Greetings everyone

[Frederic Breitwieser]

>I am planning on dropping a 5.0 litre motor in my '89 Ranger and was
>wondering if anyone has, or know anyone that has done it. I'm going to go
>EFI and could use any suggestions, comment or experience, as I plan for the
>conversion.

A friend of mine did this to his 90 Explorer (I assisted), and it was a
one-weekend swap.  He purchased a kit containing brackets adaptors, that
sort of thing from one of the advertisers in "Off road" or something like
that, grabbed a running 5.0L from a Mustang, and put it all together.
Aside from the bracketry, which you get as a kit, this is what else was
needed:

1. 5.0L engine <G>
2. Appropriate ECM from donor car
3. ECM --> engine harness

He chose, for simplicity, to use th Mustang's acessories, like PS pump,
Alternator, etc, because they could be swung in with the engine, but also
because it make bracketry easy - even though the acessories were probably
close in size, mounting, etc, it would have been more effort to make brackets.

He also changed the steering rack, to get a more close-ratio steering (from
the Mustang), however the steering geometry is off a little bit when the
wheel is at full lock, but not unbearable.

The radiator was moved forward slightly, he cut into the mounting brace
along the bottom, spot welded on new mounting clips, and moved it forward.

It wasn't that bad of a swap actually...  Last year he grafted the Mustang
6-speed (its a 2WD Explorer) manual in, which is a pretty nice setup.


Frederic Breitwieser
Bridgeport, CT 06606

Homebrew Automotive Website:
http://www.xephic.dynip.com/

1993 Supercharged Lincoln Continental
1989 HMMWV
2000 Buick-Powered Mid-Engined Sports Car