As you may or may not know, i'm in the process of putting a early ranger 5 speed in my pinto. Made some discoveries today, and most of them are good.
The 4 speed 2.0 bellhousing fits perfectly over the circular "hump" on the input shaft of the ranger tranny, but the bolt holes don't line up. This can be overcome by drilling 4 holes in the bellhousing and using the trannys front cover bolt holes for the bellhousing.
The ranger trans is barely a 16th of an inch taller than the pinto 4 speed. The output shaft also has the same spline count. This means the pinto driveshaft will work without any modifications.
The 2.0 clutch disk has the same spine count as the ranger trans, so a 2.0 clutch will work.
For the problems:
The shifter will be further forward than the 4 speed's. This will probably be able to be corrected with some bracketry, but I won't be able to tell unti'l I can test fit it in the car.
There is nothing over the input shaft for the throwout bearing to ride on. This can probably be fixed pretty easily.
Stock trans crossmember will have to be modified, but thats no biggie.
So, thats about it. If everything works according to plan this will be a very good swap. These trannys can be found for $20 at junkyards and theres no shortage of them and you don't have to worry with rigging a hydralic clutch, making a 2.3 bellhousing fit your engine, custom driveshafts, etc...
I will post updates when they come along.
-Harry