Thinking of Swaping my Engine....

lukelou · Aug 4, 2011

I have an 1987 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3 EFI 4X4

I really want to get rid of my 4cyl and put a v8 in. I wanted to play around a little and was thinking of putting in a chevy 350 v8 with a 350 tranmission, along with all the components. Was wondering what thoughts there was out there about this, along if it is even possible. Thanks

bobbywalter · Aug 4, 2011

find the lowest mile model current gm setup....

a 5.3 or 6.0/6.2 from a gm truck will be a great way to go.

Jsommers · Aug 4, 2011

Why is this in the rare RBV section?

Musick17 · Aug 4, 2011

Jsommers said:
Why is this in the rare RBV section?

chevy engine... in a ranger.... kinda rare, but I dunno really.

Musick17 · Aug 4, 2011

bobbywalter said:
find the lowest mile model current gm setup....

a 5.3 or 6.0/6.2 from a gm truck will be a great way to go.

The 5.3's from like 2000-recently DRINKK gas. terrible economy.

Ide go with a 350. Cheap rebuild if needed. There is an abundance of parts. And a huge aftermarket.

bobbywalter · Aug 4, 2011

Musick17 said:
The 5.3's from like 2000-recently DRINKK gas. terrible economy.

Ide go with a 350. Cheap rebuild if needed. There is an abundance of parts. And a huge aftermarket.

any truck will drink gas. the 5.3 4x4 suburban and 2wd ext cab p/u i use occassionally both exceed 17 in 75 mph conditions. the sub gets 19-20 65 mph easy.

the 2001 6.0 i swapped into a stroker 4l jeep went from 13-14 to 16-17 hiway with 37 in tires and would rip my gt 40 ranger a new ass when the cam was swapped....over a second quicker in the 1/4 and 3 mpg better average economy

350's with 4bbl tend to get 10-12 in a 4x4....unmolested vortecs do real good.

pretty much build and tune to see what happens.

wahlstrom1 · Aug 4, 2011

bobbywalter said:
a 5.3 or 6.0/6.2 from a gm truck will be a great way to go.

And they fit nice.....

Psychopete · Aug 4, 2011

I had a 327ci / TH350 combo in a car I used to own and I hated only having 3 gears. Really needed over drive, got annoying on drives 60mph+. Guess it depends what you'll use it for. I am right in the middle of this city, so anything I put together needs to be good as a D/D.

And it's possible to do, just no kits like they have for the 5.0Ls. But research and planning a head of time will be a big help.

BeaterMan · Aug 4, 2011

ford with a chevy engine = :dunno:

? Why not look for a 302 or 351 and keep it all ford, or sell your ranger and buy a s10 :icon_rofl:

bobbywalter · Aug 4, 2011

s10's suck....ls's dont

85_Ranger4x4 · Aug 4, 2011

Psychopete said:
I had a 327ci / TH350 combo in a car I used to own and I hated only having 3 gears. Really needed over drive, got annoying on drives 60mph+. Guess it depends what you'll use it for. I am right in the middle of this city, so anything I put together needs to be good as a D/D.

And it's possible to do, just no kits like they have for the 5.0Ls. But research and planning a head of time will be a big help.

I agree with the three speed part, unless it is just a run around truck OD is very nice.

S-10's are so stupid common and IMO have a better aftermarket following than a Ranger... if I wanted a GM powerplant I wouldn't have a problem getting one. You will be changing everything anyway, anything the factory screwed up you will be fixing. Only the body, frame and front suspension will be left, there are enough S-10's that get drag raced I think they can take it pretty well.

Thinking of Swaping my Engine....

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