Small truck, V8. It’s a wonderful combination. What’s better is when the factory more-or-less offers up a do-it-yourself conversion kit to make that dream come true! When Ford started shoving 5.0L V8s into Explorers in 1996, what had already been the Family Wagon of the Decade suddenly became …dare we say fun? A 302 where it doesn’t normally belong is always a great idea, and to take on the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.9L V8, the Windsor got called back into action one last time, paired off with an overdrive automatic. It wasn’t blistering performance, but it was healthy. More important, however, is that owners of Ford Rangers suddenly had every part they needed to turn their little pickup into something much more special…provided, of course, that they found a donor vehicle first. Such is the case with this 1993 Ford Ranger, which benefitted from the parting out of a 1999 Mercury Mountaineer. Check out this thing’s build list:
Engine 5.0 v8 GT40 heads
factory steel headers
New Motorcraft belt, plugs, wires
New oil pump and pickup tube
New dual sump oil pan with stainless steel stud kit and oil filter relocation kit
New gaskets – valve covers, timing chain cover, lower and upper intake, exhaust
Cleaned and rebuilt fuel injectors
New pcv valve, cooling hoses, motor mounts
Painted block, heads, lower intake, upper intake, throttle body, accessory brackets
Exhaust is factory headers, no catalytic converters, 2.5 inch pipe from headers back, duel Flowmaster 40 Series mufflers, 3 inch stainless tips
Driveline professionally shortened and balanced
Rear axle painted 31 spline, disc brakes, limited slip
B&M differential cover, new fluid
New brake hoses, calipers, rotors, and fluid
Rear sway bar is the original from the 96 Mountaineer
Transmission is out of a 98 or 99 Mountaineer
New output shaft seal, speed sensor, painted silver, transmission mount
Front sway bar is a Belltech 5445 1.25″
Front suspension and brakes
New calipers, rotors, hoses
All new suspension bushings
Body modifications:
Front fenders, hood, grille 2010 Ranger
Bumper from a 2006 Ranger
Grille is custom made from an F150 grille
Fiberglass visor
3rd brake light / high mount stop lamp molded in from Chevy Malibu
Custom made taillights
Headlights are Hid and have been blacked out
Front corner lamps have been blacked out and custom made with LEDs and have turn signals built in
Stereo
Alpine CD head unit
Phoenix Gold XS2300 amplifier
2 Rockford Fosgate 10″ shallow subwoofers
Custom fabricated steel diamond plate and bedlinered subwoofer box
Good luck building that under a Rough Start budget! There’s still a bit of work to be done…you’ll need to get a new windshield and you probably should get new front coil springs, which have been calling it quits under the weight of the Windsor. But for $4,500, you surely can get that taken care of in short order, right?
Half-assed looking for a donor for my 1990 pile. Wish it was a pre-1992 truck. 26 years later, the bubble body still makes me ill.