Ranger?? Early eighties? I want to slide the 200 in my '80- Fairmont into my '84 Bronco II. I can use the bell from the C4 in the Fairmont to bolt up the stock C5 in the Bronco. I know the length of the engine is a problem, but I know it will fit with some radiator mods. Just would like to find someone who has done it. I have seen posts about "knowing" someone that has done it, but never actually was able to find "the" guy. Thanks
Anyone know someone that put a 200 in a Bronco II or even a
- Thread starter PetesPonies
- Start date
I found something like what you wanting to do. this one is the big six. viewtopic.php?t=54678
as for the smaller one I'd think you are still in for oil pan surgery as well as the usual mount building.
as for the smaller one I'd think you are still in for oil pan surgery as well as the usual mount building.
i know that ranger_gone_straight put a 300 in his. never heard of someone putting a small 6 in there, but if a big 6 fits, you'll likely have less trouble than he did, but not to say it'll be easy
Ranger_gone_straight
Well-known member
4wd Ranger and Bronco II exactly same far as engine compartment, axles, frame. Wheelbase just little shorter on Bronco II.
I never had any Fox body Ford with 200, so dont know if their rear sump oil pan would have to be modified or not. The 300 I used had rear sump oil pan BUT Ford made sump part in from back couple or three inches. I needed it fully back like the GM straight sixes did so it wouldnt interfer with that hinged front axle 4wd Rangers used. The 300 also little wider than any OEM engine in Ranger so had to modify front axle cross piece to allow for wider oil pan. Also the 300 has oil pump on drivers side right where this axle is so had to notch even further to allow for it. The 200 has the oil pump up front so that wouldnt be problem. Not sure if 200 is short enough to allow use of stock radiator placement or not. The 2.8/2.9L V6 radiator should be big enough for a 200.
What I'm saying is putting a 200 in a Ranger/Bronco should be lot easier than putting in 300, but cant guarantee that. I just havent messed with a 200 since I owned a '71 Bronco many years ago. I probably would have went with a 200 or 250 for my Ranger, but finding one in usable condition without a rebuild not that easy anymore. Can still find 300s usable without rebuild.
I never had any Fox body Ford with 200, so dont know if their rear sump oil pan would have to be modified or not. The 300 I used had rear sump oil pan BUT Ford made sump part in from back couple or three inches. I needed it fully back like the GM straight sixes did so it wouldnt interfer with that hinged front axle 4wd Rangers used. The 300 also little wider than any OEM engine in Ranger so had to modify front axle cross piece to allow for wider oil pan. Also the 300 has oil pump on drivers side right where this axle is so had to notch even further to allow for it. The 200 has the oil pump up front so that wouldnt be problem. Not sure if 200 is short enough to allow use of stock radiator placement or not. The 2.8/2.9L V6 radiator should be big enough for a 200.
What I'm saying is putting a 200 in a Ranger/Bronco should be lot easier than putting in 300, but cant guarantee that. I just havent messed with a 200 since I owned a '71 Bronco many years ago. I probably would have went with a 200 or 250 for my Ranger, but finding one in usable condition without a rebuild not that easy anymore. Can still find 300s usable without rebuild.
I put a 200 in a 1988 ranger 4X4 . I have 3 inch body lift so it went pretty easily . Borg warner 4 spd and heavy transfer case . Clutch linkage is challenging . I would think it would be fairly easy if you used an auto trans and dana 20 transfer case. 2 wd would be even easier . You will need to make motor mounts and driveshafts . I put thicker radiator from an explorer so I cut out the radiator support and moved the rad. forward still using stock fan and spacer. one could get by with electric fan and save room. hope this helps .
Ranger_gone_straight
Well-known member
88 str8six":104rgeij said:
I understand that with 3 inch lift, just about anything will fit. But with engine in place does it look like the 200 unmodified oil pan would allow engine to get low enough without the lift. Just curious. With the 300 I had to remove that axle hinge pivot and redesign and fabricate another pivot. I mean I got the 300 to fit without a lift but it took LOT work on both axle and oil pan. The 200 is narrower and oil pump is up front so even if you had to modify oil pan it should be lot easier. At most just moving rear sump part of oil pan back some.
One interesting possibility if the kit is still available, is that the early 5spd used in BroncoII and Ranger with the removable bellhousing could be changed so you can use a SBF bellhousing. The 5spds with bell housing as part of transmission case cant be converted. Now that 5spd is too light duty to use with a V8 or even a 300, but it should be ok with a 200 unless you are hot rodding it. After all the 2.8/2.9 V6 is basically 170 cube inch. The kit also does away with that internal clutch slave and you can use an external linkage. If you went that way, then no change to driveshafts would be necessary. The transfer case that came in the BroncoII and Ranger is heavy duty enough to withstand a 302 so no problem there. The worst problem with those transfer cases is that most of them had electric shift instead of manual shift. The electric shift was royal PITA to deal with after lot miles.
I have to say for way I did my 300 in Ranger, the Wilwood clutch slave was easy and works great by the way. Hard part was redesigning things so I could use a Wilwood master. The OEM plastic master was mounted in awkward place pointed at downward slant. I had to redesign so I could put clutch master up beside brake master. To do this I made an extension to move the brake vacuum assist out away from the firewall enough the clutch master had room. Then of course had to redesign linkage from clutch pedal to new master cylinder.
