What swap to do?

[EasternNC]

I have an 87 with a destroyed v6. It manual 5 speed and 4x4. Its got a 6" lift and 3" body lift. I wanna do this with my 14 year old for his first truck. Frame has no rust and straight, the body is pretty good too.

I want to do a swap thats worth doing, a reliable engine with power and torque, with good fuel mileage. I know I know, tall order. Id love a diesel, but also happy to do a v6 build or a v8. I dont want the truck to be a rocket ship, just quick with good torque. Mostly torque. I want the fuel milage higher so he keeps it long as possible and doesn't sell it for a vehicle with better gas.

What would yall recommend? I dont want to go over complicated like cutting a firewall, or do something not tried. Cheaper is better, but I dont mind dropping good money on a good engine, I just dont want to nickle and dime myself to the poor house.

 

[RonD]

Rebuilding or using another 2.9l V6 will be the easiest swap

Next in line would be the 4.0l OHV V6 used in the 1990-1994 Rangers, with its computer and engine wiring harness, later years(1995-2000) have a bigger computer with more wires, so adds more work
2.9l and 4.0l used the same block so current transmission would just bolt on to the 4.0l, and motor mounts were the same
Although I would recommend using the 4.0l M5OD-R1 manual transmission, much better than your current one

Carb/distributor 302 V8 swap with trans and transfer case would be next, minimal wiring
And then the 5.0l(302) EFI from a 1996-2001 V8 explorer, lots of wiring

A few swap articles here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-conversions.shtml

The really nice Diesel swap is using the Cummins 4BT, expensive swap but loads of torque and power
There have been some Ranger TDi swaps, you would need to read some build threads to see whats involved

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That pretty much sums it up.

One thing to keep in mind is that the 2.9 can be modified and tweaked, @PetroleumJunkie412 has done a good bit of work and investigating things with the 2.9 motors. If I can ever get back to working on it, my 88 is getting a modified 2.9 because it will do what I want out of it

 

[Curious Hound]

Haven't seen anybody do a gas turbine Ranger lately.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Personally I would do a 4.0L swap, '91-94 Explorers are still fairly available then all you need is a manual trans computer... I love my turbo 2.3L but I miss torque, some days I wish I went with a 4.0L... hence the 5.0L explorer with a plan for TTB full width...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Rebuild the 2.9. A healthy 2.9 is plenty enough for a teenager. Enough power to have some fun but not enough to really get him into any serious trouble.

Put in a 4.0 radiator and tell him to watch the temp gauge and never try to limp it home after a cooling system issue, and a 2.9 will be just as reliable as anything else.

A 4.0 would bolt in but your current tranny wouldnt last very long and i hear putting a 4.0 in a 86-88 truck requires some wireing skill and headache to get gauges and other things workjng correctly.

If you wanna change stuff just go whole hog and use a 302.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Rebuild the 2.9. A healthy 2.9 is plenty enough for a teenager. Enough power to have some fun but not enough to really get him into any serious trouble.

A 2.9 is NEVER healthy. They smoke like a chimney, are poisoned by drinking coolant......

If you wanna change stuff just go whole hog and use a 3.0.

FIFY

 

[ThatOneGuy]

So im sure I'll get some flack for this, but myself I've kinda been considering, what it would take to do a honda k24 swap, more stock torqu and hp. Than any stock motor ford built. Its fule injected for those hill climbs, would most likely end up getting mid to high 20 mpg's, on top of that you can get a jdm direct motor with 40-60k miles for less than 800 dollars. Honestly the hardest part would be motor mounts, trans adaptor, custom flywheel. But in the end doing it myself it could be less than rebuilding a stock motor, and will have much more aftermarket, junkyard support for years to come. Wiring would be the easy part other than making the guage swap.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

However a 4.0 ohv would be easier, and provide slightly better performance with reduced mpgs

 

[rusty ol ranger]

A 2.9 is NEVER healthy. They smoke like a chimney, are poisoned by drinking coolant......

Mine does neither. Even under those conditions a 2.9 will spank a 3.0.

3.0s barely do better then a lima 4 if we are being honest.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Mine does neither. Even under those conditions a 2.9 will spank a 3.0.

3.0s barely do better then a lima 4 if we are being honest.

That is <censored> hillarious. 3.0 is over 130 HP, and around the same torque. 2.3 Lima is sub100 HP, and Sub100 torque. Put those two engines in the same truck, with the same transmission, driveshaft and rear end, and the same driver, the 3.0 will win. EVERY SINGLE TIME. The ONLY spec where a 2.3 Lima will beat a 3.0 Vulcan is fuel economy.

 

[sgtsandman]

My 2.3 Ecoboost will spank them all, including my 4.0 SOHC and not break a sweat.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

That is <censored> hillarious. 3.0 is over 130 HP, and around the same torque. 2.3 Lima is sub100 HP, and Sub100 torque. Put those two engines in the same truck, with the same transmission, driveshaft and rear end, and the same driver, the 3.0 will win. EVERY SINGLE TIME. The ONLY spec where a 2.3 Lima will beat a 3.0 Vulcan is fuel economy.

I was trying to make a point. Do you even know the specs on your beloved 3.0? 145hp/165ftlbs. The 2.9 is 140hp/170ftlbs. So in actuaality their damn near even (on paper).

The 2.9 peaks 1000rpm or so lower for torque (2600rpm vs 3600rpm) and has a flatter curve across the board which is why it feels stronger. 4.0SOHC>4.0OHV>2.9L>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3.0L>2.8L Is more less the Ranger V6 power hierarchy.

 

[EasternNC]

Well, I found an 89 XLT with a bad tyranny and a ( hopefully ) good 2.9. Anyway the price is 600. Im probably gonna buy it, pull the engine and throw the truck away. The 89 2.9 should be a straight forward drop in into the 87 that had a 2.9 right?

 

[sgtsandman]

Well, I found an 89 XLT with a bad tyranny and a ( hopefully ) good 2.9. Anyway the price is 600. Im probably gonna buy it, pull the engine and throw the truck away. The 89 2.9 should be a straight forward drop in into the 87 that had a 2.9 right?

It should be. Someone more familiar with those years would know better if there is any details on the engines that might be an issue.