About to pick up my first D50, considering swap options and a few questions

[Fordubishi]

83-87 Ranger 7.5" diff is 1.5" wider then the stock Mits. I use one in mine and went with a 17x7" rim's with a 42mm back space and they fit fine. You can probably go with a Toyota 7.5" as well out of a P/U. Front have been converted to the 86-94 Toyota hub so it runs the 5 x 114.3 as well. there is a post about doing the front swap somewhere on the site. As for the swap just grab a 4.3/T5(700R4) out of a S-10 or a Safari Van, Unless you can fine the 3400/3500/3800 out of a Camaro or Firebird as the RWD engine mounts are expencive as hell or next to impossible to find.Headers are no real problem all you have to do is cut them up and modify them to dump where you need them. Not sure about the oil pan but someone else might know what to do to make them clear.

Welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy the truck.

[caffeine]

83-87 Ranger 7.5" diff is 1.5" wider then the stock Mits. I use one in mine and went with a 17x7" rim's with a 42mm back space and they fit fine. You can probably go with a Toyota 7.5" as well out of a P/U. Front have been converted to the 86-94 Toyota hub so it runs the 5 x 114.3 as well. there is a post about doing the front swap somewhere on the site. As for the swap just grab a 4.3/T5(700R4) out of a S-10 or a Safari Van, Unless you can fine the 3400/3500/3800 out of a Camaro or Firebird as the RWD engine mounts are expencive as hell or next to impossible to find.Headers are no real problem all you have to do is cut them up and modify them to dump where you need them. Not sure about the oil pan but someone else might know what to do to make them clear.

Welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy the truck.

Good info on the 5-bolt swap. As for the 3400/3500 swap, they're never available RWD even in the F-bodies but mounts are cake. A 2.5/2.8 T5 bellhousing bolts right up with trimming for the starter and there are threaded bosses on the sides of the block. Just need a drill press, some 1/4" steel, and a welder. I've already built my own 3500 swap mounts so it's no big deal. I personally think the 3x00 is better suited to a small truck than the 4.3, not to mention it's more efficient, more modern, more compact, and responds well to mods. (A bone stock including stock exhaust manifolds 3500 dynoed at 205whp/25x ft-lbs with my own tuning in another car).

I recently helped a friend swap a Gen II Sunbird 3.1 V6 into his S10 and we also supercharged it. Again, the mounts were simple and his transmission bolted right up.