Never put a 2.8L V-6 from a ranger into a 71 Pinto. It would be easier to put a 302 in there. You're probably thinking "why a 2.8 from a ranger?" Well...why not? I was able to get freshly built 2.8 that looks really good and came with a 5 speed from a guy who was going to put it in his MG. Instead he sold it for 400 dollars to me. That was over two whole years ago. And here I am today...there is no exhaust on earth that will fit the thing, save manifolds. But that's not the only problem I had. Things like moving the radiator, cutting valances so it would fit, remote oil filters and cutting out inner fenders so that they can go somewhere. Transmission brackets, off set air cleaner bases, hood clearance. Had to cut out more engine compartment sheet metal so the alternator would fit. Which is a trick in itself, having to make a custom bracket and then getting the belt on there. Of course exhaust...How about having to get an oil pan and pick up from a Pinto with a 2.8 and having to bolt that on to the engine. Then there was the rerouting of brake lines, and I think my personal favorite of all time- Converting to Hydraulic clutch. That was fun, and I now have a billet aluminum master cylinder for the clutch where my windshield wiper motor used to be, and a few holes in the fire wall form failed attempts to make other ideas work. Drive shaft had to be shortened, wires had to be re-done, battery was moved to the trunk, no more hood latch so we use hood pins. Did I mention I had to move the radiator? And who knows what else I’m leaving out.
It has been fun though. It seems kind of pointless...but hey, it's been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I'm a little angry that an exhaust system is going to cost 500 dollars just for header work, and I’m thinking that I might as well make my own... Anyway, to all the sane, rational people here...don’t put a 2.8 in a pre 74 pinto. Thank you for your time.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that was the definition of hot rodding- making something fit where it wasn't supposed to.
If you can gas weld or have small wire in a mig, you can make your own headers, but it might take a while. We made a set for an olds 455 in a chevy pickup in high school. It helps if you have access to a bender. Otherwise buy some mandrel bends from summit/napa/wherever, cut and weld, cut and weld. If you really don't have much space in there it may be worth it to have someone else weld them up for you.
QuoteI think my personal favorite of all time- Converting to Hydraulic clutch.
I really need to take pictures of mine. It's not that bad and I used a factory ranger master cylinder and some of the plastic hose. I will machine fittings for the master & slave cylinders to allow the use of a braided line soon.
It really wasn’t so bad once I figured out what it was I wanted to do as far as the clutch goes. The tranny has the ranger slave cylinder, but I couldn’t get the ranger master cylinder to work no matter how hard I tried. I tried to do a reverse mount under the dash, but that proved to be somewhat problematic. The overall biggest problem I had was getting the line and fittings to work. I finally cam across a universal clutch master cylinder that used compression fittings and a nylon tube. The fittings compressed on to the nylon and then threaded into the slave and master cylinder. It was simple, really. I found about 6 ways it wouldn’t work before I finally won the battle, though. Never give up, kids. Be smarter than the parts.
Reverse mount under the dash is what I did & ya there's very little room for error. The hydraulic reservoir is still mounted to the top so I have to remove the speedo cluster if I had to fill it back up. Then you have the windshield wiper arms that just skim the reservoir.................did I say it wasn't that bad????