Project  281  Ranger.
The goal here is to take the 4.6 DOHC from a '94 Lincoln Mark VIII and stuff it into the engine
bay of a '98 Ford Ranger. Why? Well, the Ranger needs more pep than the 4 cylinder can provide. Also, Ford's DOHC V8s are just plain cool looking, kinda Boss 429ish. Besides,
I already happen to have one. The 4.6 pushes the Mark down the road pretty good with 3.08
gears in the back. The Ranger with 3.73s and Trac-lok should be a blast.

The 4.6 runs good so it's just getting a clean-up, no rebuilding or performance upgrades. It's
going to be enough work getting it installed and the bugs worked out without having to worry about other changes. Besides, if things go real bad I won't have big bucks invested in it.
Here's the 4.6 still in the Mark. I've done alot of measuring and it should fit in the Ranger
without too much trouble. The AC system will be removed. It would take more modifying
than it's worth to me and it will save a little weight up front. The steering shaft/left exhaust manifold is going to be an area of concern. I won't know how bad it will be until I start bolting things together. The brake booster might touch the left valve cover, we'll see. The coil
packs and power steering resevior may need to be relocated.
Just to give you an idea of how big these engines are. It's a good thing the block and heads are aluminum. From the info I've found, this engine weighs just a couple pounds less than
a 351.
I guess you can call this the official start of the project. The 4.6 is out of the Lincoln and on
the garage floor. I thought it would be easier pulling the engine without the trans, wrong! I
spent 12 freakin' hours pulling this thing and I still need to extract the trany.
The 4.6 is all stripped down and almost cleaned up. Found the water pump had just started
leaking so it will be replaced. This is how the engine will be for fitting into the Ranger.
After finally getting heat in the garage I've been able to work on the project again. Here's the
Ranger's engine bay just before starting the removal of the 4 banger. I plan to remove every-
thing from the engine compartment before trying to install the 4.6 .
The first test fit of the 4.6 and I already found something that needs to be changed. The
Mark VIII oil pan has a nodule on the passenger side that hits the lower control arm mount.
I'll have to see if this can be removed or buy a pan for a Cobra Mustang (no nodule).
I have the engine and trans located the same as the 2.5 was, about 1" offset to the
passenger side. This has really helped a bunch. Click on the link to see how everything
turned out.
The new motor mount brackets. Not the prettiest things in the world but they'll work. I
made them from scrap 1/4" steel plate. They mate the 4.6 to the Ranger's 4 cyl mounts.
Since the Mark VIII's EEC-IV computor won't work with the Ranger's ECC-V guages I needed
to come up with a solution. I decided the cheapest way to do this would be to graft the
Mark's guages into the Ranger's cluster. It doesn't look too bad and retains all of the Mark's
functions..
I lucked into a solution for the steering shaft. The middle section of steering shaft from a
'96 Crown Vic mates to the Ranger's rack and the stub coming through the firewall. It also
comes with a support bearing  that I'll mount to the firewall.
These are the headers I picked up. They were from a crashed '97 Cobra and cost $75,
cheap enough to cut up and reweld to fit the Ranger.
The driver side header cut, rewelded, and installed. I'm turning them into midlength tri-Ys.
Not too bad for a first timer using recycled tubing. Some header wrap and they'll look much better.
The exit end of the header. I still need to put a collector on it. They won't flow near as good
as four tube headers but they'll be better than stock manifolds.
The passenger side header wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I still need to extend the
one tube down to where the collector will be.
The steering is basicly done. Except for the plate and small piece of tubing it was put
together using all factory parts. The upper shaft is from a '95 Mazda B series (Ranger)
pickup, the lower shaft and support bearing are from a '96 Crown Vic.
Happened across a pair of buckets and console from a '97 Explorer while looking for other parts. They're the right color and for $60 I couldn't pass them up.
Rolled the Ranger out of the garage to clean the engine bay. Decided to wash the whole
thing and snap a picture. Aside from different wheels/tires and a tonneau cover this is how
it will look when it hits the road.
Got the 8.8 swapped in. Still need to do the brakes and stuff. Also dropped the gas tank today. It's going to be moved to inside the rear of the box along with the battery.
I came across this intake and just had to have it. It's a prototype that was cast in 1993. There's no Cobra emblems on this intake, I kinda like that. I'm adding more work to the
project, but there's some things you just have to do.
I had purchased a complete overhaul kit and shift kit with the intent of rebuilding the Mark VIII
4R70W but the broken springs trashed the case. I picked up another trans from the U-pull for $84. It's from a '97 Cougar wth 66K miles. It looks really good inside so it's just getting the
shift kit. Saves me alot of work.I'm going to use the bad case during all the test fitting, it'll
be nice and light once it's gutted.
The HVAC box has been turned into just a heater box. It's made out of HDPE so I cut it up
and plastic welded it back together. I'm happy with the way it turned out.
The Explorer V8 radiator has been dropped down and tucked under the core support. The
Mark VIII's fan is almost a perfect fit when turned sideways. Cooling souldn't be a problem,
the Explorer radiator is bigger than the Marks.
Picked up another 4.6 to have as a spare. It's also from a '94 Mark VIII. If all goes well, it will
be used in a future project.