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Turbo swap!


92dangerranger

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Here are a few pics of my turbo swap I'm doing in my 92 ranger. This is the donor car. It was a 86 turbo coupe with a junked title.

After the machine work was done and i got it put back together it was time for paint.

The valve cover was looking a little plain so i painted it black and the ford oval blue. Then sanded the top and cleared the whole thing.

My Girl helped me paint the whole thing!

I blasted the intake and cleared it also.

Bought a metal timing belt cover form a junk yard and rebuilt the turbo.

Then i cleaned up all of my lines and bought new hoses.

I have plenty of other pics to post. Like what the engine looked like in the T-Bird. I just pulled the 3.0 out of my truck and I should have the 2.3 in this weekend. I'll be sure to post the pics.
 
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Wicked_Sludge

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holy crap that looks nice! you do some good work there sir :pray:
 

92dangerranger

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Thanks! This is what i did today!
I took the old rubber plugs out of the trany and replaced them with 5/8 freeze out plugs. No more leaks!

Here is my dirty truck ready for the 2.3 turbo. It has been sitting for a little while outside that's why its so nasty!

I pressure washed the frame and the cross member. Then installed the new motor mounts.

Then I under coated everything and mounted the rubber motor mounts in place.

Ready to drop it in!

The red neck motor lift. Hey It works!

And Its in.

Now the fun begins....Wiring! I'll have more pics later.
 
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Wicked_Sludge

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those new gen rims look good on an older truck. keep the pics coming :icon_cheers:

any mods planned for the motor or are you just running stock/rebuilt for now?
 

ZMan

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cool project, i love 2.3 turbos.
 

92dangerranger

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Thanks I'll be sure to post some good pics once i get it good and cleaned up. The engine is bored 40 over. I went ahead and put a high duration motor sports roller cam in. I replaced the manifold with a E6 series...(a little more exhaust flow then the E3's). I want to turn the boost up to about 18 psi or so but i want a in dash boost control because i don't want to run that high of boost all the time. Today i bought a front mount intercooler out of a Volvo 740 turbo. That should be good for a few extra hp but I'm not sure if I'll have room to mount it.

It needs to be cleaned up a little but it's in great shape.
 

ak96

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that is awsome!
 

Dishtowel

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Veryvery nice job so far man.

I am a big fan of throttle response, I'm worried that that big'ol intercooler will hinder more then help. Unfortunately Mr.Pascal did not live in a real time world. Just my 0.02.
 

PaleBlue90

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i want one so badly
 

92dangerranger

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The new engine is but i ran into trany problems today. I'm going to have to use the T5 trany out of the Turbo coupe because my 3.0 trany will not line up. I was just wondering if i can still use my old drive shaft? The T5 is only about 1 1/2'' longer then my 3.0 trany. And if i cant use the old drive shaft should i just cheat the motor mounts up a inch or so to make it fit because i really don't want to spend a couple hundred $ to shorten the shaft.

I was also wondering whats the best way to make the clutch work because the T5 is cable operated and the ranger is hydraulic. I have heard of doing a couple of different thing.
 

Wicked_Sludge

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we could have told you the 3.0 trans wouldnt work :D

if it were me, i'd use an M5OD out of a 2.3 ranger. it'll bolt right up and you will be able to use your original driveline and clutch system.
 

92dangerranger

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Yea i should of known better! I thought the 2.3 ranger and the 3.0 would be the same. Stupid on my part. Tomorrow I'm going to take the shifter out of the T5 and bolt it up so i don't have to cut a hole in the floor yet. I'm going to see if my drive shaft will work...I hope it does. I like the ideal of the T5 because i can crank up the hp without worrying about taring the trany up. I'm not sure how much abuse a M5OD would take. I might end up trying it If I cant use my drive shaft with The T5. It would make everything much easier.
 

Insanejughead

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Double post... To piggyback on the trannies, here's something interesting. The 3.0 and the 2.3 HSC have the same bellhousing pattern. Just don't confuse 2.3 Lima with the 2.3 HSC, because nothing interchanges.



I finished my turbo swap yesterday. I had it running Wednesday afternoon, but yesterday I got the exhaust completely finished and welded together.


I painted the block, but the rest of it I didn't get to do.

I would have taken more pictures (I'll get them up sometime, I'm running pretty slow internet) but I was on a time crunch and HAD to get it done quick.


Being military and living on base sucks. I can't do any major work on my truck in the parking lot, and there isn't anybody near me to allow me the time and space to do the swap in their garage. I took two weeks of leave to get this done and just barely made out in time.
 

92dangerranger

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Well I traded the 3.0 trany for the right one today! So I'm back on track. I should have it in tomorrow. I'll be sure to post the pics!
 

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