Ford Ranger 302 Swap Wiring Gremlins and Update

Quick little video on the 302 swap ranger progress. It seems I have to rewire the whole truck, a set back to say the least

[@kendallbrown7370]

I would think wiring a carburetor engine would be fairly simple. I think the main hang up you are having is trying to use the ecm ignition with a carbureted engine. I would bypass the ecm ignition and use a switch for run and a switch to start. Look for vacuum leaks as well.

[@shadytreekustomz6268]

Definitely, wiring is also not my strong suit as well, the main reason I’ve decided to re wire the truck is the previous owner of this truck has really messed up the wiring in more than just that, he’s got a lot of melted wires including one going to the rad fan and fuel pump. I started to trace some and it became apparent quickly that most of this is not worth the effort to save, got a painless American auto wire kit for an f100 I will be using here very soon

[@jimmypopp2695]

How much did you pay for the original ranger? I am paying 700 for a clean ranger that has one rust hole in front of the spring.

[@shadytreekustomz6268]

I paid 2k for this thinking it be a good foundation, after all the stuff I ended up having to redo on it, I think the price was to high, the parts alone of this when I bought it were worth around 1200-1500, that would have been a more fair price. This also had a rotted out rear frame that I fixed with patches. Is that rust hole in the rear on yours? If so if it’s the very back one it’s fairly easy to fix, but I would look at it very carefully, if part of the frame is rusted out, then the body and potentially other frame parts may not be to far. If it truly is just that one part and it’s the rear, and it runs good, then it’s not to bad of a price

[@martygehring6384]

MYY 5.0 83 RANGER HAS SAME COLANT LEAK PROBLEMTELL ME MORE .

[@shadytreekustomz6268]

Can you tell where it’s coming from? If it’s the thermostat housing gasket I highly recommend the mr gasket premium water neck gasket. It leaked every time for me until I got that, $24 but worth it, was very frustrating otherwise. The 302 thermostat housing did change depending on year. The early mustang housings were narrower while the later housings from the 80s were wider. To add to the confusion both housings will bolt up but if you do not match the correct housing to your intake it will leak every time. What year is your intake and vehicle do you know? Or is it aftermarket? Most aftermarket intakes take the early mustang style.