The Little Bohemian

This is my 1988 Ford Ranger Regular cab short box. This whole project is a big deal for me as it's basically a reincarnation of my first truck that I wrecked on the interstate on my way to college. Now I have the skills and know people who are skilled in their trade to help me make this truck what it never was from the factory. Money is tight and I'm doing everything on a ridiculously small budget. Also doing alot of things the hard way because I'm working outside on a broken concrete pad. Currently at phase two of this project phase one paint and body and the first 4 cylinder 2.3L engine transplant has been done for about 7 years now. I never had money to build a proper engine for it but I was able to piece together some stuff that I gathered from past misfortunes. I was able to build a 302 V8 for this truck. It's a slow process and due to a recent shoulder injury at work it's been put on hold until I can lift stuff normally again. It has gone to a few car shows and cruises since I've built it. It's definitely a fun truck but it is not highway cruiser anymore with its underpowered 2.3L 4 cylinder it just needs an upgrade badly as much as I hate to pull a good running engine it's just time to do it. So I'm still uncertain about the engine the block was gone through by a machine shop and they said it was ok so I reassembled it myself with new bearings and rings and put a set of used 351 cylinder heads on it and a eBay 4 bbl intake manifold with a used Holley carburetor also from eBay. Absolutely everything I bought for this engine has come from eBay with the expectation of a few things but it's about as budget you can get without just pulling a engine out of a vehicle and putting it into another one. All the main parts are used the 5 speed manual transmission that's going behind the engine is from a 95 F-150. I'm really hoping to reuse the factory Ranger driveshaft it does fit on the transmission but I'm worried about length and I don't know if I can afford to have a driveshaft made for it. Seems like my paychecks are just gone once I buy parts for this thing and I keep forgetting about stuff so I keep ordering more parts and it adds up quickly. So I really hope I have something to show for all the money time and effort spent on this project. My goal was to have it up and running by the end of August for my favorite local car show but I don't think it's happening at my current pace. There's always next year though.