Looking to rebuild

[cbarnes0061]

I'm looking to rebuild the 2.3 in my 96 Ranger. About 2 years ago it started to tick a little when it was first started up after sitting for a week or so. Now it is doing it every time I start. Pretty sure its where it has over 300k on it and the lifters are just bleeding down when it sits. So my main question is if I rebuild I want to do things right and get a little more performance out of it so what are some good things to do internally while I have the engine apart. I don't need crazy power (still a daily driver) but a little better over stock would be nice.

 

[tomw]

lifter bleed-down is normal and not worth doing anything to stop. If that is the reason for considering a rebuild, I'd give that careful consideration as you can spend a pile of money and end up right where you started.
Most things that improve performance, well, about all, improve the flow of air in and exhaust out. You can port the heads, do an 'alignment' clean up of the intake:head ports to match & clean up the flow, exhaust header(the factory is reputed to be pretty good already), or swap for a performance cam.
Were it mine, I'd want to check a couple things. compression test, leakdown test, and using an actual oil pressure gauge to read the pressure hot, cold, at idle and at speed.
Those numbers would give an indication of the engines condition to determine if anything needed attention or was 'normal'. Once that was determined, additional performanc-type things could be considered.
If you go to a cam, consider the price will be related to the style, either flat slider or roller follower. (Can I have your old cam & followers?) The slider will be a bunch less than a roller, and give decent bump, from what I have read. The grind chosen will depend on whether you want low-end increase or more at the higher end of the rpm range. I do not dig into that much, so cannot really comment deeply.
tom

 

[Mark_88]

Like tomw said the tick is not really worth rebuilding even though there are plenty of miles on the engine. Doing the suggested tests will help determine if there is a better reason and should be done until you see drastic changes in those numbers (compression mainly).

My suggestion would be to shop around either for a second 2.3 to build or look for a 2.5 to put in there instead. You can do the port and polish and consider the cam swap also if you are into making an improvement on power and torque.

The 2.5 has a bit more of both and will pretty much swap directly in place of the 2.3 using the same intake, exhaust, and everything else (may need to change oil pan for 2.3 version and put the crank sensor from the 2.3 onto the 2.5...but everything else is pretty much plug and play.

My last Ranger had the 2.5 on a 96 frame and it ran nice...didn't get to drive it but the previous owner said it was quicker and smoother than the original he had with 250,000 km (not miles).