Car Build up forum if you want more details about it. http://www.460ford.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131002
 
#6 ·
ok so oil pan, and mounts. and ill just knock of the tranny mounts and slide it where i need it. will i need a custom driveshaft? and im not looking to modify the fire wall. and i seen on bigblockrangers site. he got an idea from this forum on how to drill and tap the oil filter house just so i can run adapters and hose. to a remote filter housing. any insite on that?
 
#7 ·
Oh and yea i know a long bed would be better. but this is just a street toy. and the occational pass down the 1/4. and i just like the looks of a short bed. i had a long bed 94 ranger but it was bagged and all that happy crap and i didnt like it. just looked weird to me.
 
#9 ·
On mine I moved tranny x-member brackets to the forward holes and used a truck C-6 with the ranger tranny bushing to locate the engine and trans. I used hockey pucks to get a 1 inch body lift this really made a huge difference in how the manifolds fit. I had ladder bars with coil-overs and a narrowed nine inch in the back of mine. With a mild pump gas 466 I ran consistant 12flats. There are several ways to get them in there. I moved my radiator forward on my 86 because with mine set back tight to firewall I still had 75% of the weight behind the centerline of the front axle and couldnt see it being worth the effort to mod the firewall. I had a custom driveshaft made for mine but I think it was close to stock length fox body driveshaft. I made my mounts out of left over square tubing and flat-stock.
 
#11 ·
hey thanks for all the info guys. Yea like i said i have an 1978 460 wtih a c/6 out of a motorhome. the front end looked like a van. The hump of the oil pan is towards the rear. would this work? and ill search around for a oil filter location kit. ANd i do have a fox body drive shaft laying around! and im thinking of making my own motor mounts.Just dont know where to start or how to go about doing it. I got the welding skills and materials.OH and with the 1inch hockey pucks, did it make the truck look lifted? Lol. I want mine low and mean.i dont mean like scraping. but like a 12" rear tire sort of tucking in the rear.Any Pictures of home made engine mounts or there swaps to help me along? email them to Novassloss@hotmail.com. Yes nova ss loss. My first car 69 nova ss. 454 4spd.. i miss that car. thanks josh
 
#12 ·
Here are a couple pics of mine cant really see the mounts too well but might give you some insight. The 1 inch body lift was not noticeable by most people just created some much needed clearance.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Pickup truck


Auto part Vehicle Fuel line Engine Car


Auto part Vehicle Family car Car


Engine Auto part Vehicle Motor vehicle Car


Engine Motor vehicle Vehicle Auto part Car
 
#15 ·
If it is the 6 quart rear sump but some had a huge 8 or 9 quart pan. As far as the 4wd ranger is concerned it will most likely need some axle swaps to solid axles if you want to do any kind of wheeling.
 
#16 ·
Yea i dont know what for oil pan quart wise mine is. the hump on the rear of the pan isnt HUGE. the worst that can happen is set it down in and see if theres clearence issues. But I definitly donw want to make headers. ill just use manifolds for now. and try to lift the cab an inch or so. Im gonna make up some brakets and try to slide the rad under the upper support on the rad support. to make the room it needs. But id like some more inside on motor mounts.Like i seen that the passenger side i think it was on BIGblockranger had an inch spacer on mustang 460 swap mounts. is this because the crossmember isnt level?
 
#18 ·
DAMNIT ALL TO HELL! lol. i got the bottom picture i think. But in all honesty. if i put a mild cam, decent intake, and tune the carb good. will this be a fun street truck?i want something when i tramp the gas pedal u can feel theres something there. theres this "circuit" deal up here. where all theses yound meaning 16 1/2 years old and up with there fat can imports with a 5" tach thinking there the S*it from redlight to redlight. I mean u cant mistake a cammed Big block. the ground pounds, but these kids up here dont know any better. lol. i just wanta have fun. and if i need to drive to the store itll be a fun ride there. i just wanta get it in, running then mod the hell out of it. mini tube it, stroke it, and i know, i know, play with an ALL EBAY DIY single Turbo kit.
 
#19 ·
I drove my 86 around for 2 years on the street with chrome baby moons on all four corners 15x7's on front and 15x8's on rear with 225/70/15's up front and 275/60/15's out back with stock length 67 mustang 9inch and the factory ranger leaf springs and slapper bar and even with the air cleaner sticking through the hood people still wanted to have a little stop light to stop light battle. At that time I had a mild 2500 stall and 3.50 gears but it was still fun ride I drove it 45 minutes to the dragstrip every 3rd weekend and ran consistant 13.10's @ 118mph all day long on the BFG street tires. Not blazing fast but fun and reliable.:D
 
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