2.3 rebuild or replace motor?

[Mforrest327]

I have decided to turbo my '92 Ford Ranger 2.3L. Now, i have been told I can run low PSI with my stock insides, but I dont want to do the swap for low numbers. So, will it be easier and cheaper to just replace my pistons and rods in my stock motor? Or buy myself a replacement turbo motor and just swap them out?

 

[scotts90ranger]

it depends on what you can find.

other than the pistons you will need the turbo, exhaust manifold, computer, VAM, and a few other things, if you can find a used engine with all that on it for cheap. If you modify your engine you would have to change the head gasket along with a few other things that aren't completely necessary if you have a whole engine to drop in.

 

[Mforrest327]

alright. I just searched ebay and found a universal t3 turbo kit for 499.99. I dont know crap about turbos or kits. and that does sound easier, by just finding a turboed motor and droping it in. and i know this is a dump question, but what does VAM stand for?

 

[88gt]

vane air meter. there are small ones and large ones. depending on what turbo ecu that you use determines what vam is needed. it is also possible to swap it over to mass air but you need to get a tuner for that and more $$$ the later turbo coupes 87-88 have large ones and mustang svo and older tc's have a small vam.

 

[Mforrest327]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. So it seems pretty straight forward so far. The only thing I am really concerned about is this damn California smog. I know for a fact that when doing a complete motor swap, i need a motor that is at least 1 year newer then my truck ( so needs to be a '93 and up ) and all smog equip. that came with the donor motor. But with the turbo, i am using the same motor it came with, just bumping up the air flow going into it a little. I have been told all it takes is taking it to a ref at DMV and letting them check it out to make sure wiring, plumbing, etc is done correctly and saftly and then i get my badge and head to the smog shop. That sound bout right?

 

[88gt]

darn...stupid cali emissions. sounds like you have a plan. i think thati would scrape off the ranger stickers under the hood and replace them with turbo engine stickers that shows emissions information and the such. that might be a snag point there...

 

[Mforrest327]

Well I sure hope not. Due to a forgotten ticket, my license has been pulled and I have to go to DMV and then court and then DMV again, so i might as well try and find out while im there. I really have decided to turbo it, but if this darn state wont let me do it peacfully, i might just say screw it and drop in a v8....i know how how to get those around these stupid laws. I might even see what I would have to do to drop in a deisel. A turboed 4BT is in the back of the mind somewhere Im sure.

 

[88gt]

if you are going to go thru the hassle, you might as well put what you originally wanted to under the hood. i think a 2.3t would be easier to explain to the gvt than a 4bt...

 

[Mforrest327]

Ha, ya thats what I was thinking. But either way you look at it, my options are a little overkill. " So let me get this straight. You are wanting to put a 347 stroker with twin turbos in your Ranger, becasue you need a little extra power to tow your aluminum boat?................Yes sir."

 

[88gt]

Ha, ya thats what I was thinking. But either way you look at it, my options are a little overkill. " So let me get this straight. You are wanting to put a 347 stroker with twin turbos in your Ranger, becasue you need a little extra power to tow your aluminum boat?................Yes sir."

yea...the 7.3 i had in here wasnt doin the trick...hahah

 

[red85]

haha good one^ I think that a TT 347 will be fun. It should be just powerful enough to haul an aluminum boat..... that's 50' long with twin 7.3 PSD's and a flying bridge!

 

[88gt]

OMG, that would be one bitchin boat....your giving me bad ideas

 

[Mforrest327]

Sounds like the ideal fishin boat to me....goes with the ideal mini truck.

 

[Mforrest327]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but have a question on a MAF vs VAM. Out of all the forums I have read so far I have only heard of people useing the VAM's out of the coupes. Now so far I have purdy much got it down to what I will need to do to turbo the little silver turd, but am scratching the chin on a few things. Is it possable to keep my MAF and flash the stock computer to except the turbo A/F numbers while getting a in-person tune?? I like the idea of keeping the original motor, swapping in forged pistons while rebuilding my head, keeping the ranger MAF and computer as well as the DIS head and ignition system. Any snags I should know about? Is this even possable?

 

[red85]

You will need to run an LA3/LA2 pcm from an 87-88 Turbo Coupe. You will also need the 'large' VAM from the car. AFAIK the stock Ranger pcm cannot be reflashed to do a turbo. The guys on Turbo Ford often use a Mustang MAF in their setups with some wiring changes. You can easily run the DIS with the setup I've described. The wiring is pretty simple. I looked at Merkur Tech for the pdf of it. I can email it to you if you want.