2.3L ('83-'97) 2.3 and trans options

[Shovelhd]

Hi all, first off i apologize if these questions are answered in here already. Ive never used forms before, and there is a ton of info in here and on the site, good work. A little overwhelming at times.

Anyways my questions. Background story first.

I do not have a ranger but am looking for a donor of sorts to slavage the drive line. My wife has a 1955 Nash Metropolitan that her grandfather restored back in the 80's. We inherited it a few years back and I have been chasing leaks and repairs non stop when ever we want to use it. Getting parts isnt horrible but is a pain they have to come from California (we are in Canada). I recently oulled the engine to reseal to keep some oil in it. Only to find that it is in terrible shape that will require mkre machine work than its worth.

My thought is to do a swap and have options for prats at my local parts stores. The 2.3 came to mind(I'm a Ford guy). I would like to swap to automatic as well.

So best overall year to use? Would like to do this in stages.
1) carburetor, auto trans and swap all my wiring to negative ground. As well as find a rear axle that will work or easly narrowed.
2) convert to fuel injection
3)convert to an over drive transmission
4) turbo ( for me not the wife)

So what year of engine/ranger do I look for, guessing anything pre 95 with a distributor, and what are my transmission options. C3, A4LD ?? If A4LD, is there a standalone controller for these? Or is there ans ecm that will do my fuel injection as well as trans?

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Rangers used 2 different 2.3l engines, the 2.3l SOHC Lima(1983-1997) and the 2.3l DOHC Duratec/Mazda L(2001.5-2011)

The Lima(Pinto) 2.3l was first used in 1974 Ford Pinto, hence the nick name, so its an older design, it was used in a quite a few Ford models, including Mustangs and Rangers
Its a heavy engine with low power to weight ratio but its very reliable and can be Turbo charged, Ford made factory 2.3l Lima turbo versions in the mid to late 1980's

The 1989-1994 Ranger 2.3l Lima came with fuel injection(EFI), no distributor and A4LD overdrive automatic but does need a computer(EEC-IV) for the EFI, spark and the 2 solenoid automatic, these would be about the simplest years to swap in to get EFI and OD
The computers in the 1994 and earlier Rangers are fairly simple, and pretty much plug and play if you get whole vehicle as donor

Not sure there is an automatic OD transmission for the 2.3l that doesn't need a computer, so a carb/distributor setup would mean no OD, or...........
The 1985-1987 A4LD only had 1 solenoid for torque converter lock up(TCC), so could be used on a carb/distributor engine, no computer, and would shift to OD, just not as fuel efficient at lower speeds without TCC, you might be able to hook up an automatic TCC lock up based on trans pressure or speed


Not familiar with Nash axles.................

 

[scotts90ranger]

I second fuel injection, it's not that complicated in the '94 and earlier years and that computer is able to be repinned to work with a stock turbo computer.

For years I've wanted to put a 2.3L turbo in a metropolitan...

I haven't looked at the width of one of those to see now narrow an axle would need to be, I imagine it would take custom shafts for most anything...

 

[Shovelhd]

Thanks folks. Just trying to make a solid game plan before I pull the trigger.

 

[Blmpkn]

In the long run, it might be worth the machine work to keep the original motor.