Help!!! Building a 2.5L Turbo

[Smoki Joe]

Bare with me guys. I'm new to this whole forum thing and the guys I usually talk to 'bout cars and trucks are fans of V6's and V8's.

I'm looking at getting a 2.5L out of a '98 Ranger in the junkyard and rebuilding it to replace the tired 2.3L in my '95 Ranger. During this rebuild I'm looking at adding a turbo from a late '80's Thunder Bird 'Tubo Coupe'. Well since I'm new to the whole turbo thing, so I'm looking for some input.

What I know: (Correct me if I'm dead wrong)
1) How a turbo basicly works.
2)The exhaust manifold from the previously mentioned T-bird will bolt up.

What I don't know: (Any warnings or cautions)
1)Where the oil and cooling lines connect and how they are plumbed.
2)Turbo size and specs for low-med (4-7 psi).

Thanks.

 

[phatcap]

there is a forced induction forum on this site as well as others. try looking there. also, there's a site called rangersrevenge.com that is specifically geared towards turboing 4-banger rangers. you should find a wealth of information there.

i don't have any experience doing this myself, but i have read a lot about it. you'll also need to get forged pistons, an intercooling system, larger capacity fuel pump/injectors and an 8.8" rearend. it all depends on how much boost you want to run. a lot of people have said its easier to just swap in a complete engine from an '86-'88 t-bird turbo coupe.

 

[Smoki Joe]

there is a forced induction forum on this site as well as others. try looking there. also, there's a site called rangersrevenge.com that is specifically geared towards turboing 4-banger rangers. you should find a wealth of information there.

i don't have any experience doing this myself, but i have read a lot about it. you'll also need to get forged pistons, an intercooling system and an 8.8" rearend. it all depends on how much boost you want to run. a lot of people have said its easier to just swap in a complete engine from an '86-'88 t-bird turbo coupe.

I'm not to keen on swapping for a 'Coupe' engine.
-1) It's kind'a hard to find a 'Turbo Coupe' in this area. They're hard to find in PA junkyard where as 2.5L Rangers are a dime a dozen. I figured I'ld get a Turbo and manifold from the dealer, e-bay, or a good parts store.
-2) In my opnion the location of the inter-cooler on the 'T'-bird is poor design. I plan on replacing the stock front bumper with an older Explorer 'Sport' bumper and locating the intercooler behind it (The opening in the middle is larger).

I am definatly replacing the rear end. I ideally want to 8.8 with a Powertrax dif. The stock limited slip is not gona give me what I want.

I didn't know bout the forged pistons. I'll start looking in on specs and prices.

 

[turbo cat]

have you checked places like craigslist for turbocoupes?
this ones a little high but it does have some aftermarket parts including a FMIC, rebuilt turbo, boost controller, 3" exhaust that could be cut and used on the truck.....http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/881890046.html

heres another for 1200$ in pittsburghttp://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/881890046.html

I would wait until you found a whole donor car t owork off of. that way you will have a full running turbo tough motor. if you try and build the 2.5 up youll spend more than 3-4k to turbo ready it. As far as a turbo manifold for a 2.5?

 

[4b316]

I just sold a turbo setup on ebay for $202,I'll see if I can find another.Getting pistons for a 2.5 is kinda pricey as while they have the same bore they have a different pin height.I,d check into that availability before getting your 2.5

 

[mikepotts]

my $.02... use a TC motor, w/ a 2.5 crank kit and 2.5 low compression pistons (both available from racerwalsh). i mentioned in another thread... the TC's have ALOT of R&D invested by ford and it is a good package. make this R&D work for you! improve it with a 2.5 stroker and viola!

if you dont like this, i have an intake from an early drawthru carb'd, turbo'd 2.3, not a perfect setup... but workable.

check these out...
http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/product/RWA1553_4/RWA1553_4__pistons_040_81_55_25.html

http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/product/RWA1676/RWA1676__crankshaft_25_stroker.html

 

[Smoki Joe]

have you checked places like craigslist for turbocoupes?
this ones a little high but it does have some aftermarket parts including a FMIC, rebuilt turbo, boost controller, 3" exhaust that could be cut and used on the truck.....http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/881890046.html

heres another for 1200$ in pittsburghttp://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/881890046.html

I would wait until you found a whole donor car t owork off of. that way you will have a full running turbo tough motor. if you try and build the 2.5 up youll spend more than 3-4k to turbo ready it. As far as a turbo manifold for a 2.5?

The donor car is something I don't wana get into. I don't have much 'yard/garage' space for an inmobial vehicle. Plus my wife would kill me.
The other things is that I'm planin' on refurbishing the whole truck. Frame off and up adding my own design ideas and twists to the body, cab, and fuel storage. So, basically I'm planin on spending a lot of time (2-4 yrs).

My cuz had a '98 2.5L Ranger. The engine blocks are the same has a 2.3L the only diff is the stroke. So the mainfold should bolt up. They all use the same gasket.

 

[Smoki Joe]

my $.02... use a TC motor, w/ a 2.5 crank kit and 2.5 low compression pistons (both available from racerwalsh). i mentioned in another thread... the TC's have ALOT of R&D invested by ford and it is a good package. make this R&D work for you! improve it with a 2.5 stroker and viola!

if you dont like this, i have an intake from an early drawthru carb'd, turbo'd 2.3, not a perfect setup... but workable.

check these out...
http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/product/RWA1553_4/RWA1553_4__pistons_040_81_55_25.html

http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/product/RWA1676/RWA1676__crankshaft_25_stroker.html

I'm tryin to stay away from strokin it, but I'll look into it and see if it'll give me what I'm lookin for.
My objective of this project is to turn this truck into a 30+ mpg highway truck that i don't hafta down shift to mantain or accelerate up a 3% hill. Plus I think it'ld be fun to finally get it to power brake for longer that 1 second and not stall.

Thanks for the links.

 

[Smoki Joe]

I just sold a turbo setup on ebay for $202,I'll see if I can find another.Getting pistons for a 2.5 is kinda pricey as while they have the same bore they have a different pin height.I,d check into that availability before getting your 2.5

Yeah, I plan on spendin a lot of time researchin before I spend a dime. I figured I'ld spend some money on pistons at some point.

Thanks

 

[Kenneth S]

I'd just build a 2.3L with .020" - .030" oversize forged pistons, the extra .2L (200cc, about the displacement of a 3 hp lawnmower engine) you get from the 2.5 crank probably won't make that much more power per dollar spent especially if you have a "one off" set of forged pistons made.

 

[phatcap]

you'll need a larger MAF sensor too.

 

[mikepotts]

I'd just build a 2.3L with .020" - .030" oversize forged pistons, the extra .2L (200cc, about the displacement of a 3 hp lawnmower engine) you get from the 2.5 crank probably won't make that much more power per dollar spent especially if you have a "one off" set of forged pistons made.

actually there is more than .2L to be gained by a 2.5 bottom end, the stroker DOES add a small amount of cc's but there are other gains to consider... cyl filling, piston dwell time, ect. there would be some noticable gains, are they worth the money... maybe not, it was mentioned as another option, not "the gospel".

 

[turbo cat]

The donor car is something I don't wana get into. I don't have much 'yard/garage' space for an inmobial vehicle. Plus my wife would kill me.
The other things is that I'm planin' on refurbishing the whole truck. Frame off and up adding my own design ideas and twists to the body, cab, and fuel storage. So, basically I'm planin on spending a lot of time (2-4 yrs).

My cuz had a '98 2.5L Ranger. The engine blocks are the same has a 2.3L the only diff is the stroke. So the mainfold should bolt up. They all use the same gasket.

Just send her shopping bring the turbocoupe home and start ripping it all out every part that you need. Then when done roll shell down the street park it and call the junkyard to come pick it up. You can actually get money for junk cars if you look around. throwning a full turbocoupe assembly into the truck and wiring it up will save you so much trouble its not even funny. But if you want to take the long bumpy road of hard work and a truck that will never be done dig in