Best heads by year or motor

[Ranger850]

Just out of curiosity, what are the "BEST" heads for a 3.0 Vulcan? Either by year or motor or Car.
Can I put Heads from a Taurus on a Ranger Engine?
If so, what year range should I be looking for/at?
My truck is a 2001 Ranger Edge 3.0. Can I upgrade with a simple parts swap?

 

[Ranger850]

Thanks to everybody for the quick responses.

It seems like the last 2 years of the Ranger got the most powerful versions of the Vulcan @205 hp, but I couldn't find any info on the heads. Did they run the exact same heads for 15 years? Internet only says "improvements were made" and "horse power was upped" but doesn't say how they did it.

A lot of my searches kept circling back here to TRS.com

I know one or two TRS members are/were building a 3.0 but they all have fallen off with posting updates. @snoranger weren't you doing something with a Vulcan?

 

[Snoranger]

Thanks to everybody for the quick responses.

It seems like the last 2 years of the Ranger got the most powerful versions of the Vulcan @205 hp, but I couldn't find any info on the heads. Did they run the exact same heads for 15 years? Internet only says "improvements were made" and "horse power was upped" but doesn't say how they did it.

A lot of my searches kept circling back here to TRS.com

I know one or two TRS members are/were building a 3.0 but they all have fallen off with posting updates. @snoranger weren't you doing something with a Vulcan?

No… I have never done, or never planned on doing anything, with a 3.0l Ranger. If I ever end up owning one, I’ll 5.0 swap it before I even transfer the title into my name.

 

[superj]

I wonder what the differences were? Interesting question to find out

 

[Blmpkn]

Best stock, untouched heads would be dependant on what the goal of the project is and what cam the thing has in it I would imagine.

 

[Roert42]

Sounds like the plan for the engine and the goal is to change the heads and not the cam, or anything else for that matter.

 

[pjtoledo]

check Ford for part numbers on various years???
if something changed I'd expect a revised part #. it would probably be in the suffix,,AA BA CA etc.
I think the flex heads had different chambers,


what years had the 205 hp?
I thought the 3.0 was dropped a couple years before Ranger production ended?
the Duratec 3.0 was rated at 205.

 

[Ranger850]

Sounds like the plan for the engine and the goal is to change the heads and not the cam, or anything else for that matter.

No real plan. Just curiosity mostly.

check Ford for part numbers on various years???
if something changed I'd expect a revised part #. it would probably be in the suffix,,AA BA CA etc.
I think the flex heads had different chambers,


what years had the 205 hp?
I thought the 3.0 was dropped a couple years before Ranger production ended?
the Duratec 3.0 was rated at 205.

I read somewhere that the last version of the Vulcan was used in the 07-08 MY rated at 205. Good idea about the part #'s, I'll see what I can find out. I didn't really think about the cam, but I wuold imagine that has an effect as well.

 

[Blmpkn]

Well, putting car heads (if possible) on a block with a truck cam or vise versa probably isn't optimal.. although.. mabey?

Car chambers might be smaller or something..

 

[Ranger850]

@stmitch, don't you have some 3.0 knowledge. Do you know IF there were any differences in the cams/heads over the years?

 

[rubydist]

I am 99% sure the transverse engines had different heads than the ones mounted north to south. But that is the extent of my knowledge of the differences in heads through the years.

 

[Ranger850]

I am 99% sure the transverse engines had different heads than the ones mounted north to south. But that is the extent of my knowledge of the differences in heads through the years.

Well, that's something at least. Thanks @rubydist. Any idea which ones had the better flow?

EDIT: Are you sure they were different heads, or just valve covers? I read somewhere that if I got a Taurus motor to swap into a Ranger, I would have to keep the Ranger Valve covers.

 

[Ranger850]

Anybody ever heard of Tom Morana?

He seems to be pretty popular on FordForumsOnline.com

 

[Roert42]

Probably the biggest name for performance V6 stuff, at least for ford power plants.
I think PJ spoke to him a while back about his 2.9 build, said it was super old. Not sure how much longer his shop would be around.

Super six motorsports dose a lot with ford V6s too, not sure about the 3.0 though.

 

[Ranger850]

Probably the biggest name for performance V6 stuff, at least for ford power plants.
I think PJ spoke to him a while back about his 2.9 build, said it was super old. Not sure how much longer his shop would be around.

Super six motorsports dose a lot with ford V6s too, not sure about the 3.0 though.

lurking over on his website, he seems to be "the go to". . . but I ain't got $$$ like that.
Also seems like a good port & polish with the "gasket match" method is what gets the best results. and "cam grinds". (?)
Funny how almost every search ends back here. I found some old archived stuff from RangerPowerSports.com on another forum. That's where i read about Tom Morana. I got to one Taurus performance Forum and they where referencing the Tech Library here on TRS. Cool. . . I guess? I was hoping to find anything new, but can't. I can see why everybody says trying to squeeze performance from a Vulcan is just not worth it. BUT that's the kind of stuff that intrigues me gets me in trouble.