New old ranger. Where to start?!

[tbphanzer]

Hey everyone! so i posted one thread about my clutch and got some good info so thanks for that. but i have a:

89 ranger
159k miles
2WD
5 speed manual


so it has a brand new exhaust system in and soon to be a new clutch and slave cylinder system and some seals. just the necessities. So Once i have that down where else should i go? i want to have a little bit of fun to start off with so i'd like put in a cold air intake system but i took a look under the hood and its pretty confusing. so as far as the cold air intake where can i start with that on a 89?

and i was thinking about power steering and 4wd. maybe an engine swap to a v6 im just dreamin but these are some goals. any suggestions on anything else or tips?

 

[Mark_88]

Turbo...that is better than a v6 or v8 in most cases unless you plan to tow something heavy...

As for the 4wd...easier to just buy a 4wd vehicle and upgrade it...but it can be done if you're so inclined...

Cold air intake may help a bit and I'm sure someone has posted pics on here for several versions of the engine bay...

Probably the best upgrade short of turbo would be 4:10 gears in the rear...that will make your truck feel faster without changing much and it's a fairly inexpensive swap if you find the rear end locally...just need some new U-brackets to hold it in place since the old ones tend to either snap or are in rough shape due to rust...but they are actually pretty inexpensive if you do need new ones...

 

[tbphanzer]

thanks so much.
so the 4:10 gears are just the ratio of the gears? im pretty new to that kinda stuff

 

[Mark_88]

Yes, they're considered "lower" gears...most trucks came with 3:73 gears which are OK for most things and give pretty good fuel economy...the higher numbers give better lower end meaning the truck will take off quicker and that is important with a smaller engine or if you do any off-road driving...but fuel economy and top end tend to go down with lower gears...especially if you put bigger tires on...

Another upgrade I would suggest is to go with 15" tires if you are running stock 14"...they give a better ride and increase your ride height without having to add a lift...some guys prefer even bigger tires but then the body can get in the way...

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Your truck already has a cold air intake, any kit from K&N is actually worse than what you have now... I agree with going to a higher (numerically) gear ratio, that's about the only thing you can do for power without a V8 or turbo swap... 4x4 can be done, but you have to pull the front cross member and swap it out, which involves pulling the motor out...

 

[skyy_4life]

power wise i would go for turbo swap. port&polish never hurts, unless u get to excessive. if i remeber correct ur truck does not have a stock header, go to junkyard and pull a header off of 93+ ranger, it makes a difference.

 

[tbphanzer]

awesome. so scratch the cold air intake for now (hah oops, i read a ton of other threads about those) and the 4x4.

alright a few more questions (like i said im new, this will be my first project)

-i have 14 in. tires most likely. we had something bigger and swapped because it was just the stock size. so will going one inch higher change my spedomiter or anything techy like that?

-turbo swap? i might start a new thread for that but just dont know much about it

-Polish&port?

-and i hear about headers all the time. i'm pretty sure theyre associated with the pistons maybe? where are they and what do they do lol

btw i love this site

 

[Mark_88]

The 15" tires can/do change your speedo depending on what size tire you put on...if you use the 205s like I've got they change it very little...225 or 235 will make a bigger difference and increase your ride height another inch or so...I did this primarily for the ride height because an inch or two makes a difference when you crawl under the truck to fix or check something...

As for the Turbo swap, the Forced Induction forum is specificially for that and other mods not covered by the stock engine...

Headers are exhaust system parts and there is a stock header on the 93 and up vehicles that is a straight bolt-on and does improve things slightly...and there is another recent thread in this forum that included pics and comments about performance...it should be on page 2 or 3 if you want to check it out...

Port and Polish is basically opening up the head passages so you get better intake and exhaust flow...there are some precautions about P&P when you have Fuel Injection because it may adversely affect the 'swirl' of the intake and cause fuel pooling...

You can P&P your own head or have a shop do it and charge you $300 or more for the work...I did mine with a power drill and some grinding stones that you can buy as attachments...but my head was stripped to bare bones (valves and cam removed) so it was much easier...but before you even consider buying a head and going to town with your power tools have the head magnafluxed (checked for cracks) by a reputable shop...saves you a lot of time and money...

 

[tbphanzer]

wow. so P&P sounds pretty intense. i think i'll do that when i get another excuse to open her up like that. two birds with one stone. depending on time haha.

 

[tbphanzer]

(well not that intense)

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Port and Polish really doesn't do anything until your engine wants to start sucking in more air than your head can efficiently flow... If I were you I would do exhaust so it sounds better maybe higher gear ratio in the back to give it more gitty up and then just drive it and enjoy it...

 

[MikeInIdaho]

X2

I would add the 93+ OEM header along with a nice 2 1/4" stainless exhaust system and a single in/single out muffler. Combined with a 4.10:1 r&p and some meatier tires that should be enough to keep things interesting.

Building a high-performance motor requires a great deal of your personal time (and money) that you most likely won't get back. Trust me, I've been there before. I spent over 3k building up the old 2.0 OHV motor in my old '72 capri...in the end I had a car that was more or less un-streetable and liked to rev well over 8k RPM. I ended up selling it to an enthusiast for much less than I had in it and just had to take the loss. Of course, the situation was a little bit different because the motor wasn't running and needed machine work when I got it anyways...but I digress.

The point is, if you've got a vehicle that runs o.k. and doesn't need any internal work done to it, just leave it alone and enjoy driving it. at the very least, it'll buy you some time to save money for "big" mods. Good luck and have fun!

 

[scotts90ranger]

don't bother with the header, the stock exhaust is pretty much a cast header, only difference is it's heavier... when engines come with block manifolds, that's when a header gives it's big boost, the ranger manifold is actually decent.

the best thing to do with that engine is to drive it in the power range... if the engine never exceeds 3000rpm, you're not going to get it's potential power out of it... I drove my little '90 2.3 around for 8 years, drove the crap out of it. the first few years I didn't really go over 3000rpm, then I realized that was pointless and got every ounce of power I could get out of it (while being stock).

stock mine had 3.08 gears and 195 70 14 tires, wasn't too bad, then I added the 235 70 15 tires and it was a bit more doggy, although it was only noticed from a stop and the fact that 5th was useless. then I went to 3.73 gears and that was a bit better than before, good setup. then I converted to 4x4 via a cab swap and ended up with 31" tires and 4.10 gears, a little under geared but not bad, 5th isn't the most useful gear...

did the turbo swap, whole different monster... 4.10 gears are a bit better fit, but have better axles lined up so I'm going to regear to 4.56 or 4.88 or something so I can run 33's (might as well lift while I'm in there)

 

[organic]

Check what gears you have stock. I know alot of 4cyl rangers came with 4.10's.

 

[tbphanzer]

ok. well i have a brand new exhaust in it. nothing special just new. i'd like to do a turbo but its the $$. i dont even know how or how much it costs. but for now im going to stick with what mikeinidaho says. i have a good little truck that runs decent. total blessing i shouldnt mess with it till i know what im doing for real. so i'm just going to to basics and the necessities. totally doing a number on the body work though. starting to sand whooooooooo.

ok and i hear about the gears like 4.10 and stuff. but where are they? rear end? lol