Ranger Engine Swap?

[Rick_101]

My '89 Ford Ranger, 4X2, Five speed manual trans, 2.9 engine has a rod knock. My original thought was to go through the trouble of putting a 302 in. However, I was informed by the Nevada DMV that it is a violation to swap an eight into a vehicle manufactured with a six cylinder engine. According to them, the fact that a 302 was installed was an automatic emissions failure
( with no consideration for how clean it ran.)

OK. I looked around for a good 2.9 in the salvage yards. They were all in worse shape than my engine.

Fair enough- I checked for rebuilt engines. The cost is prohibitive.

While searching the net I found a site that described a swap to a 4.0. It seems the wiring is not difficult to accomplish. Of course one has to use the computer to match the engine. There are several available locally, the price is right, and the ones I checked were in good condition.

There was some dispute as to weather the original transmission could be used. Are there any other problems I should know about?

Anyone know about this swap? Is it as straight forward as it sounds? .... And why is a 3.0 not an equally good option?

I really need help on this. Thanks in advance for your input.