Supercoupe engine?!?

[92MiniMonster]

OK, i did a little bit of searching and didnt find anything except for Tony's thread on 3.8L engine swaps. It wasnt really clear to me, well, it was, just not enough. I have a 1992 Ranger with a 2.9 liter, Auto tranny, and its got the electric transfer case. I really want to do an engine swap, but not to the common 4.0 liter. I want to be a little different. So i want to swap in a 3.8 liter supercoupe engine. Is there a write up on this on what trans to use for the supercharged engine. And i want to maintain my 4wd, is this even possible? No worries if i have to convert to manual t-case, i wanted to do that anyway.

Please tell me your thoughts on how to do this, this may not be an ideal swap, but i dont do any four-wheeling or hauling, its really just a clean street ranger, thanks for all looks and help.

Shawn

 

[swamprat]

In Tony's thread he states that the RWD 3.8 has the same bolt pattern as a Winsor but has metric threads in the block. Check out the Tech on V8 swaps to see what trany you could use.

 

[92MiniMonster]

OK, but as far as the engine conversion itself, does anyone know how hard this is to do?

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Well, you'd have to use the trans out of the super coupe (and in so doing ditch your t-case and therefore 4x4). The engine probably wouldn't be too hard to mount. Probably just use 5.0 mounts or fab your own. The supercharger might require a body lift to fit under the hood. Then you'd have to repin/rewire your eec harness for the supercoupe computer and sensors.

There are other trans you can use to keep the 4x4, but none are ideal unless you want an auto, which opens up a whole other can of worms trying to get super coupe manual computer trying run an automatic. I don't know what auto trans the super coupes came with but if it's a common one like the aod or 4r70w you might find a 4x4 version in an f-150 that would allow you to keep your 4x4.

 

[92MiniMonster]

OK, well the year i wanted to do the swap out of was an 89-93 generation. The Automatic transmission they came with was an AOD, and the Manual transmission is called an M5R2. Just for the know, is the manual trans a Mazda? Im hoping to keep the truck automatic, however, Manual i would not be against, whatever is easier will work for me.
Thanks,
Shawn

 

[littleme13]

no need for clearance on the hood the supercoupe motor sits pretty low. i would advise against it unless you wanna spend some money. the supercoupe 3.8 is completely different then the normal 3.8. the blocks arent even exaclty the same. has to do with the cranks. everything in them is forged and cost a ton to rebuild. the up side they share the same head parts as the 302, lifters, valves, rockers things of that nature. i had played with this idea when i had my supercoupe then i found out how much it was gonna cost to rebuild it and sold it. it can be done but a 302 swap would get you the same power then charge it and your talkin alot more just for the cost of the rebuild of the 3.8

tony

 

[92MiniMonster]

that much huh? That sucks, how much really? I would like to know. I definitely want to do an engine swap, i made a choice of 3, the 4.0, the 5.0, or, if possible, i would much rather the 3.8 SC. I like challenges, such as this SC swap, i just ,like to make sure i have as much info as possible before i do it.

 

[92MiniMonster]

Well, im still considering in doing this. From what i have gathered, AND I COULD BE WRONG, is that the 5.0 mustang mounts will work for these engines, and that basically they are 5.0's with the back two cylinders chopped off. Anyway, the Supercoupe uses an automatic trans, the AOD, if i find an AOD in the 4x4 model, that should bolt up to the engine. Im not sure if the AOD will work with my transfer case or maybe i should just take the one with the trans when i find it. Other than that i need the engine harness, ECU, and basically thats it right? Never done an engine swap like this so if my questions seem a bit NEWB, its because they are just that. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Only ranger transmissions will bolt to ranger t-cases. If you use an F-150 transmission, you're going to have to use an F-150 t-case, which in all the swaps I've seen, required hacking the frame to fit the bigger F-150 t-case in.

This swap would be much easier if it were going to be a 2wd.

Your other option that you haven't mentioned is a 2.3 turbo. Don't laugh, they easily make as much power as a lightly modded V8. I'll complete my 2.3T swap for about $1200 when it's all said and done (I've been quite "resourceful" in gather parts though). And that includes an extremely ported head (did it myself), a tubular turbo header, 3" exhaust, front-mount intercooler and some other performance upgrades. I'm hoping for 250 HP /300 ft*lbs.

 

[92MiniMonster]

I havnt considered that engine for this swap, maybe because ive already done that in my past mustang, But its not a bad idea. What kind of drivetrain would i need for that? A 2.3 Automatic 4x4 trans and t-case?

 

[littleme13]

just to give ya an idea to get over 350 hp from the supercoupe is gonna cost you around 5k stock they are at 230 i belive witch isnt to bad but it gets costly around 300.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I havnt considered that engine for this swap, maybe because ive already done that in my past mustang, But its not a bad idea. What kind of drivetrain would i need for that? A 2.3 Automatic 4x4 trans and t-case?

Yeah, all the later (and therefore more desirable) 2.3T's used the A4LD for the automatic, which is the same trans used in the ranger thru 1994. However, the bellhousings are different between the 2.3 and V6 ranger A4LD. So you'll either need to find a 2.3 4x4 auto ranger trans (good luck finding that combo )or you could reuse your current trans if you installed a 2.3 bellhousing on it. I had a tranny shop do this on an A4LD and it cost 100 bucks with all new seals etc.

 

[92MiniMonster]

well, i think this is the way to go then. Let me ask this, i havnt looked up all of the good parts for the 2.3t in a long time, is the LA3 computer, and Large MAF still the best stock parts, because i have them both along with some other things. And also, where is your front mount from, and how is it mounting?

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I'm planning on trying an ebay core for the front mount. I keep hearing great things about this ebay store called "just intercoolers". The low price makes me think they would be crap, but I did some research and everyone seems very pleased with them. I'm about to order one in a few days here. I'm hoping to have the turbo engine installed and tuned by the end of march. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[92MiniMonster]

OK,
since ive never done this swap in a ranger, what kind of things did you do, any tricks and such, after i write this i will be reading the tech threads, just thought maybe you could have ran into something differently.