91 XLT looking for some "upgrades"

[camusmuse]

Hello all. First off, thanks for the great site. I've been lurking since I inherited my late father's 1991 Ranger XLT longbed with the 2.3...A/C delete. Ironically, the truck "died" as soon as I got it to my house from my father's; about an hour and a half drive. Its got around 155,xxx miles but he was great about maintenance. It was his work truck since it was new, replacing a '84 ranger.

I plan on continuing to lurk around trying to figure out whats wrong with the 2.3, get it fixed and use it to teach my wife how to drive a stick. She refuses to learn on my Dodge V10 Dually Ext cab, long bed, for some reason.....lol. Pretty sure the problem is something in the DIS.

Anyway, eventually I would like to do some hp/tq upgrades to the truck....along with major suspension work. I'm not new to custom "mini" trucks. First was a Nissan 720 static dropped(on the frame basically...bump stops cut way down), dump, side tilt bed, convertible....you get the idea. But in my father's spirit I would like it to keep the truck stock LOOKING for "normal" driving...may even keep some of the "bodywork" he did over the years(dents and what not). You should of seen the look on his face when I cut the top off the nissan....he was NOT happy.....but in the end he was impressed with the final product....especially for a 17y/o.

But still he was a gearhead at heart and I think he would appreciate most a power improvement. I remember having to get up to 85mph on some down hills to make it up the uphill at a reasonable speed...lol. I also got a 95 full size f150 with a 351 from him....but super high miles. My first thought was to drop that in the ranger, but after some reading here, a 2.3 turbo has piqued my interest, though I imagine after its all done I still will want more power. No replacement for displacement. Not looking for a track truck(not yet at least), but more of a street beater. Nothing below 10 seconds in the quarter....at least not on paper....lol.

I am also an avid Lincoln fan, love my '98 MkVIII and '03 Aviator AWD....both with the 4.6 DOHC "cobra" motor, and both are ALOT of fun....lol. I think that would be a great swap, but hell on the wiring end. Lastly and probably the easiest option is the 302....I dunno, would like to keep a manual trans as well(wife permitting....lol). All this is a year or more down the road or as finances (and wife) permit. Hell I still have to build my garage...

Also thinking of back halving the frame for a four link with air bags, and replacing front suspension with bags.....but that is WAAYYY down the road.

Sorry for the novel, but I figure an introduction with alot of info might get some charitable souls to point me in the right direction of build threads and other random tips or tricks....

Thanks in advance.....

Nathan

 

[RangerSVT]

I vote for the 302 option. While not completely original (but every v8 swap is somewhat unique) it will meet your requirements for power, low cost, and simplicity. Not too many custom parts needed, so replacement parts will be at every corner parts store. T5 from a mustang or m5od-r2 from an f150 will be your options for manual trannies, again without going custom. Since you Like the looks, have you thought about taking the irs and grafting it to the ranger?? That with a mustang 2 front end would be a very capable setup all with off the shelf parts... Sorry to hear about your father. All of us here send our condolences
SVT

 

[camusmuse]

I vote for the 302 option. While not completely original (but every v8 swap is somewhat unique) it will meet your requirements for power, low cost, and simplicity. Not too many custom parts needed, so replacement parts will be at every corner parts store. T5 from a mustang or m5od-r2 from an f150 will be your options for manual trannies, again without going custom. Since you Like the looks, have you thought about taking the irs and grafting it to the ranger?? That with a mustang 2 front end would be a very capable setup all with off the shelf parts... Sorry to hear about your father. All of us here send our condolences
SVT

Thanks....the old man has been gone about a year and a half now...miss him every day.

Yeah...I did think about an IRS outta a mkviii. That was the original plan, to find a beat up but decent running mkviii as a donor and use the drivetrain. Right now my daily driver is a somewhat beat up mkviii....and that was to be the donor, but in reality its in too nice of condition to cut up and part out. I'll just let the wife drive it...lol....it will get tore up in no time....heh. I was even thinking of using the airride system and rest of the suspension from the mkviii....but havent really put much time into researching it. I know that the front I beams on the ranger gotta go any way....but yeah a mustang front suspension would probably be the easiest and I am sure they have bag kits for them. I dont want a cookie cutter swap, but at the same time I dont want to go full custom on the frame. I'm sure what ever I do will probably have already been done, hopefully I can find a good write up somewhere for the different areas of the project. I'll keep searching... One idea I have been tossing around since I was a teenager was a retractable hard top. It would fold at the top rear corner, and the top and back window would fold under the bed (would hide under the dump bed with tonneau and floor cut out). Havent seen that yet(maybe theres a reason for that)...lol....LOTS of fab, hinge, and reinforcement work. Might have to save that for a different truck....