Just bought a Ranger!

[road_warrior64]

I just bought a 1993 Ranger. It sounds too good to be true but it belonged to an old man and had been sitting in his garage for two years. It has just over 100K miles, perfect body, and no mechanical problems (other than a dead battery). I'm not sure about the "only drove it to church on Sunday's" part. Anyway, I have some questions and you guys seem to be a great resource.

1. How much does the stock flywheel weigh?
2. Anybody used a lightened flywheel?
3. What would this do to my MPG?
4. Do Accel coil packs make a difference?
5. Is there an underdrive pulley that can be used with a stock belt?
6. The exhaust manifold looks like a header. Is a header better?

Well, theres six questions to start with. I'm sure there will be more. Hopefully, I can add to this forum once I get under the hood. I'm going for efficiency so I'm really trying to free up power instead of making more. Thanks.

John
road_warrior64

 

[Melt]

I cant imagine putting a lightened flywheel in would affect the mpg ... but who knows.

 

[ejholmgren]

Header is better, the earlier design was a cast manifold.

 

[mhughes165]

ive seen some that were the same as a mustang stock header/manifold, the already flow GREAT, and my buddy had one factory on his 93

 

[Super95]

Congrats, you may want to start with a tune up, if you haven't already. You say your trying for efficiency.
100K on a 93, it may still have orig. timing belt and spark plugs and wires maybe a good place to start.

 

[Southern3.0]

Yea start wwith a good tune up,then worry about more power.

I dont know about the flywheel stuff but I wouldn't swap to the Accel coil packs, Waste of money on a stock or near stock truck IMO, that and Ive read that Ford Iginitons are some of the strongest and that sometimes the aftermarket ones are somtimes weaker.

You might wanna Check out Esslinger Engineering for parts for your 2.3
http://www.esslingeracing.com/

 

[Mutant Pony]

Welcome to Rangers and welcome to TRS.
The heavier the vehicle, the heavier the flywheel needs to be. If you put a lightened flywheel in a stock Ranger it will drive horrible. If you extensivly lighten a Ranger, you can then use a lightened flywheel.
It is not possible to have an underdrive pulley and a stock belt. Esslinger sell large waterpump pulleys and underdrive crank pulleys, as does Racer walsh.
The stock exhaust manifold flows good, The expense of a header isn't justified.

 

[Kenneth S]

A battery, check the charging system, a tune-up, replace the belts, change the oil, (and the anti-freeze/coolant if necessary), then drive and enjoy. The cast iron factory (header) is good, leave the flywheel alone, don't under drive the the accessories it doesn't do much good on a street drivin vehicle (I've done tried it, no improvement on mpg or power) the only thing under driving the accessories will do is that the alternator won't charge the battery at an idle and your headlights (along with all the other lights) will dim. I get 22mpg in the city, 26 mpg @ 65mph on the highway, your mpg's should be close to what I'm getting.

Welcome to TRS BTW!

P.S. The accel coil packs probably don't add much if any extra help, if your thinking of buying them save your money for something else.

 

[Mark_88]

Yeah, welcome to TRS...hope you enjoy the truck...

If it's a standard cab there's not much you can do to lighten your vehicle unless you go with plastic seats or other lightweight materials...or take off the tailgate...

Lightening the vehicle is probably a better option than tinkering with flywheels unless you are willing to spend some money on other upgrades to increase power as well...

If it has A/C and you don't really need it you could loose ten pounds by removing it...and power steering can be removed if you don't mind cranking with your arms a bit harder...

The stock headers are good...I put one on my truck out of a 93 mazda and it works great...and is about 50 lbs lighter than the cast iron original...

I'm sure you will find plenty of info and possible upgrades if you want to go that route, but I'd drive it for a while after you tune it up to see if you really need to do anything...with the price of gas rising I would suggest just lightening the load and leaving as stock...they are pretty good on gas generally...