help me decide on a motor

[cody93]

I have an 87 ranger 2wd with a 2.3 EFI and 5spd, No A/C, Power steering or power brakes, just an alternator. Im realy happy with the 2.3 but i know it will not last forever and i have decided on buying a spare motor i can swap in when the time comes. its a 2wd truck thats used for daily driving, not for showing off so i dont want something with lots of HP and crappy MPG. ive been considering a carb setup for simplicity.

ok so here are what im considering:
Option 1, 2.3L carbbed and durasparked, not as effiecent as EFI, but i love simplicity and i think the EFI TB's are ugly

option 2, 2.5L out of a gen4 carbbed n durasparked, yes i know i need to add a distributor hole to the block. or are the 2.3 and the 2.5 blocks the same but with different rods and pistons?

option 3, 3.3L/200 or 4.1L/250 falcon strait six with triple carbs. yes its a 6 cyl with 3 carbs, probly not as effecient a 4 cyl but there gona be easier to work on than a v6/v8, plus the idea of an I6 ranger sounds badass. my only concern is it being to long, but i was told it could fit, probly by using electric fans and shorter water pump.

option 4, 2.3L EFI and Distributor, like my current setup, but with a new simplified wireing harness and EGR delete, im kinda worried about my current wireing harness and a new standalone one may be a good idea as i have already found a couple of wires that needed to be patched up.

goal as far as power is around 150 hp and about 170 pounds of tourqe for a N/A engine, nothing too earth moving. my main priority is servicability and inline engines are best at that, plenty of room and simple.

 

[dangerranger83]

Put a 2.3 TC engine in her. Will have pleanty of HP and good fuel mileage. I would put power steering and power brakes in her while you are doing all of this. As for A/C, its over rated.

 

[cody93]

turbo coupes are few and far between around here, but hey i may come across one!

edit:i checked craigslist, theres an 84 TC for 800$, complete car, but dosn't run and car looks to pretty to chop up.
i realy dont wana spend over 250 for an engine, cause i'll rebuild it first before installing it.

 

[dangerranger83]

Only thing with running 3 carbs is tuning all of them and keeping them all in tune. Sooner or later they start to fall out of tune with eachother.

 

[tgallmey]

4d55t mpg ftw

 

[Spott]

Just for the sake of novelty, I'm gonna recommend you install a 2-piston Wankel rotary engine from an old Mazda RX-7. They're pretty efficient, nice and torque-y, and I like saying the word "Wankel".

Wankel.

Spott

 

[cody93]

eh... wankel?!? were the hell am i gona find an old rx7 around here? im in arkansas.. cant even find any mitisubishi mighty maxes to get diesels from.. i need a cheap easy to find motor thats easy to maintain. saw a falcon 200 I-6 for 100$ recently, plus limas are common too! V8s are out of the question, my pockets aren't deep enough, altho im tempted to start colecting methane and make a meth powered V8 ranger, opps, been watching to much mad max...

 

[Funnyman141]

I would go with the 200/250 inline 6 just for the fact that its unique, though I would go with double carb setup (if possible not sure lol) or perhaps smaller throttle bodies to go where the carbs go........ meh nevermind, just a thought.

 

[dangerranger83]

Screw it, go with a 7.3 and be done.

 

[cody93]

still open to sugestions, but practical choices only, has to be cheap to obtain and easy to maintain, plus not over sized/gas hungry. one question, did the 2.5 have a distributor hole? i also had a crazy idea to make a 302/351W run on methane, gota love farm country! mabey ive watched mad max 3 to many times... waita sec, that aint practical...


EDIT: one more crazy idea, take a dual plug 2.5L, use a regular 4 plug dizzy and use the other 4 holes in the head for direct fuel injection

im crazy + stupid, people call me a useful idiot.

 

[2813josh]

I agree with dangerranger turbo 2.3...just a thought

 

[cody93]

i like the 2.3t motor, but there rare around here and arn't cheap.

 

[dangerranger83]

Screw it, 460 stroker!!!!

 

[cody93]

some how i can see a ranger doing a stopie like a motor cycle with one of those..

 

[fordmike1]

I would do a SHO 3.0l V6 to be diffrent. But back to reallity and just do a 2.3l 4cyl and call it good. Those engines will run forever if you keep them well maintained. My buddy has a 95 extra cab with a 2.3l and a 5 speed with 240k+ miles on it and its still going strong.