5/6 � This weekend the engine finally went in. The first thing I needed to do was drill new holes for the V-8 engine mounts. They need to be drilled further back and up then the original mounts. The brake line that ran along the cross member was beginning to crack, so I needed to bend up a new line. Its kind of fun once you get the hang of it.

Here are some pictures of the engine going in. I had to remove the carb spacer in order for the hood to clear the air cleaner, even with the 3-inch body lift. I also modified the shift lever to accept the B&M shift cable. The new shifter came with a bracket and a new shift lever arm. The old one needed to be cut off.

5/13 � Getting the engine and transmission in the correct place was by far the most difficult part of this swap. The rear sump of the oil pan will contact the front axle bracket if you just bolt the new engine in. I needed to grind some of the bracket, and shim the mounts. Getting the engine straight and level while clearing the bracket and the hood was a real pain. Took a whole day of tweaking and trail and error. Also, the nuts that hold the mounts to the cross member are VERY hard to get to due to the front axle being RIGHT in the way. Even with the wheels off, and suspension at full droop, it took me about 30 minutes per side to get them tighten down. The nuts 9/16th nylon lock nuts, so ever turn takes about 20 ft-lbs. I also mounted a few things in the engine compartment such as the MSD box.

I received the headers from advanced adapter and I was VERY disappointed. I could have made them in about 20 minutes. They are a piece of 2 1/2 inch pipe welded right to a flange with starter tubes. These headers are made only to fit, with no thought to performance. I am either going to find a set of 1 � inch �shorty� headers from a mustang that will work, or fabricate my own long tubes.

5/15 � When you try and transplant a small block into a Ranger, you will need to relocate the oil filter otherwise it will hit the steering box. The clearances are very tight and the spin on adapter must be orientated in a certain way in order to get the fitting on. The only place I could find to mount the remote filter was on the passenger side frame rail.

I also mounted the B&M transmission cooler in front of the radiator.