re engine for off road light duty

[jhoerste]

hi my name is steve from texas my project is grafting a 1954 gmc body to a 1996 ranger chassis(i know i know quit laughing already) the finished auto will be at most a ranch/parade/rolling artwork truck.

my whole goal is to get the motor (2.3l), or any other motor, working with the bare minimum of sensors , gauges, etc. i.e. to be non road legal so i can work on it. the best answer i have found so far is to put a 2.0/2.3 liter ohc with a carb and dizzy. i have not found this particular application in the forums.

what is the best idea to get this thing moving under its own power the current head is shot and i took out all the wiring from the firewall back.

 

[fastpakr]

Why do you want to eliminate the sensors? These things are more reliable than carbs when properly maintained. It's not exactly bleeding edge technology.

 

[jhoerste]

the problem is that i'm 54and incapable of setting the vcr clock so the electronics are beyond my comprension

 

[Ranger44]

Then at least go with a carbed V-8.

 

[Mark_88]

Under those conditions, I'd suggest getting a 2.3 from a first generation Ranger that has the dizzy and use the wiring from an 87 or 88 2.0 carbed setup. Selecting the intake/carb from the stock setup would not be a good idea, but you can get an EFI intake from an 86 2.3 and an adaptor to mount a Holey 350 carb...that is actually a preferred setup for that application and usually requires a minimum of wiring...

If you do that, also use the distributor from the 2.0 because the wire clips are different between the 2.3 and 2.0...and you should try to get the complete harness for both under the hood and in-dash from the 2.0 if possible to limit the amount of mods you have to do...

Another suggestion would be to get the shorty header from a 93 or 94 Ranger or B2300 as this is a bolt-on upgrade...since you're not going to make it legal you can leave off the emission stuff completely (since the 2.0 emission crap is unbelieveably complex and difficult to troubleshoot compared to the 2.3)...

There is plenty of info and other users on this site that can direct you in the Four Banger Forum...and even some pics and upgrade suggestions in the threads...

Have at it and happy hunting...