91 Turbo Swap help

[Lil red ranger]

I want to do a Turbo swap on my 91 2.3 ranger, i just want info on the cheapest way to do it, and what all i will need to swap out, such as rear end, and tranny. i have a bone stock 5 speed in it right now, and i want to keep it 5 speed.

 

[scotts90ranger]

your rear end and tranny will be fine, I've been beating on mine with 4.10 gears and 31" tires and haven't had any issues, been in there for almost a year now, I've even pounded on it in low range 2 wheel drive (hubs unlocked) on the street and no issues...

the cheapest way would be to get pistons, turbo manifold, turbo, vane air flow meter and connector for it along with the turbo computer, it will require the least amount of modifications, I would also suggest a turbo cylinder head (would also require a different intake manifold) to decrease the compression ratio to reduce the chance of knock. what you do is put all of the physical components in place then wire the vane air flow meter into the stock wiring harness along with repinning things to match (a couple wires are different between the '86-88 wiring and your setup).

 

[Bryan22]

The pistons are what change the compression ratio! why do you keep telling people it's the head?!! If you want to run any kind of boost and still trust the motor, the very least you'll need is some forged 8:1 or 9:1 pistons, bigger injectors and all the other sensors and computer from a 2.3 turbo car. if you just swap the elctronics and computer and start boosting your motor probably wont make it around the block. also with your truck being a 91, you'd either have to go to a distributor set-up or repinn a few things to get the DIS to work correctly. and if you decide to go with a dist. you will have to change the head.

 

[mini274]

done this swap and its in my 91 witch was the same as yours.. just got a 88 tc block drilled and tapped it for my crank sensor no problems... when you repin the ecu it will be fine cause the only thing the dis is looking for is a signal so you can use the LA3 and your head with your ignition after that the aftermarket goes on forever...this is the easiest way to do it i found unless you want to rebuild a motor... the swap only took me 2 days but i already had repinned the ecu which took me a total of 3 hours...im using my stock tranny and rear end with an upgraded clutch... the cheapest way would be to find a donor car that will give you everything you need except a head gasket... and i would reccomend a set of head studs for some extra security...

 

[scotts90ranger]

The pistons are what change the compression ratio! why do you keep telling people it's the head?!!

because the combustion chamber in the turbo heads is larger than the N/A heads, I was just meaning that the heads were part of the compression change, I know the pistons are the majority of it...