thinking about a SHO swap

Soloassault · Aug 29, 2007

Well i have been toying around with the idea of swapping the engine in my Ranger to one of the 3.2L SHO engines...theres is limited info about doing this out there...if anyone has some info or advice i would appriciated it..from what i have seen it will bolt up to my stock mazda tranny and i can weld so making brakets shouldnt be a problem...anywho...just wondering if anyone knows if it can be done and roughly how much its gonna hurt my pocket book...Thanks

'93 ranger XLT 3.0 vulcan manual tranny.

stegomon · Sep 1, 2007

i was told that there is no rwd trannys that will bolt up to that motor...but that is what i was told......this is the v6 and not the v8 sho right?

derekj · Sep 2, 2007

That v6 SHO engine is pretty sweet! That would make a sweet conversion. The sound from that engine while you're doing a hill climb at 6000 rpm would be pretty cool. We used to balance a dollar coin on the intake while it was running as a way to show customers how smooth the engine was. Alas it would be a pricy conversion :sad:

Derek

Wicked_Sludge · Sep 2, 2007

its been done. ford put a yamaha 3.0 in a 1990 GT back in the day. it was a very nice looking project.

the motor, while rare and expensive, is very VERY stout (just stay away from the v-8 SHO...its crap!). it uses variable length intake runners which gives it its wicked power curve. the bellhousing is identical to the 3.0 vulcan used in the ranger, so the tranny will bolt up.

although the engine never saw production in a RWD platform...converting isnt difficult. the huge intake plenum is actually symmetrical, so it can be unbolted and turned 180* to point at the front of the engine. some interesting bends are required for the thermostat output (i'd use brass tube bent to fit).

215ft-lbs and 220hp with power right from idle? yes please :drool:

Ozwynn · Sep 2, 2007

yep what wicked said, he just beat me to it.

JohnnyO · Sep 3, 2007

A few years ago I was at the Ford Nationals in Carlisle and saw a Merkur XR4Ti with an SHO motor swapped in. They originally had a 2.3 turbo (U.S. models anyway).

AllanD · Sep 11, 2007

I'm not going to adress the fitment, because I simply don't know.

I will comment on the torque curve... though the SHO makes tolerable torque lower than you'd expect from such a high revving the idea that the Yamaha/SHO V6 engine makes power right from idle is plain rediculous.

The engine would be "ok" in a allowing that it is used with 4.10 gears and fairly
small diameter tires and even then it isn't real happy below 3000rpm.

Upshifting against the rev limiter (7200rpm) is an absolute blast in a taurus...

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Soloassault · Sep 11, 2007

wow..the response

Wow...very active forum community here...thank you all for your input...i have noticed that most of the members here are more into the off-road element, alas i am more into the sleeper drag scene....i was thinking this block on a 10psi range turbo setup...and traction bars and the whole she-bang....i have seen dynos of this block with 6psi making in the 400 hp range...i think 10 would get it up around 450 which i think would be enough to smoke most if not any average import tuner on the street...

Wicked_Sludge · Sep 11, 2007

AllanD said:
I will comment on the torque curve... though the SHO makes tolerable torque lower than you'd expect from such a high revving the idea that the Yamaha/SHO V6 engine makes power right from idle is plain rediculous.

you have to think of it in terms of the engines used in rangers. the 4.0 and 2.9 are the only ones that make "decent" low end torque...but they both puke out pretty quickly. the 3.0 and 4-bangers do the opposite...with no low end but waking up around 35-4000. the 3.0 yamaha has a ton more low end growl then the 3.0 and 4 bangers...but like you said, still pulling hard at over 7 grand.

i think its a great powerband. right in the RPM range i love to drive.

Half Nuts · Sep 23, 2007

Oldish thread, but I'll add my $.02~ A 3.0l SHO motor typically sells for almost $4k new... a used Taurus 3.0 SHO is about $4k... I'm seriously considering just buying a used taurus this year... Then all the electronics, mounts, trans, etc. is right there, and you can still scrap the remaining car. Any thoughts?

281Ranger · Sep 23, 2007

Half Nuts said:
Oldish thread, but I'll add my $.02~ A 3.0l SHO motor typically sells for almost $4k new... a used Taurus 3.0 SHO is about $4k... I'm seriously considering just buying a used taurus this year... Then all the electronics, mounts, trans, etc. is right there, and you can still scrap the remaining car. Any thoughts?

Buying a complete donor car is always the best way to go. Once you are finished extracting everything you need/want, you can sell the other parts to recoup some of your money. I spent about $1500 doing my 4.6 swap and then sold over $1200 worth of parts off what was left of the Mark VIII.

Greg

Wicked_Sludge · Sep 23, 2007

Half Nuts said:
electronics, mounts, trans, etc. is right there, and you can still scrap the remaining car.

buying a donor car is a good idea. you wont be using the transaxle, motor mounts, and many other parts, however. basically all you'll use is the motor, wiring harness, and computer. most everything else needs to be fabbed

odie1969 · Sep 24, 2007

Well my idea of the sho is SHIT HAPPENS OFTEN I know I owned 2 of them and a used sho selling for 4k is crazy you can by a 3.0 sho for about 2k here. the major problem with the sho motor is that it is a ophaned motor from ford and ford no longer makes parts and what parts are around prices keep going up.
As for me If I was spending the time and money I would want to do a motor that is avaible and easy to get parts for (something you don't have to search 100hrs on ebay to find and wait six months to get the car running again) the 289 302 351 have all been around for 40years now parts are every where ad performance parts are easy to get and cheaper than (Shoshop midwestsho shobrothers) Now that I have said that the trans that is rwd for a sho motor is out of a areostar van. The best places to find info about this subject would be Shotimes.com Shoforum.com On shoforum look up OFF Road SHO in the az forum he has a turbo fed sandrail and would be able to get u alot info and the motor and swaps. If you need more info pm me. I wished you lived closer to PHX I have a spare complete motor and trans computer that I;m trying to sell to by a standard cab ranger to do a V8 swap and build a drag truck for the wife. Sorry bout the grammer.
Sorry I love this smilie :hottubfun:

Wicked_Sludge · Sep 24, 2007

ya but everybody and his brother has done a smallblock v-8 swap. the SHO has the advantage of being unique (at the cost of...well...cost).

the sho motor has a very stout bottom end even in stock form...so even though parts are expensive, once built, it is a reliable engine, even under boost.

it uses the same bellhousing pattern as the vulcan 3.0...so you can use any stock 3.0 ranger tranny with it.

Half Nuts · Sep 25, 2007

Wicked_Sludge said:
ya but everybody and his brother has done a smallblock v-8 swap. the SHO has the advantage of being unique (at the cost of...well...cost).

the sho motor has a very stout bottom end even in stock form...so even though parts are expensive, once built, it is a reliable engine, even under boost.

it uses the same bellhousing pattern as the vulcan 3.0...so you can use any stock 3.0 ranger tranny with it.

That's what I like about it. I was considering a complete motor rebuild and possibly adding a fabbed stud girdle and all ARP hardware to make the thing as bombproof as possible... Methinks it'd be good for 8lbs of boost on the street, maybe 15-20 on the strip, using two separate tunes, of course.
And, While the mounts, etc. would have to be fabbed, there wouldn't be nearly as many clearance issues.. thoughts?

thinking about a SHO swap

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