[YerDugliness]

Well, guys, I guess I had it coming. I have a Ranger with the 3.0L V-6 and although it has survived many "moves" in the past, I fear that it is no more.

The "moves" I mention are in the vicinity of 1,000 miles long...from the Houston, TX area all the way up to the very SW corner of Kansas. Included in that drive is a large area in which there are many valleys and "hills". In the past I towed a smaller trailer, but this time I needed to move a BUNCH of stuff so I rented a covered 6'X12' U-Haul and loaded it to the gills.

Yep...you guessed it! The combination of the heavier trailer and the LONG uphills killed that little 3.0L V-6, so I had to make a choice to either spend $5K on getting the engine replaced or buy a VERY well maintained 1999 Ford Expedition for $2K less. The Expedition won.

Now I have a '98 Ranger with a blown 3.0 V-6 (I think it is a Modular design) and in this agrarian society it's handy to have a pickup, so I'm scheming.

I also have a wrecked Cobra with a 5.0HO engine, so the mind started working and I came up with this harebrained scheme:

What are the chances that the 3.0 Mod V-6 and the 5.0HO share the same bellhousing mounting pattern? Would it be possible to mount the 5.0HO to the existing transmission? I realize the Mod engine is computer controlled and the 5.0HO is NOT, so there would be some adaptations that would surely be required (I'd let others who are more knowledgable than I am get those things out of the way), but if the 5.0HO would mount without adaptation to the automatic transmission in the Ranger, I think the Ranger could be usable again.

This MAY just be a harebrained scheme, or it might be a great way to turn a pickup with a burned up engine into a working pickup again.

Opinions? Suggestions? Warnings?

Thanks!

Doug