I have a spare on a stand, too. If you get down toward Myrtle Beach you're in my neighborhood so you can stop in - PM me if that will work. Do we have anyone in MA with a spare?

I'll see if I can get some measurements.

As far as the Ranger trans - I don't know if there are any commercially-made adaptors for that but there might be. You can try Brentsen's - they make a bunch of oddball adaptors (Google 'em). The 617 is a bit tricky because the 617 uses an intermediate plate between the back of the block and the bellhousing (it's in my thread) so the actual bolt pattern at the rear of the block is a small 4 bolt (IIRC, pretty sure that's right). I had a heck of a time bolting the engine to the stand with that weird rear bolt pattern - and the guys say it's questionable to bolt the engine to a stand from the intermediate plate. BTW - take a look at my newest engine stand adaptor that bolts the engine sideways on the stand - it makes the engine a TON easier to work on.

You asked about the glowplug system in your OP. I'm just running a Ford starter solenoid and a handmade harness - use #12 or bigger wire. I hold the button down for a slow count of 10 and it fires right up. The timer would be fancy but it's NOT necessary. Be sure you get the solenoid rated for continuous duty, like for a snow plow. I got mine at CarQuest and I'm sure other stores might have them. A stock replacement solenoid (like, for a Ford PU) will NOT hold up in that application.

Glad the thread is useful to you. The thread on BangShift is sort of the main one and has details that may be missing from the one on here. Feel welcome to lurk if interested - you won't be the only one!

Dan