Howdy ya'll....

Discussion in 'Wet behind the ears??' started by Ohio Hillbilly, Jan 11, 2020.

  1. Ohio Hillbilly

    Ohio Hillbilly New Member

    I'm a fat old man with lots of time on his hands and a need for information. My trusty '97 Ranger finally puked it's guts and needs a heart transplant. Ford engines are out 'cause I don't want to trade one set of problems for another and I want something different. I already got enough belly buttons. Thought about a slant six but I can't figure a way to get one short enough to fit and they're a tad heavy for my taste. Then a 1964 Wildcat 355 popped up on Facecrook Marketplace for 3 Franklins. It's weird enough to fill the bill and it's only 15 pounds heavier than the current lump. It's hooked to a 2 speed auto but I'm gonna need overdrive if I keep the 3.73 gears that's in the truck now. I'm not picky about manual vs. auto trans. Best I can tell I'm gonna need an S10 T5 to get the shifter in the right place (truck's a 5 speed now) but I have no clue how to bolt that trans to the Buick V8. I'm told that my other option is a 200 4R or a 700 R4. Is there a flexplate for either of those trannies with the Buick balance available? What would you do? Bear in mind that the engine is going to need to be as close to the firewall as I can get it if it's gonna have any chance of fitting, so adapters are out. Thanks for the welcome here and thank you for reading this far....
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
  2. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    Welcome to the club. If you wanna transplant Buick, and why wouldnt you, go with a 350 / 455. You;ll find more support and have the most bad assed ranger in town. Many guys here have done off the wall swaps. Me inc.
     
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  3. Ohio Hillbilly

    Ohio Hillbilly New Member

    Where I live, I have a 36 mile round trip to get milk and bread. I traded a V8 CJ5 for the Ranger because I couldn't afford to feed it. I need gas mileage in the 20s or the vehicle is useless to me. I know I can get that from the little Buick because years ago I owned a '65 Skylark until an electric pole decided to lay down one night and the poor Buick wound up with 3 transformers through the roof. The story I was told on the engine I bought was it was rebuilt, installed in a car undergoing restoration, the guy got sick, ran out of money, and parked the car in a field where it sat for 20 years and turned into a rust bucket. I tend to believe it since the engine and the trans is as clean as the day they rolled out of the factory (except for surface rust on sheet metal parts) and the valvetrain is beyond spotless. For $300 I couldn't pass it up. And yes, I'm gonna tear it down, check everything, and reseal it. It may not be all that fast but it will haul my fat ass around and make all the right noises. That alone will make it the most badass Ranger around here....
     
  4. gsfred

    gsfred Founders Club Member

    Welcome aboard from NY. Can't help you with your project, but you came to the right place to get the answers.
    Fred
     
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  5. 2001ws6

    2001ws6 last of the v8 interceptors

    Welcome aboard! Sounds like an intense project. :cool:

    Nice avatar. :p
     
  6. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    Welcome, All you would need is a BOP manual trans bell housing so it bolts to the sbb 300 and bolt that to your trans of choice. Or go with a 200R4 automatic overdrive trans, it will bolt right on to that engine and give you great mileage if the engine is tuned well.

    Just so you know, the Wildcat 355 rating is the foot lbs of torque rating and not the cubic inch displacement, that would be 300 CID.

    Is the engine a 2bbl or 4bbl? And just so you know the 2 and 4 bbl carbs on that year engine the choke works off of coolant that is circulated through the choke so when the coolant heats up the choke opens, just make sure it doesn't leak. Good choice of engine and cool project!
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
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  7. Ohio Hillbilly

    Ohio Hillbilly New Member

    The engine is a 4 barrel with aluminum manifold and heads. Thanks for the tip about the choke, I did not know that. I am leaning towards fuel injection. The truck is already set up for it and it would be a lot easier to install a properly set up engine and run it off a Ford ECU. If I go that route all I would need to interface with the truck is an ECU and engine harness from a V8 Explorer or Mountaineer. I already know of a shop that can do the manifold mods. You send them the manifold and the injectors you are going to use and they send it back with injector bungs and fuel rails installed.

    Just so I understand, you are saying that any GM manual trans will bolt to any GM engine if the bellhousing will bolt to the engine? They all have the same input shaft diameter, input shaft length, and spline count? If I use a BOP 200R4 will the lockup converter bolt up to the '64 flexplate?

    Sorry for the dumb questions but I am not a GM guy. Fixed a boatload of them but I never cared to know the details about them. I did notice that Buicks rarely needed more than brakes, oil changes, tune ups, or mufflers and I didn't see one very often. Full respect was given when I tore down a 3.8 V6 for a rebuild. Damn what a bottom end....
     
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  8. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    I'm not really a manual trans guy so I can't really answer those manual trans questions.

    As for using the flex plate that's on the engine, it should work just fine as long as the holes line up. Just make sure the guy you got the engine from torqued the flex plate to crank bolts, it sucks when they fall out!:eek: (ask me who I know:rolleyes:)
     

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