ok so heres the deal. i have a 76 ford courier.. you know.. the truck that inspired the ranger? well it has a dainty 1.8L that makes it hard to keep up with these modern speed racers... so I'm hoping to do an upgrade. and keep it ford. buddy of mine has a 4.0 vs SOHC from an explorer and will never do an auto in my truck. so my question is what manual transmissions will work and how hard will it be to locate one. truck is rear wheel drive only. thanks for any help guys.
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Manual trans from a Ranger that has/had a 2.8l, 2.9l. or 4.0l OHV or SOHC engine.
These all have the same transmission bolt pattern.
M5OD-R1 would be the best choice they were used from 1988 and up to 2011

From a 4.0l, 1990 and up, would be overall the best one since it will have better gear ratios for 4.0l power, but not a deal breaker by any means.

You know the 4.0l SOHC engines need the 104 pin computer(EEC-V), and only a 1997 computer from an explorer with 4.0l SOHC won't have the PATS anti-theft stuff.
And a 1997 explorer computer will be for an automatic, so will cause a few issues unless you have it programmed for manual, which isn't cheap.
Mustangs used the 4.0l SOHC starting in 2005, they would have PATS but could be found for manual transmission use.

No sure any one makes a 4.0l SOHC intake for carb conversion, they did for OHV but not the same engine.
And distributor for SOHC would be out as well.

 

Well thats a bummer. I think ill keep doing my research and find a less difficult approach. thanks for the reply.

 

Any engine that came with fuel injection requires a computer, the pre-1996 models mostly used the 60 pin EEC-IV computers which basically was just the engine wiring harness, 1996 and up needed more sensors and wiring.

Most likely you want a carb, so no computer at all and a distributor with vacuum advance so no "module" needed.
Ford 283's or 302(5.0l) V8s have those options, or pretty much any pre-1980 engines