can a 2.3 make vulcan power

[loneranger009]

my dad just bought a newer more robust ranger so his old 95 2.3 5spd is coming my way eventually i want to swap in a 3.0 possibly a duratech but for now what can i do to help the little 4 banger move the truck i.e intake exhaust ignition cam head work. a few things ive heard is a mustang to end gt fuel injectors and those mods that seem to be standard across all rangers like the intake baffles and throttle cable

 

[Rose2300]

N.A, No probably not, force fed, yes

 

[Mikel89us]

my dad just bought a newer more robust ranger so his old 95 2.3 5spd is coming my way eventually i want to swap in a 3.0 possibly a duratech but for now what can i do to help the little 4 banger move the truck i.e intake exhaust ignition cam head work. a few things ive heard is a mustang to end gt fuel injectors and those mods that seem to be standard across all rangers like the intake baffles and throttle cable

Go down to the parts store, buy a head gasket. Pull the head off. Go to your local machine shop, and have them mill .100" off it. slap it all back together (i use +10 ft lbs of torque on the head bolts from specs) and you will instantly notice a hp torque and slight fuel mileage increase. You can also add to that some injectors out of a 2002 focus, they are 17 Lb/hr, or any 19 lb/hr injectors like the 5.0 mustangs or early 4.6L's. the bigger inectors will likely knock the mileage back down a bit, but will help out top end significantly.

 

[beluga420]

Force fed you have more power that a v8 5.0 for sure. But these engines are harder to make big numbers N/A you'd need a lot of port work and like the other said mill the head, with a cam. It makes a huge difference with a tune also just adding 6-10* degree timing advanceon a stock engine its day and night.

 

[rangerbum]

The Vulcan 3.0 barely has 10 more horse to begin with. The 95 2.3 can DEFINITELY achieve the same, and even higher numbers somewhat easily. A few very simple things that I've done to mine that have helped free up some ponies are: Remove the intake baffle from the intake tube. Then, The upper and lower intake manifold do not line up well, if you take off the upper intake, set the gasket on the mounting surface as a guide, you'll see that the manifold port is smaller than the gasket ports, but the lower intake is roughly the same size as the gasket ports, so dremel out whatever excess you can. This is immediately noticeable power.
Next , I'd Take a look at the exhaust side of things. I recently took off my header, and had a look. Inside each tube, right where the flange-to-head is welded on, the weld for some dumb reason, is INSIDE the tube. They are not even very consistent, mine were 26mm, 26mm, 24mm, and 28mm. Same thing here, dremel out as much excess as possible. However, being that these are important welds, I would not recommend taking it down too far. I bored mine all to 32mm.
Other than that, the exhaust is fine unless it's got a crappy muffler or plugged cat. If the catalytic converter is plugged, REPLACE the cat. Don't hollow it out or remove it. Your truck won't run better if you do(believe me, I was dumb enough to do it on my old ranger).
Now, the ranger comes with 14lb/hr injectors, which are barely sufficient for the airflow from a stock intake/exhaust. Now that we have more air, we can supply more fuel. I haven't found any 17lb injectors yet, but 19lb wouldn't be overkill, but might sacrifice a little mileage(still probably better than the vulcan, depending on the condition of the 2.3).
I have a Jet chip in my ranger, which truly does give you a touch more oomph, but for the price, is not worth it imho.
3.73 gears are a great, best of both worlds axle ratio for a daily driver.
Removing Air conditioning altogether if, equipped, will reduce drag on your motor, letting you use power that was being used on your AC pump. Also, I switched to an electric fan. these Limas run cool. I used a pretty undersized fan compared to the belt driven fan, and it still was sufficient for 90 degree days this summer, and didnt even need it when going more than 40 mph. When you engage the fan, it puts more draw on your alternator, so in a sense the drag is still existent, but much less, and can be turned off with the flip of a switch when appropriate.

Those are just a few the things that have made my truck more enjoyable to drive, and have beat 3.0's head to head racing regularly(on track, NOT the street)

Keep all your fluids changed regularly, keep an eye on your spark plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, air filter, and I think you've got the vulcan beat.

EDIT: BTW, don't waste time swapping in a 3.0, if you are going to go through all the trouble of a motor swap, put in a 4.0 and be truly happy with the swap.