92 ford ranger inline 4 tranny and engine swap into a 88 ford ranger

[yurpyurpy]

basically I'm here to find out if this is gonna work nicely, I'm sure the engine and tranny will go in fine, I'm mostly curious as to how the wiring will match up to the 88 dash an gauges

 

[RangerX]

Welcome, wait a sec for @410Fortune to see this, I bet he’ll have some good knowledge on this.

 

[yurpyurpy]

Welcome, wait a sec for @410Fortune to see this, I bet he’ll have some good knowledge on this.

dope thx for the welcome

 

[Josh P]

What engine is currently in the 88? It's just as much work to swap in a high achieving engine as it is to swap in a low achiever

 

[410Fortune]

92 4 banger into a 88 will not be a terrible swap. Do you have the whole donor vehicle?

 

[yurpyurpy]

What engine is currently in the 88? It's just as much work to swap in a high achieving engine as it is to swap in a low achiever

it's the 2.9l v6, I'm also looking at a roller 88

 

[410Fortune]

The 92 wiring will not “match up” because the 90-93 trucks use the “big white plug” on the firewall for the wiring connections. The 88 uses several small connectors
the 92 also uses a different power distribution box and some under hood wiring changes between 88 and 92 for the headlights, ignitions, charging system etc

Many who have gone before you have simply swapped everything over to the 88 even the steering column and dash adding the big white plug to the 88
I have done this a time or two

My 88 still has a 88 dash and most 88 firewall wiring, yet I installed a 93 4.0 v6 under hood wiring and now a 97 5.0 drivetrain. The wiring is do able and the information is available

Many ways to get the same result just depends on your goals and abilities as well as budget

 

[yurpyurpy]

The 92 wiring will not “match up” because the 90-93 trucks use the “big white plug” on the firewall for the wiring connections. The 88 uses several small connectors
the 92 also uses a different power distribution box and some under hood wiring changes between 88 and 92 for the headlights, ignitions, charging system etc

Many who have gone before you have simply swapped everything over to the 88 even the steering column and dash adding the big white plug to the 88
I have done this a time or two

My 88 still has a 88 dash and most 88 firewall wiring, yet I installed a 93 4.0 v6 under hood wiring and now a 97 5.0 drivetrain. The wiring is do able and the information is available

Many ways to get the same result just depends on your goals and abilities as well as budget

ok thx, that's very insightful, my goal is to have the 88 dash and the rest be the 92, as much as I would need. where would be the best spot to find the info needed for hooking the two up together?

 

[410Fortune]

eBay!!

Buy the wiring manuals for both 88 and 92

Can be had for $30 or less

The books are all you need to identify each wire and their purpose

Short of this much of the info can be found online

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