SHO power

[Dwayne]

Looking for info or guidance to help with putting a 1989 3ltr SHO in an 1989 ranger. Both are manual. I have harness

 

[stmitch]

I'm fairly sure that the 3.0 SHO engine and the 3.0 Vulcan that came in a bajillion Rangers had the same bellhousing bolt pattern, so you'll want a manual trans from a 3.0 equipped Ranger.

There are a few threads out there about wanting to attempt the swap, but the only one I've ever seen complete was done by Ford. There's a nice writeup about it on the first page of this thread:
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12548

You'll probably be on your own for motor mounts, exhaust, and some wiring. I wouldn't be surprised if the width caused some interference with the HVAC plenum on the passenger side, or the brake booster on the driver's side, but I can't find specific measurements in my quick googling.

 

[dan_man838]

here is a good write up on the SHO forum about using a ranger trans to convert the 3.0 SHO to rwd.

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/rwd-sho-guys.122058/

other than that I would think mounts and cross members would have to be custom fab.. Great idea though! make a thread and post lots of pictures.. and weld your cams their pressed lobes are notorious for spinning of there position.

 

[Davis]

I thought the issue was the cam sprockets on the SHO V8 are swaged, and need to be welded to the cams or they will eventually slip and destroy the engine. I've never heard of any issues with the SHO V6 cams.

 

[bobbywalter]

i know theres a few out west, and some here in the detroit area.

dont know where they are on the web or if they are.

the 3.0 or ecoboost 2.0 from a fusion or edge would be a interesting swap as well. one i cant believe is the most common at this point. but like smitch said, you can just turbo the 2.3 mazda motor in the later trucks and not have to deal with the direct stuff and complicated processing.


it is definitely in my project range, if i cant land a decent diesel for the b2.

not sure if dan from ruff stuff ever produced any of his sho powered plans or not, maybe give them guys a call.

 

[Paladin5469]

Good luck with your swap. I'm still kicking myself for junking my 90 SHO that went down with a bad clutch. That motor was beautiful, durable, and made good power. From my understanding the M5OD and the SHO engine will bolt up though the intake manifold will have to be flipped 180 degrees and the hood may not clear that massive, but beautiful, intake manifold. I think that the M50D may have a difference such that you will need a clutch disk from a manual chevy lumina to work with the SHO pressure plate. I could be wrong. Recommend re-gearing to take advantage of that sweet sweet high rpm power. The V6 SHO engine was nearly all Yamaha and did not have the cam sprocket issues of the 3.4 Yama/Techs that came in the gen3 Tauri