New member 1996 Mazda B2300 looking to do an engine swap

[MrJiggyFly$]

I have a 1996 Mazda B2300 2wd 5 speed that has been in my family since new. It was my Uncle Allen's truck originally, he then sold it to his brother my Uncle Wayne then it was passed top my father when my Uncle Wayne died, and when my father passed, it came to me. The speedo has not worked since Christ was still a Jewish carpenter but my guestimate would be that it has 300K+ on it. It has been a legit champ of a truck. Now that the little 2300 motor is fairly lifeless..it runs great but could not pull the skin off a bowl of pudding, I am trying to figure out what engine would make sense. I could buy a rebuilt 2300 long-block, but I would like to put something in it that I could actually tow something with. While i am by NO MEANS an actual mechanic, I a bit of a gearhead, and have restored about a dozen cars over the years, so I know how to get my hands greasy and my knuckles bloody. LOL I would like to put a motor in it that would allow me to tow my classic cars on a trailer with. I was curious as to what swaps people have done. I was a little curious about doing a GM Atlas 4200 swap but am not married to that by any means. Plan is to do the motor/tranny swap, get it repainted and eventually give it to my nephew. Any help or thoughts will be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blmpkn]

I have a 1996 Mazda B2300 2wd 5 speed that has been in my family since new. It was my Uncle Allen's truck originally, he then sold it to his brother my Uncle Wayne then it was passed top my father when my Uncle Wayne died, and when my father passed, it came to me. The speedo has not worked since Christ was still a Jewish carpenter but my guestimate would be that it has 300K+ on it. It has been a legit champ of a truck. Now that the little 2300 motor is fairly lifeless..it runs great but could not pull the skin off a bowl of pudding, I am trying to figure out what engine would make sense. I could buy a rebuilt 2300 long-block, but I would like to put something in it that I could actually tow something with. While i am by NO MEANS an actual mechanic, I a bit of a gearhead, and have restored about a dozen cars over the years, so I know how to get my hands greasy and my knuckles bloody. LOL I would like to put a motor in it that would allow me to tow my classic cars on a trailer with. I was curious as to what swaps people have done. I was a little curious about doing a GM Atlas 4200 swap but am not married to that by any means. Plan is to do the motor/tranny swap, get it repainted and eventually give it to my nephew. Any help or thoughts will be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Legally/liability-wise.. that truck isn't gonna cut the mustard for towing old iron around with. Doesn't matter what motor/trans/axles you swap into it.. the vin is what 'holds' capacity ratings.

Put a 2.3t in it and have a fun little hot rod..

 

[MrJiggyFly$]

Legally/liability-wise.. that truck isn't gonna cut the mustard for towing old iron around with. Doesn't matter what motor/trans/axles you swap into it.. the vin is what 'holds' capacity ratings.

Put a 2.3t in it and have a fun little hot rod..

Thank you... sounds like solid advice. What year 2.3T will swap??? Or perhaps, what is needed to do that swap?

 

[Blmpkn]

Thank you... sounds like solid advice. What year 2.3T will swap??? Or perhaps, what is needed to do that swap?

You could find an entire factory turbo motor/ECU/harness combo and swap it all in.. you could send your current motor to a machine shop and have it built.. you could purchase a reman turbo motor.. there's plenty of different approaches.. all with varying levels of expense and involvement.

@scotts90ranger has a turbo swapped truck.. he'd be able to fill you in with better details and such.

 

[MrJiggyFly$]

You could find an entire factory turbo motor/ECU/harness combo and swap it all in.. you could send your current motor to a machine shop and have it built.. you could purchase a reman turbo motor.. there's plenty of different approaches.. all with varying levels of expense and involvement.

@scotts90ranger has a turbo swapped truck.. he'd be able to fill you in with better details and such.

Hopefully @scotts90ranger will weigh in. The truck is a family heirloom, but at the end of the day, I am not planning on putting a ton of money into a truck that really only has sentimental value, so the least expensive/easiest route would be the smart move, IMO.

 

[Blmpkn]

Hopefully @scotts90ranger will weigh in. The truck is a family heirloom, but at the end of the day, I am not planning on putting a ton of money into a truck that really only has sentimental value, so the least expensive/easiest route would be the smart move, IMO.

Sometimes.. sentiment can be the best reason to spend a little too much on something.

That being said.. what's your definition of a ton of money?

It's going to be an expense however you may decide to do it.. but there are ways to minimize/spread out the pain you inflict on the bank account.

The outright cheapest & easiest way just to get going would be to piece together your own kit & keep the boost under 5lbs. Under 5lbs generally doesn't require intercooling.. so that greatly simplifies things.

1500 dollarydoos would likely be just enough to get it done in a 'v.1' type flavor.

100$ for the header
100$ for the turbo
320$ for a quality wastegate
200$ lines & fittings to oil turbo
450$ piggyback ECU to tune it
???$ larger injectors
???$ exhaust

Header & turbo can just be eBay specials.. put a real turbo on it down the road at some point if you feel like it.

DO NOT cheap out on a wastegate. Buy from a brand that's recognizable.. turbosmart, turbonetics, precision turbo etc. Cheap gates seem to have a penchant for sticking shut.. and if your gate sticks shut.. boost pressure goes through the roof in a hurry and a rod goes through the side of the block.

Estimated cost for oiling the turbo is probably way over honestly.. 4 fittings and a few feet of hose.. I'd use AN stuff personally.

A twEECer RT can be utilized to tune it. They offer remote tuning and stuff that's priced reasonably as well.. use your laptop to datalog.. email data.. get a reply containing new map.. rinse and repeat until your happy with & confident in the tune.

Injectors can be yanked from whatever.. 26 to 28lb/hr would do just fine.

Up to you what you do about the remainder of the exhaust. Mate it up with the factory stuff or build an entire new setup..

Do all of this to the current motor. Take it easy for a bit.. get all the proverbial kinks worked out.. make sure the tune is solid.. and then just wail on it

After that it's all up to you. Down the road aways you could have the current motor rebuilt or simply put a reman turbo motor in.. switch to intercooling and more boost after that.. slowly improve on it over time..

"Just make it exist first. You can make it GOOD later"

Something to keep in mind too is that your truck is now of the age where it'll soon become an appreciating asset.. especially if it's been given the performance treatment..

Don't think of it as spending too much money on a worthless old truck. Get your nephew to help you turn wrenches and stuff and consider that money spent as an investment in family. It'll provide you with all sorts of unforgettable memories.. and good family memories are priceless. I WISH I could spend more time with my nephew.. but my daggum brother had to make sure he was born 3 states away .

 

[MrJiggyFly$]

Sometimes.. sentiment can be the best reason to spend a little too much on something.

That being said.. what's your definition of a ton of money?

It's going to be an expense however you may decide to do it.. but there are ways to minimize/spread out the pain you inflict on the bank account.

The outright cheapest & easiest way just to get going would be to piece together your own kit & keep the boost under 5lbs. Under 5lbs generally doesn't require intercooling.. so that greatly simplifies things.

1500 dollarydoos would likely be just enough to get it done in a 'v.1' type flavor.

100$ for the header
100$ for the turbo
320$ for a quality wastegate
200$ lines & fittings to oil turbo
450$ piggyback ECU to tune it
???$ larger injectors
???$ exhaust

Header & turbo can just be eBay specials.. put a real turbo on it down the road at some point if you feel like it.

DO NOT cheap out on a wastegate. Buy from a brand that's recognizable.. turbosmart, turbonetics, precision turbo etc. Cheap gates seem to have a penchant for sticking shut.. and if your gate sticks shut.. boost pressure goes through the roof in a hurry and a rod goes through the side of the block.

Estimated cost for oiling the turbo is probably way over honestly.. 4 fittings and a few feet of hose.. I'd use AN stuff personally.

A twEECer RT can be utilized to tune it. They offer remote tuning and stuff that's priced reasonably as well.. use your laptop to datalog.. email data.. get a reply containing new map.. rinse and repeat until your happy with & confident in the tune.

Injectors can be yanked from whatever.. 26 to 28lb/hr would do just fine.

Up to you what you do about the remainder of the exhaust. Mate it up with the factory stuff or build an entire new setup..

Do all of this to the current motor. Take it easy for a bit.. get all the proverbial kinks worked out.. make sure the tune is solid.. and then just wail on it

After that it's all up to you. Down the road aways you could have the current motor rebuilt or simply put a reman turbo motor in.. switch to intercooling and more boost after that.. slowly improve on it over time..

"Just make it exist first. You can make it GOOD later"

Something to keep in mind too is that your truck is now of the age where it'll soon become an appreciating asset.. especially if it's been given the performance treatment..

Don't think of it as spending too much money on a worthless old truck. Get your nephew to help you turn wrenches and stuff and consider that money spent as an investment in family. It'll provide you with all sorts of unforgettable memories.. and good family memories are priceless. I WISH I could spend more time with my nephew.. but my daggum brother had to make sure he was born 3 states away .

Thanks, @Blmpkn! I was thinking of putting about $5k-$7K into the truck to get the motor/tranny/paint done. I have been restoring cars since I was a teenager and still do most of my own work on all my cars. I'm not looking to put $10K into a motor for the truck, to me that would not makes sense.

Here's a pic of my 68 AMX that is 99% finished (doing a Holley Sniper conversion at the moment) just to give you an idea that I am fairly competent at tuning a wrench.

The motor in it now is pretty lifeless. I suspect that it has 300K on it but I don't really know. I was thinking a fresh built motor was probably a good idea, especially if I am going to add boost. Any recommendations / thought on what direction I should go in that regard? I have been keeping an eye out for a lower mileage used 2.3 but I am not sure what years I need to be looking at....

 

[scotts90ranger]

Mechanically I know what it would need, being a '96 complicates things some as these have little support in the aftermarket unless you do stand alone computer which I haven't done... Stock the bottom end can handle about 5psi as stated above, the limit is the pistons, there's some circle track pistons that are forged out there that aren't too bad of price but they say not for forced induction...

The dumbest way to gain some is to just bolt a turbo on and set the wastegate to limit to about 5psi and leave everything stock other than go a step up in injectors... it's what I plan to do to my '97 some day...

Oiling the turbo should be simple enough, the stock turbo engines just had a stainless hard line teed in at the oil pressure sender going around the back of the head then to the turbo bearing, you could use hard brake line... In my opinion screw AN stuff, overpriced, yet available so I get it for some things... for my oil drainback tube I have an adapter to NPT and two 45 degree 5/8" hose barb fittings (one might be straight, don't remember) and some good heater hose going to the block...

Honestly if it's stock and just tired likely just needs honed and re ringed and probably valve seats and such...

Since you just posted while I was working on this, for a replacement engine without doing anything too tough electronically you need a '95-97 2.3L or you can mix in a 2.5 out of a '98-early 01 as they're the same other than crank/pistons/rods, they have weaker rods though so can't take the abuse of 2.3 rods (they and the crank can handle about 350hp apparently, not on the stock cast pistons though).

 

[MrJiggyFly$]

Sometimes.. sentiment can be the best reason to spend a little too much on something.

That being said.. what's your definition of a ton of money?

It's going to be an expense however you may decide to do it.. but there are ways to minimize/spread out the pain you inflict on the bank account.

The outright cheapest & easiest way just to get going would be to piece together your own kit & keep the boost under 5lbs. Under 5lbs generally doesn't require intercooling.. so that greatly simplifies things.

1500 dollarydoos would likely be just enough to get it done in a 'v.1' type flavor.

100$ for the header
100$ for the turbo
320$ for a quality wastegate
200$ lines & fittings to oil turbo
450$ piggyback ECU to tune it
???$ larger injectors
???$ exhaust

Header & turbo can just be eBay specials.. put a real turbo on it down the road at some point if you feel like it.

DO NOT cheap out on a wastegate. Buy from a brand that's recognizable.. turbosmart, turbonetics, precision turbo etc. Cheap gates seem to have a penchant for sticking shut.. and if your gate sticks shut.. boost pressure goes through the roof in a hurry and a rod goes through the side of the block.

Estimated cost for oiling the turbo is probably way over honestly.. 4 fittings and a few feet of hose.. I'd use AN stuff personally.

A twEECer RT can be utilized to tune it. They offer remote tuning and stuff that's priced reasonably as well.. use your laptop to datalog.. email data.. get a reply containing new map.. rinse and repeat until your happy with & confident in the tune.

Injectors can be yanked from whatever.. 26 to 28lb/hr would do just fine.

Up to you what you do about the remainder of the exhaust. Mate it up with the factory stuff or build an entire new setup..

Do all of this to the current motor. Take it easy for a bit.. get all the proverbial kinks worked out.. make sure the tune is solid.. and then just wail on it

After that it's all up to you. Down the road aways you could have the current motor rebuilt or simply put a reman turbo motor in.. switch to intercooling and more boost after that.. slowly improve on it over time..

"Just make it exist first. You can make it GOOD later"

Something to keep in mind too is that your truck is now of the age where it'll soon become an appreciating asset.. especially if it's been given the performance treatment..

Don't think of it as spending too much money on a worthless old truck. Get your nephew to help you turn wrenches and stuff and consider that money spent as an investment in family. It'll provide you with all sorts of unforgettable memories.. and good family memories are priceless. I WISH I could spend more time with my nephew.. but my daggum brother had to make sure he was born 3 states away .

Thanks @Blmpkn! I was thinking of of putting $5K-$7K into it to do the motor/tranny rebuild and paint. I will also be redoing the suspension as I go, it definitely needs new leaf springs. Is there a rear end upgrade that is an easy swap? Be nice to have a posi rear instead of the one tire on fire route... I have been restoring cars since I was a teenager, so I am familiar with turning a wrench. That said, I don't usually build motors (if it was a older Porsche or a VW, I'd do it, but I don't have the time to put into a motor build for my little "spare" truck" and since it's not a motor I've ever dug into before, it's probably best to either have someone else do it, buy a rebuilt long-block or find a lower mileage junkyard motor and upgrade that. With that in mind, what year(s) of motors should I be focusing on?

Here's a pic of my 68 AMX that I'm 99% done with... it was taken back to bare metal and pretty much everything has been either rebuilt, restored or replaced. I did a 5 speed swap in it (I wanted OD) and it has a built 401.... figured I throw this out there to show I am at least familiar with turning a wrench...

 

[MrJiggyFly$]

Mechanically I know what it would need, being a '96 complicates things some as these have little support in the aftermarket unless you do stand alone computer which I haven't done... Stock the bottom end can handle about 5psi as stated above, the limit is the pistons, there's some circle track pistons that are forged out there that aren't too bad of price but they say not for forced induction...

The dumbest way to gain some is to just bolt a turbo on and set the wastegate to limit to about 5psi and leave everything stock other than go a step up in injectors... it's what I plan to do to my '97 some day...

Oiling the turbo should be simple enough, the stock turbo engines just had a stainless hard line teed in at the oil pressure sender going around the back of the head then to the turbo bearing, you could use hard brake line... In my opinion screw AN stuff, overpriced, yet available so I get it for some things... for my oil drainback tube I have an adapter to NPT and two 45 degree 5/8" hose barb fittings (one might be straight, don't remember) and some good heater hose going to the block...

Honestly if it's stock and just tired likely just needs honed and re ringed and probably valve seats and such...

Since you just posted while I was working on this, for a replacement engine without doing anything too tough electronically you need a '95-97 2.3L or you can mix in a 2.5 out of a '98-early 01 as they're the same other than crank/pistons/rods, they have weaker rods though so can't take the abuse of 2.3 rods (they and the crank can handle about 350hp apparently, not on the stock cast pistons though).

I don't see myself putting anywhere near 350hp in that little truck. My suspicion is that the head is probably the biggest culprit as far as how lethargic it is now, but not being all that familiar with that motor I was unsure how smart putting a new head and adding boost to a well used motor would be. I plan on just making this a fun little truck I can daily drive. If I want I get the itch to REALLY go fast, I'll drive either my 68 AMX or my 08 STS-V. The only caveat in all this is while I enjoy turning a wrench on stuff like this, my time is a bit limited as I have 2 businesses that take up most of my time. I think stock on that 2.3 motor was like 112 and as it sits I think it's making less than 90hp. I would think anything in the 225hp-250hp would be more than enough to make it a much more fun little "beater" pickup... Also, will the trans need any upgrading to handle the increased hp?

Thanks in advance!

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm running a stock M5OD on my turbo ranger pushing around 225hp... the only thing I took out was a bearing a couple years ago... as long as you're not slamming gears it's the same basic transmission they put behind the 205hp 4.0L OHC...

Doing a low boost setup would be maybe 150hp, it would take like 15psi to get in the 200hp realm which will take pistons and a tuner for an OBD II engine...

I wouldn't be afraid of tearing into the engine if you've ever been elbow deep in an engine before, these are simpler than a pushrod engine, the valves aren't even adjustable... the only thing you have to time is the timing belt and it's nothing if you find the three different timing marks for the crank pulley, cam pulley and aux pulley... With the fixed valve geometry and no hardened valve seats the valves like to recess which screws up the geometry, getting hardened seats installed would fix that if you can find a shop that will do it...

as far as axle upgrades the easiest is a '93-08 Ranger axle as it'll just bolt in, the tech library here has a list of axle codes, basically if you find one with a letter in the axle code on the drivers door there's a limited slip the number after is the ratio, I don't remember what they are... an explorer rear axle isn't a hard swap either and can gain you rear disc brakes but none of the advantages are really needed for a 4 cylinder 2 wheel drive Ranger... on my 4x4 turbo ranger on 35" tires that's different...