84 2.3 ranger turbo exchange

[oneribshy]

I am thinking of changing my 1984 4x4 manual 4 speed 2.3 manual steering... to with a turbo one out of a 87 t-bird coup 2.3 turbo automatic that has power steering can I do this swap fairly easy? What would I need to do to make the change....Thanks I'm new to the site. hope im posting right. Thanks

 

[Mikel89us]

All you have to do is put your ranger accessory bracket on in place of the power steering. Maybe some pulley swaps. The turbo coupe motor needs the harness and ecu to run. In the older truck. It wont be too bad, you will just have to find the power and ground to the ecu, and splice them in, then the key on signal.

 

[scotts90ranger]

and get a high pressure fuel pump and put a return line to the fuel tank somewhere.

Shouldn't be too bad, but there'll be a fair amount of wiring.

To keep 4x4 you'll need to tear into the transmission as the tail housing and output shaft will need to be swapped from a 4x4 Ranger automatic (the '87-88 T bird turbocoupe automatic was an A4LD like the Ranger), and both your driveshafts will need to be swapped from a 4x4 Ranger with the same chassis setup (IE long/short bed and regular cab or extended but I don't think they made extended's in '84 let alone extended cab 4x4 4 cylinder...)

 

[oneribshy]

Thanks Guys,,, I'll look into it a little further.. I'm real low on cash and he wants 500.00 for the car...Is it true that the pistons would not hold up if I put a charger on mine as it sits.

 

[Mikel89us]

It will hold a few pounds, 5-6 psi. But you will grenade pistons past that. You should get the car, its worth $500 if it runs!

 

[oneribshy]

I missed getting the car... Im thinking of maybe dropping in a 302 now. This 2.3 just doesn't have enough power for me.

 

[RonD]

Yes, 2.3l without turbo is basically a good MPG driver for smaller loads, which is why they sold it, alot of demand for good MPG in smaller pick-ups, point of that whole market in fact.

If that's not why you have it then a V8 swap will get you the lower MPG and more power you do want.
Unlike the turbo upgrade you will need another trans, the Lima 4cyl's have unique bolt pattern, and you probably would trash 4cyl trans with the V8 power in any case.
Transfer case and axles also need to be considered with that extra power, look on the door tag to see what axles you have now, look here for the code number: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/axle_codes.shtml

Since you added you don't have power steering, the extra weight with the V8 may make slow speed driving/parking/4 wheeling very hard.

Good general and specific articles here on conversions: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-conversions.shtml