4 or 6

[sparkey]

I have an 83 4x4 ranger with a 2.8 that has started to have a lot of blow by. So I done a compression test on it and found that 4 5 6 had 160 psi and #1 had 130 #2 had 145 and #3 had 78psi. So what to do now build the 2.8 or put a 2.3 in it a lot of my friends race and have a lot of parts for the four cylinders the 2.8 has 89k on it I can just want to put a rebuild kit in it sense it doesn’t knock or any thing devastating in that aspect. I wanted to now some things about the 2.3 what kind of mpg dos it get and how much power loss do think I will have .What are ya’ll’s thoughts.

 

[Mark_88]

Depends on how much money you want to spend...and whether or not you can mate the 2.3 to your current drive train or have to invest in a new bell housing...if possible.

With a 4x4 setup I would keep it stock to save money on other conversions...but maybe someone else can advise you on those aspects...

The 2.3 is a good motor but you're probably looking at a 30% drop in power with a stock engine...if you turbo it you're looking at a 30% or more gain...but that's where you may run into some expenses that can easily add up...

How many hp do your friends engines have...that would be an important question if you are going to use spare parts from them...you'd want to do it up with just a carb and some other mods you might be able to get upwards of 175hp out of a properly moded 2.3...but I've heard of some of them kicking out 700+ hp...so it really depends on how much you want to spend...