turbo swap

[mypaperpast]

so i've done a lot of reading, research, and rebuilding on my sad beatdown 92 ranger 2.3 5 speed.....basically i've got the truck running great minus the fact it burns oil like a son of a and im ready for an engine swap....i was looking at buying a completely re-manufactured 2.3 exactly like the one i have in there and just doing a direct engine swap...but i've been wanting more power of course...so i started mulling over the turbo swap....i've read the forum post by Dave_R on the turbo install and i've gathered a question.......if i understand this correctly.....in the hypothetical that i acquire a good running 88 thunderbird 2.3t i can take that motor and all accessories, wiring harness, transmission, and do a rear end swap....this will be a direct swap with no modification other than that little plate on the cross member......am i wrong...

 

[mypaperpast]

sorry......a little of what i've done with this truck to clear up any questions....

first thing i did was a tune up...new plugs, wires, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter....and just recently put new plugs in again due to one fouling because of the quart of oil i burn every couple days...after that was a brake and rotor job...then came the sluggishness...so i replaced the ECM and the ICM along with a new MAF....ICM was also grounded straight to the battery as suggested here on these forums...truck started running a ton better but i still had an EGR trouble code so i replaced the EGR valve and EGR sensor...in the process i cracked the EGR tube but it doesn't seem to be an issue as the truck is now Trouble code free....woohooooo....and ran great until one very cold morning it developed a bad miss....but did not throw a code...number one cylinder was flooded with oil and fouled the plug on the exhaust side...so i changed them all along with the valve cover gasket while i had the top of the motor apart.....so it runs great again averaging 23 mpg city but the burning is an issue...oh...and new cat but not that it'll last long this way.....

 

[tomw]

Have you considered replacing the valve stem seals? They can be replaced without removing the cylinder head. You'd remove a spark plug, stuff in some rope leaving a handle to remove it later, and rotate the crankshaft to jam the piston against the valves. Depress and move the cam follower out of the way, remove the valve washer & keepers, replace the seal, replace the washer & keepers, replace the follower, repeat on the other valve, rotate crank to release pressure on the rope, and pull the rope out. Rinse, repeat.
If the problem is valve stem seals, this can fix it in 2-3 hours, maybe less if you can twirl wrenches well. Cost is the seals, and likely a cam cover gasket.
tom

 

[mypaperpast]

i have considered that indeed but before i got to wild with all that i decided to do a compression test and the results were pretty low all across the board...this truck is pushing 300,000 miles and i'm sure the pistons are pretty sad and worn...also here very recently if the oil gets a little too low...to the point of almost triggering the check oil light...i will find a slightly milky residue in the oil filler cap and on the dipstick...it goes away once i fill er back up...and i change the oil in here once a month...so i'm almost betting i'd have to do a head gasket replacement as well....not to mention the pickup tube is probably in horrible shape...so i'll be removing the engine anyways......
the thing is i came across a really sweet deal for an 88 thunderbird and remembered reading on here about the swap

 

[scotts90ranger]

You don't have to use all thunderbird parts, I like how the stock transmission works so I've been running it with my turbo engine for a long time without issue. Really all you need is the engine and turbo components, and it can look mostly stock with the stock wiring harness (with a handful of wires moved and added to meet with the turbo computer). The stock rear axle and everything will be fine, I ran my engine with a 7.5" axle for quite a while without problem, I just upgraded because the gears I wanted werent' available and would have made that axle a problem if I did find them...

I've made several posts about doing a turbo swap on a truck like yours, I walked someone through it about a year ago...

 

[mypaperpast]

thats pretty much the info i was looking for...i also just took on another project...and 88 ranger 2.9 4x4...this one should be fun