a/c box

94stranger · Post by **94stranger** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:01 am

yesterday I went to install my a/c box and yea it doesn't work >8(

the top of my box goes right into my throttlebody. so I guess I got to go with out a/c unless anyone has ideas?

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:22 am

I have a suggestion, if you are interested. Use an Explorer elbow on your intake so your TB doesn't butt into the AC Box. Unless you need EGR, I have such an elbow from my 97 Ranger that I'm not using. If you need to maintain EGR, then you'll need a 96 Explorer elbow which accepts the older style EGRs that pull EGR from the intake, not from the exhaust manifold. If EGR is of no concern for you, then any of the 1996-2001 Explorer elbows will work equally as well with the 97-01 elbows being far more common and easy to come by. But I do believe there is an auction right now for a 96 Explorer elbow in eBay. It's not labelled as such. The seller doesn't realize that what he has pictured (the 96 elbow) is different than what came on the 97-01 models. In addition, he doesn't realize that the Explorers that sold in 95 with V8s are actually 96 models because his auction title indicates what's pictured as a 95-01 Explorer elbow. AFAIK, the 1995 Explorers didn't have a V8 option.

Here's a link that gives some pictures of an Explorer elbow I bought a few months ago:
1996 Explorer 5.0L intake elbow

Here's some more info/detail, but is more generic about Explorer motors:
Explorer Motors (very interesting facts about the Explorer 302's evolution)

87ranger · Post by **87ranger** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:39 am

must be fellin better, he's replying

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:45 am

As long as I'm laying down, I feel fine. Getting up to use the restroom requires some discomfort to endure but this is a cakewalk compared to when I broke my ankle earlier this year.

94stranger · Post by **94stranger** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:22 pm

I'm not going to worry about the egr but do i still need it pluged into my mustang harness?
also what else would I need from the explorer motor?
just the elbow?
then everything will bolt up to it?

cjcnomor4 · Post by **cjcnomor4** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:43 pm

heres what i did

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z201 ... 010117.jpg
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z201 ... 010116.jpg

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:53 pm

94stranger · Post by **94stranger** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:24 am

that what I tried to do and it didin't work the top corner where the metal line comes out is where it hits the throttle body. I think your truck is newer then mine your box looks slanted where mine comes straight out.

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:37 am

Very perceptive. You are right. In 95, the design of the Ranger engine bay was updated to locate the AC evap further to the passenger fender well which gives at least an inch or two more room than the 94 and earlier engine bays. The inlet of air is moved over AND the evap is angled to give even more room. Additionally, the 95 engine bays don't require notching of the AC Box to give valve cover clearance for the same reasons.

The Explorer motors use a tight-turn elbow to give better clearance around the AC box. But there are plenty of people who use the typical Mustang TB inlet setup on pre-95 Rangers. Perhaps Malcolm can post some pics of his Red Ranger engine bay as a reference.

MalcolmV8 · Post by **MalcolmV8** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:54 am

I used the Explorer elbow in both the 92 and 94 Ranger. Worked great. I'll look for some pics when I have a chance, there probably some on the site already, just have to find them.

Malcolm

cjcnomor4 · Post by **cjcnomor4** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:21 pm

if you use an elbow try for a 96- early 97 piece. you can use a mustang style egr/evp. you wont be able to use stock HO valve covers without modifing the oil fill tube or using a spacer between the upper and lower intake.

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:39 pm

cjcnomor4 wrote:if you use an elbow try for a 96- early 97 piece. you can use a mustang style egr/evp. you wont be able to use stock HO valve covers without modifing the oil fill tube or using a spacer between the upper and lower intake.

I see you concur with my original suggestion.

And BTW, there's an eBay auction still going for a 96 Explorer elbow. It ends in 7 days. I've considered picking it up as a spare for myself since they are proving to be rare to come by. However, as I said earlier if maintaining the EGR is not a high priority, any Explorer elbow will work in which case I have a spare laying around.

You can also buy the phenolic spacers from eBay for a fairly reasonable price.

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:40 pm

I found Malcolm's engine bay pics that show his 92 Ranger's use of a 97 or newer Explorer elbow:Malcolm interior pic?????

All the AC lines are not yet connected, but you can clearly see that the elbow makes the tight turn avoiding the AC lines and evaporator. Here's the most relevant of the pics:

BTW, the guy on eBay selling the 96 Explorer elbow also has the Explorer valve covers too. If you used the elbow and Explorer valve covers, you wouldn't need the spacer.

94stranger · Post by **94stranger** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:09 am

see on the pic of malcoms truck (bottom pic) he doesn't have the antifreeze lines that warm the throttle body like the mustang's intake does, also is it a different location since he has an edelbrock intake?

can I eliminate the spacer on the intake or will it srew it up?

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:22 am

The spacer is an EGR spacer and can be removed if you plan to not use the EGR. If you use an Explorer elbow, the EGR provision is built into the elbow in which case you'd remove the stock GT EGR spacer and use the elbow mounted right to the intake as you see in Malcolm's pics.

As for whether the spatial location of the mounting surface is different on stock or aftermarket upper intakes, my guess is that they would have to be very close to the same WIHTOUT the EGR spacer or they would have problems being a replacement but a difference of +/- a few mm would probably not be a big deal.

This has been a good topic for me because I've often considered replacing my stock Explorer intake with a BBK SSI intake. It' has a built-in EGR spacer that's made to locate the EGR valve under the intake instead of using a spacer which takes up space as noticed above. However I've often wondered if I'd need to maintain the Explorer elbow to avoid issues with the AC box since they are close. The Explorer elbow has a 65mm radius which matches the stock Explorer 65mm TB. However if I ever "needed" a 70mm setup, the elbow would prove to be a restriction. My only option, short of porting out the elbow, would be to replace the stock Explorer 65mm TB with an aftermarket 65mm TB which does have higher flow characteristics...impressively higher, but still not as good as an aftermarket 70mm. Sorry to tangent the topic, but I'm sitting at home bored and thought I would stimulate more discussion.

But for discussion back on topic, I emailed the guy on eBay that's selling the elbow. It is a 96 Explorer elbow (the preferable one if you are wanting to maintain EGR). However it doesn't come with any of the mounting bolts or the throttle cable bracket, so you would have to duplicate the efforts Malcolm did in these pics to get a Mustang-style TB to work on this elbow. You can get the long bolts from anywhere that sells fasteners...no big deal there. In addition, he also has Explorer valve covers for cheaper than the spacers which would solve the clearance issue with the oil filler. If this is something you are interested in, let me know and I'll send you his contact info so you can purchase them. He's selling the elbow for $25 inc. s/h which is an absolute bargain given I paid $55 for mine and was thrilled just to find one. The Explorer valve covers are $32 inc s/h. He also told me he'd cut the s/h costs by 1/2 for combo orders. That would get you both the elbow and valve covers for less than $50 shipped.

If you aren't interested in purchasing the elbow, I'm thinking I'm going to pick it up for myself. Since these are hard to come by and only seem useful to V8 Ranger enthusiasts, I think it might prove as a nice item to have around, if not for myself, for a fellow Ranger enthusiast in the future.