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Ok, turbo coupe 88 ——>84 ranger 2.0


neinnein_nein

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3!!
I was waiting to have “good photos” but I‘m getting impatient, and I could use some advice, and who cares!
So I’ve been refreshing and cleaning this 88 TC engine in a friends driveway–disassembled everything, cleaned the block and head, cleaned+rerung pistons, cleaned valves, ported to the best of my pretty limited ability, replaced a couple of sensors, de-rusted whatever had rust on it (a lot of stuff it turns out), cleaned and rebuilt the turbo, repainted a few things and now I’m in the process of finishing the head and preparing as much as I can before I put everything together and hoist in to my truck which I’m still driving all over the place and still has the 2.0 automatic trans in it. I also decided I was going to do a 3’’ body lift while I’m at it and convert to the T5 manual transmission that came with the engine.

Using a 8ua computer and a stock harness i found on eBay which I yet have to label, but I think it’s complete.


This is a month ago-ish
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And this is the slow and painful process of beginning to clean it


45493




Started to paint stuff eventually
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Couple new sensors, rebuilt the fuel injectors...
45495







The cleaned up head with the flipped header on a table Waiting for a bunch of stuff to go in..
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And that’s what I have for now, but as soon as this heat wave ends I’ll put the whole block together and start slapping things Together more seriously.

I decided to redo most of the coolant and oil lines (the ones that go to the turbo mainly) with AN fittings and got a 250lph (overkill for my build but uhm.. whatever) fuel pump+8an lines to redo the entire fuel system. It’s going to get interesting when I try to connect it to my tank..

I also got a Turbocoupe instrument cluster for 40 bucks.. stupid i know, but in my delusion I’m thinking maybe I can put together some sort of shellac’d wooden dash bezel for it and the radio and the heater controls (also planning on installing the ac compressor and everything) and that way I wouldn’t have to add aftermarket gauges for oil pressure and boost, but I Haven’t seen it done before..

one of the many questions that’s on my mind as I’m rebuilding the block and putting things together is whether or not the TC oil pan will clear the ranger..

I bought a new melling oil pump and maybe I could reuse the oil pickup tube and oil pan from the 2.0 that’s In there now?

also not sure what I’ll need to make the T5 transmission fit in, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

anyways.. will be posting more as it happens. Any advice welcome!
 


BlackBII

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You'll want to use the Ranger oil pan, as the one from the Thunderbird is likely a front sump and will not work with the Ranger crossmember.

The T5 will fit, but I believe the shifter a bit further back.

Are you using a hydraulic clutch? I have seen pics on here somewhere of a externally mounted slave that would probably work great for your swap.
 

neinnein_nein

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soon-to-fire up 2.3 turbo lima
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3!!
You'll want to use the Ranger oil pan, as the one from the Thunderbird is likely a front sump and will not work with the Ranger crossmember.

The T5 will fit, but I believe the shifter a bit further back.

Are you using a hydraulic clutch? I have seen pics on here somewhere of a externally mounted slave that would probably work great for your swap.
Ah cool ranger 2.3 pan I imagine—TBird pan is front sump yes

I haven’t looked into clutch yet (this is my first time working on one and I don’t really know the different ones or how the slave cylinder mechanism works, but that’s some reading for tonight!)

All I have is the clutch that cam with the tc which looks ok but that I might replace just to be sure and I bought a brake/clutch pedal assembly from a 85 ranger. Now I need to figure out how to make the two work together. I believe there’s wiring between the t5 and the computer too, not sure..
 

neinnein_nein

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Total Lift
3!!
taking forever to finish the head. I was stuck trying to piece together part of different harnesses and decided to go with a Ron Francis harness. Those things are a work of art, very cool.

decided that using flip flanges wasn’t for me since I’m using the stock intercooler and it shifts everything.. will have some to sell for much cheaper than I bought them for if anyone’s interested.

I also think I have all the little an adapters to plump the whole coolant/oil circuits. That’s gonna be crazy!

answering many of my own questions as the day putting this thing in the truck approaches but one that I can’t figure out it: where does the wiring harness from the (T5 manual) transmission plug into and what does it do exactly?

my harness has a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) terminal which seems to be for auto trans only. What’s the manual for, do I need to worry about it?

also this is potentially insane but I really like the thunderbird dash because it has all the gauges and sensors. they would all just hook straight to the harness without needing aftermarket gauges for boost, oil pressure, etc, and I’m wondering.. has anyone ever heard of a fella making, say, an entire custom dash bezel out of 1/2 ply to house a foreign instrument cluster in our trucks?

966FD2F8-6DA0-4122-93C9-DF34BC1C78A2.jpeg
 

PetroleumJunkie412

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Where did you get the header?
 

neinnein_nein

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2WD
Total Lift
3!!
Where did you get the header?
eBay I think! had to grind out the part that connects the pipes together at the head because when it was flipped it completely blocked the spark plugs. It’s a weird design also, comes with socket head bolts that throw the whole alignment of the holes to the head off— the bolt hit the pipes and I had to eat quite a bit of metal for stuff to align..
 

neinnein_nein

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soon-to-fire up 2.3 turbo lima
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
3!!
Any boostheads able to weight in on this or suggest some reading material? Trying to figure out the Gillis valve connections and confused here (I don’t have good photos of how the vacuum setup was before I dismantled everything either). Turbo outlet is plugged, one of the air outlets on the turbo intake is capped off, boost valve out goes to wastegate, boost valve inlet will be connected to vacuum tree later. Now what happens with the vacuum fitting on the intercooler and the one on the air intake? Plug both?
 

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neinnein_nein

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ford ranger
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soon-to-fire up 2.3 turbo lima
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
3!!
Alright fellas, I’m not very good at consistently posting about the “build”, but after working on the head for a while in my office and reading stuff+ordering parts, my friend and I decided to use the couple of days we have in another friends driveway to do the swap. It’s wild. I‘m sure I’ll have more meaningful questions but right now what I’m really wondering is: how do you remove the body panel that holds the headlights? I need that thing gone to hoist the new engine and trans in (want to do both at once) and it seems welded to the other panels or something!

Just a few details to be taken care of plumbing the coolant hoses on the turbo side on the tc engine, change the T5 transmission seals, put it all together, pressure wash and paint the engine bay with.. Eastwood Underwood black I guess, and it’s ready to go in and get hooked up to driveshaft and harness and the frame. We’re doing 14 hour days, it’s very insane and fun. Changed all the gaskets, bearings, belts, I think I did the timing right, put in a few fasteners, brackets and the ac compressor from a 93 mustang engine I had lying around, cut into a bracket to get the power master alternator to fit, came up with a hybrid pipe/hose system for the coolant which I’ll try to insulate where hoses are too close to hot parts of the engine...
Couldn’t find an AC airbox so I’m installing everything else (mustang 93 compressor clears the turbo fine) and I’ll figure out the air box when or just before it gets warm Again over here. Switching to manual is gonna be interesting, I have a new slave and master cylinder, pedals for the clutch and brake and a new clutch cable but I don’t understand how we’re gonna install that ye—-cross that bridge when we get there.

bunch o photos:


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47785



47786
 

SenorNoob

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That panel IS welded in. Only way it comes out is cutting the spot welds.
 

neinnein_nein

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The engine is being dropped in finally! Finally figured out that the clutch is a hydraulic system and a few other things I had guessed wrong. the main hurdle right now is that the power steering belt doesn’t seem to clear the bolt on top of the gearbox (which I’ve shortened) and the engine feels like it’s sitting too high on the frame although it’s on my 2.0 mounts using the same mounting brackets transferred from my identical 2.0 block..

I put in a 3 inch body lift while the engine and tranny were out and now the steering column doesn’t connect even with the extension. I thought putting the engine back in would add weight to the frame and fix that but it doesn’t seem to do the trick.

I haven’t fully released the engine from the hoist because it falls backwards (haven’t put the transmission in yet, about halfway done on that. It looks like the crossmember is the right size?!)

do those sound like issues that‘ll sort themselves out once the tranny is in?

here are some pics of how it’s sitting. You can see the oil pan is kind of high above the frame, 2-3 inches. Also the wheels are almost in a v shape, as if the framed was jacked from underneath, but it’s not! The truck is sitting on a slight incline with the back wheels on ramps..


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BlackBII

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Looking good! I can't speak to the height of the engine, but I imagine if you used the same motor mounts as the 2.0 it should be fine? Also, if the engine were any lower your belt interference problem would be even worse I think. It does look like the 2.0 and 2.3 engines used the same motor mount from 83-88, and then in '89 they changed. Someone with more 4 cylinder experience may have more insight on this one.

Most body lift kits come with a steering shaft extension, as they are usually needed. Your suspension should level out once you install the engine and trans all the way, along with rolling the truck forwards and backwards. The positive camber is a result of twin I beam suspension design.

I'll have to look around a bit to see if someone has ran into the same belt/steering gear problem. Two things come to mind; the engine could be too far back, or too low. Your truck came with manual steering didn't it? I wonder if perhaps all the 2.0 trucks with manual steering came with motor mounts that placed the engine slightly further back?
 

BlackBII

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Okay I just went back and looked at the pics of my old 2.3 with power steering and it looks like the pump on mine was mounted higher and further to the drivers side. Are you using the turbo coupe's power steering/alternator bracket?

 

neinnein_nein

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2WD
Total Lift
3!!
Looking good! I can't speak to the height of the engine, but I imagine if you used the same motor mounts as the 2.0 it should be fine? Also, if the engine were any lower your belt interference problem would be even worse I think. It does look like the 2.0 and 2.3 engines used the same motor mount from 83-88, and then in '89 they changed. Someone with more 4 cylinder experience may have more insight on this one.

Most body lift kits come with a steering shaft extension, as they are usually needed. Your suspension should level out once you install the engine and trans all the way, along with rolling the truck forwards and backwards. The positive camber is a result of twin I beam suspension design.

I'll have to look around a bit to see if someone has ran into the same belt/steering gear problem. Two things come to mind; the engine could be too far back, or too low. Your truck came with manual steering didn't it? I wonder if perhaps all the 2.0 trucks with manual steering came with motor mounts that placed the engine slightly further back?
Oh interesting yeah it did come with manual steering. Maybe the mounts are the same but the mount holes are somewhere else hmmm

whatever happens later, I figured I would do my best to connect the transmission now, adjust the x member to sit properly and release the hoist to see if it fixes the suspension. I put the steering extension in but it needs to come down another inch to connect to the lower steering shaft, it’s almost there..
EE2F8577-CD0C-43DB-9EB0-3CB953BB64BC.jpeg
 

neinnein_nein

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Okay I just went back and looked at the pics of my old 2.3 with power steering and it looks like the pump on mine was mounted higher and further to the drivers side. Are you using the turbo coupe's power steering/alternator bracket?

I’m using the turbo coupes alternator bracket yes (butchered in a few places to accommodate the p/s hoses underneath). I wanted to use it because it has a tensioner and my old 2.3/2.0 bracket doesn’t (you have to Jack the alternator with a crowbar to set the tension or something). I still have the old bracket, maybe I’ll have to put that back in and make it work. Hey maybe I can even try to force the tensioner to fit on there somewhere!
 

BlackBII

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I’m using the turbo coupes alternator bracket yes (butchered in a few places to accommodate the p/s hoses underneath). I wanted to use it because it has a tensioner and my old 2.3/2.0 bracket doesn’t (you have to Jack the alternator with a crowbar to set the tension or something). I still have the old bracket, maybe I’ll have to put that back in and make it work. Hey maybe I can even try to force the tensioner to fit on there somewhere!
After looking at a bunch of pics, I bet the Ranger bracket will solve your issue. With a little modification/fabrication I bet you can get a tensioner in there somewhere. (y)
 

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