pinto engine swap

[jhoerste]

a friend just gave me an overhauled 4 cyl engine from a pinto, i would like to use it in my 96 ranger 5-speed the question is: how do i tell what the engine is, it looks almost identical to my 2.3 liter except it has a cast iron exhaust manifold and a 2 barrel carb and a distributor, it looks like the sump may be in front but it is crated to where i cant tell for sure.

also will this bolt to my existing tranny?

any ideas out there?

 

[Blueovalboy89]

From my understanding, most of the early model pintos came with a 2.0 or 2.3 which were very similar aside from displacement. It should bolt up. Im assuming your 96 came with the 2.3 also. Like you said, the oil pan may cause a clearance issue. I know on my 84, i have about an 1/8th between the pan and the crossmember on the tc motor. 96 may be another story. But if nothing else you can go ahead, drop it in and then swap out the pan if needed.

 

[4b316]

Are you going to use your EFi and DIS?This takes alot of work changeing over.If you are just going to bolt it in and use the carb and dist.,it will work.You might have to use a pan from a ranger

 

[scotts90ranger]

is the '96 EDIS or just regular DIS? swapping to the DIS isn't all that bad, although you pretty much need to use the ranger pan, which might be interesting getting the rear cap to seal as the older engines had a trough in the rear cap for the seal where the new pans have that in the pan. the swap only involves drilling and tapping 3 holes in the block for the crank sensor, if you use the ranger engine wiring, it'll all pretty much work... if you eliminate the drivers side coil pack you can work with the single plug head. getting the fuel injection to work could be interesting as you'd have to find an intake manifold for the head...

 

[mercman]

You might want to look into what year pinto it came from. Some had 1.6's in them that are different, and the early 2.0 is also a little different than later 2.3's. Early 2.0's have a rouned valve cover and I think only 3 cam towers. They also require stepped alignment pins and a couple of other slight mods to mate to a 2.3 bellhousing. The guys at Racer Walsh are good with these engines, and can answer any question you have. They helped me several times.

 

[4b316]

The 3 holes you have to drill are pretty percise.All the offset you can have is the clearences of the vanes on the pickup.They also have to be in the right degree circle for timing.Somewheres around here I have a template that locates it.

 

[jhoerste]

thanks to all for the advice: i dont know how to tell what size or year the engine is...i was suprised to see the distributor is "points" not a duraspark which i infer is early 70's

also the carb has 2 square barrels does anyone know what brand it might be?

also if i can make the ranger oilpan work will it interfere with the sump tube since the deep part would be in the back

steve

 

[scotts90ranger]

you use the ranger oil pump with the pan, or just the sump from it...

 

[jimmyk]

Take the rocker cover off and see if the engine has mechanical or hydraulic lash adjusters. If it has mechanical ones is a 2000, mechanical its a 2.3. The carb is a motorcraft/webber/holley 2 barrel that's set up like a 4 barrel carb, it has a primary and a secondary venturi. I had one of each in Pintos years ago. Crappy mileage and no power. If it was me I'd sell the engine off to a Pinto nut and buy an engine that will drop in to your Ranger. A lot less hassle for you.
One thing of interest, if its a 2000 that engine was/is used as the Formula Ford engine for entry level racing. At one time there was a dual cam head available from Lotus that bolted right on.