help!
I'm in the market of buying a 73 or older pinto with any engine or trans.(smog exempt in C.A.). I have a 2.9L V-6 and 5 speed manual trans out of a 89 ford bronco on hold at a local junkyard. what modifications, if any, will i need to perform in order to place this package of power into the pinto? i have some notion of the engine bolting right in, because the rangers also came with a 2.3L motor option. dont worry about EFI or anything like that, the 2.9 is carbedwith no electrical engine monitors (i've already done some work to it)
any help is greatly appreciated.
thank-you,
signed,
Bluefordpinto.
GET 'ER DONE!!!!!! :)
IF the 2.9 is carbed, there are a lot of people over at www.therangerstation.com that would be interested in how you converted it.
As far as fit goes, you'll run into trouble in 4 areas that I know of: exhaust, oil pan, clutch linkage and tranny.
The exhaust probably won't be a big deal if you can weld up custom exhaust. The oil pan may be a pain because the pinto needs a front-sump pan and all ranger based vehicles had rear-sump pans. IF you can find a 2.8 pan from a mustang II or Pinto, it should bolt up. Then you'll have to make an oil pick-up tube.
All Ranger and Bronco II manuals have Hydraulic clutch systems. You'll need to snag all of the clutch components from the Bronco II and rig a system on the pinto's firewall. It can be done, but will be a MAJOR PITA.
Last (and the big hang-up) is the tranny itself. IF its from a bronco II, its gonna have a "dummy" transfer case on it or a real transfer case. For some reason, ford put empty tranfer casings on the 2wd bronco II's. In order to get that trans to work with your pinto, you're gonna have to get the output shaft and tailshaft housing from a 2wd ranger tranny and basicly pull the bronco trans apart and convert it over to the ranger 2wd setup. It would be much more simple to get a 2wd tranny from a ranger, and even then you're gonna have to make a custom transmission mount under the car.
Hope that helps a little. And just out of curiosity, does the trans have a seperate bellhousing or is it one-pice with the trans case? I need a trans for my 90 Bronco II and if you wind up not using that one, i may be interested.
-Harry
well, if im gonna use a engine block from a bronco II, i can easily find a trans. from a ranger 2wd. (the local junkyard has lots of them, but only one carbed motor out of the bronco II.) where would this "custom" trans mount be placed at for this to work, rear, mid or front part of the trans.? i dont need exact measurements, but it would give me some idea, to see if i have to use extra support beams, or if i can use ones on the car, and am i gonna need a custom driveshaft? or will a stock one fit? you got the front oil pan right, i knew about that. exaust is no problem, local muffler shop gives me great deal, (for advertising space of course.) and for fire wall modifications, i have cutters, and patience. thanks, ill be gettin this project underway soon!!!!
I took a 2.8 from a ranger/bronco II and put it in my pinto. It does bolt straight in motor mount wise. for the tranny mount, i modified to stock one to work with some welding and simple fab. the biggest problem i had by far was the hydraulic clutch. trying to adapt the stock system to work became a hassle, so after about 50 failed attempts i bought a small Jamar master Cylinder that came with nylon tube and compression fittings and i ended up getting it to work that way bye drilling the fire wall and cutting out part of the inner fender. It's tight, but it works well. I did have to shorten my driveshaft about 3/4ths of an inch. new space in the tunnel had to be made for the shifter also. it sits a bit further forward than the stock one. as far as headers, Edelbrock makes a tubular exhaust system that will bolt straight up to the engine with little to no mods to the engine compartment (maybe a little bit of hammering on the passenger side inner fender) but...in order to them to fit with no problem, the only way to get them to work is to mount them backwards. It would probably be better and easier to go with a different brand or custom made. Those are about the only problems i can think of. Getting the engine in was simple enough for me. I got a pan and pickup from a Mustang II and bolted it up, and then hooked up the motor mounts from a mustang II/pinto and the engine sat in there nicely. Hope this helps a little. Good luck.
2.8 headers won't work on a 2.9. The 2.8 has un-evenly spaced exhaust ports whereas the 2.9 has evenly spaced exhaust ports. Also 2.8 and 2.9 intake manifolds are not interchangeable either. About the only things that will interchange between a 2.8 and 2.9 are the oil pan, oil filter, and engine mounts. Thats about it.
-Harry