Manual tranny help for my swap

[bbbob]

Ok I'm new to this Ford thing.I have always been a die hard Chevy fan. I built a 92 s-10 with tbi 350 and 700r4 AND IT WAS FUN. I Loved it but had to let her go due to a drunk driver .
But I just found a rock solid 1988 Ranger 2.? 4 cyl. with blown motor. The guy will sell it to me for $300.So Im guna buy it and put in a EFI 302 and a manual tranny. Me being a former Chevy guy I dont know jack about Ford tranny's. None of the local junk yards have a Mustang t-5 are there any others I can fit into the ranger?

P.s. Goal here is a stock looking sleeper. Not a 500hp monster that will make my wife cry just something loud and street able.

[cgrey8]

There probably is. C4 and AOD are the trannys of choice if you are willing to consider automatics. However if you want to stay with a manual tranny, the T5 is the preferred tranny just because it is well known. There is an F150 manual that will probably bolt to a 302, but I can't remember the name of the tranny. If I remember right, it's a Mazda tranny like the Ranger manual trannys. AND like the Ranger tannys, they aren't known for being very strong either. They can obviously handle a stock F150 302. But if you build a 302 with much more than stock, you'll be pushing its abilities and wishing you had a stronger T5.

Even the V8 World Class T5 isn't the strongest tranny in stock form. But the T5s that came behind the GTs are probably the strongest for the money. If you luck across a Cobra T5, they are the strongest production T5 made. And the aftermarket "Z-spec" T5s, like the one you see in Summit Racing, take the Cobra tranny up one more notch and are rated 330ft-lbs for 100kmiles. But you aren't likely to find these laying around in a yard. I paid ~$1250 for mine shipped. If you REALLY want to put some money into a T5, you can put an Astro Performance kit into a T5 which will get you into the 500ft-lb strength range.

But for a stock 302, you won't need all that. There are plenty of other places your money will be better spent than getting a super-strong T5. If you have a stock 7.5" rear, replacing it with a Ranger 8.8" is a popular upgrade. It's pretty much a bolt-in upgrade. If you want rear disc, you can upgrade to an Explorer 8.8", but it isn't a bolt-in solution. Another upgrade would be getting traction bars. I use James Duff Ranger traction bars and would recommend them. They do OK particularly given Rangers are notorious for wheel hop. They aren't like having a 4-link, but they aren't 4-link price either. But for ~$70, they are well worth it so you get plant the 302's torque to the ground. Other upgrades worth the money, even for a stock engine, are going to be things like headers, aftermarket shifter, and 2-core Ranger radiator upgrade.

But as for your T5 procurement problem, I would recommend you keep looking.