PlumCrazy's 88 SuperCab Build

[PlumCrazy]

Probably time I start a thread for this 88 SuperCab I have been tinkering on.

Bought it cheap running on 3 cylinders and super gross inside.

Tore it down and found a broken piston, transmission full of milky oil, and an ECU full of corrosion....safe to say I think it was flooded and likely hydro locked at some point.

Picked up a low mileage Mustang 2.3 for it and swapped over the 4 plug head and roller cam setup.

Scored a long tube header on Summit's clearance rack..so I ditched the FUBARed manifold and EGR

The Mustang didnt have the same mounting holes for accessory brackets as the Ranger and the Mustang PS pump didnt clear the steering box....so I deleted the power steering and used a 94ish Ranger 3G alternator setup on the passenger side.

Pulled the bumper back out, deleted on the amber and ran it for while with just flipped rear hangers and ratty looking Alcoas

It had like two add a leaves in the back and looked ridiculous....so I pulled those out and put dream beams with 95-97 dual piston spindles up front.

Polished up some wheels for it

At some point I put a Hurst shifter in that I had laying around as well as a steering wheel that I'm pretty sure came off of a boat. I also put an OEM radio and brushed aluminum dash bezel in.

added a transmission breather since the Hurst closes up the factory vent

The factory guibo was hanging by a thread since the previous owner had the trans crossmember in backwards putting everything in a bind....Im still looking for the pictures....but I cut it out and welded in a traditional 1310 yoke and slip setup.

Not long after I started driving it the distributor gear gave up the ghost. I swapped in another distributor quick and it was good for 20k miles or so.

Then it did it again, so I swapped the auxiliary shaft and gear this time. I am assuming the issue was the gear materials or something from using a distributor on what was originally a newer non distributor aux shaft or something.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Fast forward a year or so (Circus 3/2024). I scored a boatload of SVO 2.3 stuff at an estate sale.

Then I did nothing with any of it until last week. So, I grabbed the most complete turbo engine and started digging into it. Found it already has roller cam and an adjustable cam gear on it.

Drilled a 2.3 pattern into the engine stand and got it mounted up
(if you are smarter than me....you will notice I drilled pattern the wrong direction the first try....i suppose it will be there if i ever need to bolt up a transmission to it. lol)

Stripped all the accessories off and started mocking up a fresh manifold and turbo with some flip flanges from Big R Motorsports.

Pulled a couple caps off and decided to order some bearings. None were scored up, but all are just about worn through the first layer of bi/tri metal with a little debris embedded. They are all STD size and are easy enough to roll in while its up in my teeth. Crank looks mint and from the bottom side all the cylinders look great.

Ill swap the Ranger pan, water pump, and timing set over when I swap engines in the coming weeks. My plan is to run this setup with either a stock TurboCoupe ECU and VAM or a PimpX setup....depending on what I get my hands on first.

Also picked up some front hangers to drop the rear little more.

Hopefully it sits about like it did with a 5.3 and 4L80 in the bed (see below)

 

[scotts90ranger]

Looks like a good time!

The front sump or mid sump pans had a wider oil pump if I remember right, when I went to put on the Ranger pan the first time around I had to swap to the Ranger oil pump, just a heads up, I imagine you have enough parts around to make that happen . I need to re stock up on turbo parts, I'm going to run out of pistons one of these days... I need to build up the spare '88 Ranger engine with some forged pistons so I can get rid of the tapered bores I have now...

 

[PlumCrazy]

Looks like a good time!

The front sump or mid sump pans had a wider oil pump if I remember right, when I went to put on the Ranger pan the first time around I had to swap to the Ranger oil pump, just a heads up, I imagine you have enough parts around to make that happen . I need to re stock up on turbo parts, I'm going to run out of pistons one of these days... I need to build up the spare '88 Ranger engine with some forged pistons so I can get rid of the tapered bores I have now...

I think I still have two sets of stock bore pistons loose here. I haven't sold too much just in case I find myself needing to throw something else together.

I had no issues swapping the Ranger pan onto the current Mustang engine in my truck, I think they had the same pickup tube and everything....but it was a newer engine with an aluminum pan already, just no level sensors/switch

 

[scotts90ranger]

Thanks, I think I still have a fairly complete engine left in my "crate" in the garage but I piled a bunch of junk on top of it so it's really inconvenient to look at

Yeah, I started with a '85 thunderbird engine with a steel pan so it probably had a different oil pump... I imagine things changed with the small journal cranks which was '88 I think? Maybe it's with the oil pan seal change in '86? I can't keep track of all the silly small changes over the years anymore...

 

[PlumCrazy]

Threw new bearings in and checked clearances for peace of mind.
Mains and rods all show .0015" and I'm fine with that.

Thrust was right at .004" which is the tighter end of spec

While I had the crank out I figured I should replace the seals....good thing I decided to fight this now rather than in the truck. Ended up busting the front timing cover trying to get the gear off. With some heat and patience I was able to get off the old square tooth gear.

Also found that the auxiliary shaft and gear were wasted. The "key" was loose and had chewed up both the shaft and gear.

Luckily I had another shaft and a timing cover in stock to knock fresh seals into and get things put back together with.

Had the truck up on lift to look into what it's going to take to do the front hangers.....both leaf bolts are seized and I didn't feel like going further with that project right now, but I did snap a picture of the driveshaft I converted from guibo to traditional 1310.

Also after 12+ weeks...the axle shafts for the V8 truck finally arrived! Small bearing 31 spline so I can keep the current 28 spline housing, but use a 31 spline Trac-Lok when I re-gear to 3.31s soon.

Also rebuilt this Trac-Lok and re-geared an Explorer IRS 8.8 that's going into my brother's 2JZ swapped RX-7

 

[SenorNoob]

2JZ, RX7, 8.8 IRS? Sounds interesting...

 

[PlumCrazy]

2JZ, RX7, 8.8 IRS? Sounds interesting...

Also a BMW DCT transmission...

 

[PlumCrazy]

Thanks, I think I still have a fairly complete engine left in my "crate" in the garage but I piled a bunch of junk on top of it so it's really inconvenient to look at

Yeah, I started with a '85 thunderbird engine with a steel pan so it probably had a different oil pump... I imagine things changed with the small journal cranks which was '88 I think? Maybe it's with the oil pan seal change in '86? I can't keep track of all the silly small changes over the years anymore...

I was ordering parts last night and started looking into oil pan differences and recalled your comment about the pumps being different…thank you mentioning the potential issue as well as the oil pan changes over the years. From what I can tell the aluminum pan motors used a smaller cast iron pump vs the steel pans use a bulkier aluminum pump. Looks like you also saved me some headaches when it comes to the front cover and rear main cap differences may not have noticed until it was too late.

I have a front cover with no groove I can use (unfortunately I just pounded my new seal into the wrong style cover), but glad to know this before I wasted a gasket and time bolting the wrong style to the block. The no grove front cover also has two less bolts and they are all M6
(sitting on top is old style with 4 bolts and groove, installed is no groove and just two M6)

Aluminum pan setup currently in the truck also only has the two M6 bolts.

I’ll have to fill the groove in the rear cap, so I can get to working on that now before it’s go time and I have the pan ready to swap over.

Shop supervisor said it looks good enough.

 

[Ab_Reed]

Fun project! I keep seeing motor swaps makes me want to do something, and then my dad just mentioned v8 swapping it. I think id like a 4 cyl turbo for better fuel economy. But the 3.0 is fine for now.
The more I dig into my 96 the more issues pop-up. But that's the joys of living in Massachusetts. The truck was basically repaired enough to keep it on the road. Definitely wasn't maintained.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Fun project! I keep seeing motor swaps makes me want to do something, and then my dad just mentioned v8 swapping it. I think id like a 4 cyl turbo for better fuel economy. But the 3.0 is fine for now.
The more I dig into my 96 the more issues pop-up. But that's the joys of living in Massachusetts. The truck was basically repaired enough to keep it on the road. Definitely wasn't maintained.

I did a 5.0 in my 97 a few years ago and it's a blast to drive.

 

[SenorNoob]

...my dad just mentioned v8 swapping it. I think id like a 4 cyl turbo for better fuel economy...

MPG doesn't change much with engine. The aerodynamics are the real limiting factor. You only burn fuel for the power you're currently using. (Assuming an efficient engine control system.)

 

[PlumCrazy]

I get 16-18 in the 5.0 truck, consistently got 23 with it with the 200k 2.3.....but the 5.0 needs a different rear gear to keep the RPMs under 3k at 80. (Hence why I have 3.31s, axles, and a Trac- Lok sitting on the bench) Lol

 

[sgtsandman]

Fun project! I keep seeing motor swaps makes me want to do something, and then my dad just mentioned v8 swapping it. I think id like a 4 cyl turbo for better fuel economy. But the 3.0 is fine for now.
The more I dig into my 96 the more issues pop-up. But that's the joys of living in Massachusetts. The truck was basically repaired enough to keep it on the road. Definitely wasn't maintained.

One thing I've found with the turbo charged four cylinder option is that there is a fuel savings as long as you go easy on the gas pedal, at least with the ecoboosts. As mentioned, areodynamics is a big player. So, you might not get as much fuel enconomy as one would hope. Getting 30 mpg is possible with some of these trucks but speed and terrain come into play and may fight against you. Anything over 55-60 mph is going to cause an mpg drop. Obviously, if you are climbing up and down hills is going to effect fuel economy as well. So, shoot for the moon but don't be surprised if you don't get what you hoped for.

 

[PlumCrazy]

If you think about the money saved driving a paid off 20+ year old truck vs a new one....then a few MPG doesn't matter anyway. Put the motor in that your heart desires and enjoy the smiles per gallon.