Ranger Tech (2019+)

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BY DangerRanger02 & JuBean

An Interview. (Editor's Note: I don't usually like articles to be as 'wordy' as this one, but I let it go uncut because lots of us have been looking forward to getting the low-down on this truck, and I did not think it would be boring. I would love to get more of this type of thing in here.)

~DR02: "So Jubean, when and where did you get your ranger?"

~Jubean: "I got my baby from my brother five years ago. She had been neglected and was more or less trashed due to him working construction. I took my drivers exam in my truck and since then she has been like another arm for me. She had fiberglass running boards, visor (the only original mod still on her), and a drop in bedliner. But like any other 2.3 owner I wanted a little more power and I wanted to see what other people were doing to their rangers. So, I hit up the web and eventually found TRS; got bit by the mod bug, and the rest is history."

~DR02: "What all have you done to the suspension, exterior, and interior?"

~Jubean: "As of right now she has been dropped 2/3 via coils up front with a much higher spring rate and 3.5* eccentric cams, and the rear by flipping the shackle hanger.

The exterior has seen a lot but is just getting started. I removed the running boards and patched the holes, added a Godfathercustoms roll pan, Xenon air dam up front, diamond clear headlights and corners from Procarparts.com, and a LEER tonneau cover. Then, I painted the trim all around. The tailgate handle and badge have been shaved as well as the radio antenna.

For the interior, it still looks close to stock at first glance, but then things start to come out. The most obvious are the early mustang seats bolted to the factory 60-40 seat tracks ( I had started with a 60-40 conversion). Then you'll notice the gauges for the turbo motor like the A/F ratio, and boost gauges. The gauge cluster also got some love by changing the backlighting color from green to blue by modifying the gauge faces. Moving across you come to the head unit: a panasonic CD deck which has killed three factory speakers (now held together with duct tape) and sends a direct signal to a Pioneer amplifier which in turn moves a single 10 inch Kenwood amp in a custom box tucked up behind the drivers seat. Between the seats is a home grown console. The main portion was seriously modified to hold a CB radio and a nicer lid. from that main portion a fiberglass extension runs up to the dash. The console lid, extension, and the fabric panels on the doors were all covered with grey vynal that closely matches the dash. To top it all off is a 4 panel mirror for keeping tabs on traffic "behind" me. "


~DR2: "Well Jubean, I think everyone wants to hear about your engine. Tell us a little about your 2.3 turbo swap."

~Jubean: "O.K. I guess I should start from the beginning. Reading in the 4 banger forum is what led me to the 2.3 Turbo swap. It is an easy swap for my year, (93), because most of the systems used are very similar to the donor cars. I bought a motor after seeing an ad in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum here on TRS. It was located in Indiana which is a long haul but lucky for me, I was leaving a couple days later to help my grandparents move. The motor was right on the way home. It is from a 1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and had everything I needed to complete the swap plus some. When I got it home and tore into it I found a blown head gasket. No real biggie, so the head was sent out for a hot bath and magnuflux to check for cracks. It had a clean bill of health so I had it rebuilt and milled flat. The lower end was in great shape; a little dirty but otherwise good. The bearing clearances all checked out and the hone marks on the cylander walls looked almost new so i decided to leave it all intact. The block was stripped with a wire wheel then painted, all holes were retapped and every gasket replaced. The oil pan was then pulled, stripped, and repainted. The oil pump was also replaced at that time.

Then came reassembly. Again every gasket was replaced; and every part that was not new was cleaned, brushed, then bolted on. Once the head was in place, I started playing with the exhaust. I wanted to keep the A/C so that meant I had to move the turbo forward. I did this by flipping the exhaust manifold over, and modifying it a little. simply just flipping it will not line the exhaust ports up correctly so i had to drill the bolt holes a little larger and take some metal out from the bottom (used to be top) of the exhaust port on the manifold. With that taken care of, I was able to dummy fit the turbo to the engine which allowed me to then make the oil and coolant lines. The turbo motors use an oil cooler that mounts to the block where the oil filter does on the n/a engines. From this I bent and modified pipes to carry coolant to and from the water pump, T-stat, turbo, and heater core. Then, I needed to make the oil feed lines. If the turbo had been left in the stock position I could have reused to original lines but that is to easy. I took hydraulic brake line and with a bender created the sending line which runs from the oil pressure sending unit, behind the head, then up to the turbo. The oil return line had to be extended to reach from the bottom of the turbo down to a special hole in the block. With that all done, I just had to fit up the accessory brackets and it would be ready. I decided to use the Ranger accessory system so I would not have to change the alternator wiring and so i could use my stock ranger A/C compressor. The alternator bracket does not need to be modified, but I had to work on the powersteering bracket. My 93 ranger powersteering bracket was not designed to leave room for a distributor so I had to cut away a small portion. The intakes used for the turbo motor are also different enough that one of the mounting holes for the bracket used the same hole as the intake, so that part of the bracket was cut to accomodate the lower intake.

It was now time to pull the old motor. It is a simple straightforward process but time consuming. Once out the last needed parts could be put on the turbo motor, because I was keeping my ranger transmission I needed to use the ranger flywheel and clutch. After changing the motor mounts we were ready to put the new one in. Once it was bolted to the tranny and resting comfortably on the motor mounts the hard work begins. The exhaust manifold was bolted to the head and the turbo installed, then all the oil and coolant lines were hooked up.
Then came the wiring. I decided to use the ranger wire harness but that requires repinning the connector; no biggie. After swapping the PCM, I repinned the harness and left a couple slots open for the wires I was going to add. I had to add wiring for the Knock sensor, ACT sensor, and just for kicks the Vane air meter.

Another system that has to be wired is the ignition system. Because my truck had a DIS ignition I had to run a couple wires for the TFI mounted on the distributor. Not only that but I had to wire a coil in. It is not as hard as it sounds but you have to be able to read basic schematics. I also had to run new wires for the o2 sensor. On the old motor the wires ran under the engine; whereas the new ones were better routed over along the firewall.

With that the motor was filled with fluids, the intercooler temporarily rigged, the Vane air meter (a MASS sensor really) hooked up and all connections double checked. It all looked good so after a quick preoiling the key was turned and IT RAN!!!!!!!!!!!! The timing was way off and of course it needed some serious tuning but it was able to idle by itself after a quick turn of the distributor. 4 days of securing things and trouble shooting and I drove it to work for the first time.

Swapping a 2.3T is not very hard. Before I tried it the most difficult thing I had done was change a clutch! All you need is determination, research, and time. I owe the success of my swap to the 4 banger forum and the members who frequent it as well as the research I did before hand. There is so much information available, you just have to take a little time to dig it up. I spent around 2 weeks swapping motors but this was my first time ever doing something of this magnitude; and I was working by myself except when it came time to pull the old motor and put the new one in."

~DR02: "With that said, I think the viewers would like to know what you do with your truck. Do you drive it for fun, work, play, all above?"

~Jubean: "All of the above. My baby is my only vehicle and she is driven to work daily. As I said earlier she is like another arm to me. She is used for hard work like wood cutting and hauling and the like; but she is also driven around after work hunting for rice! In short, I have just gotten started on one heck of a daily driver."

~DR02: "Sounds like won heck of a daily driver to me, but do you have any future plans?"

~Jubean: "Oh geeze, this could take a while. The big plans for the moment are getting the body close to being finished. There is a honey comb grill that needs some work (I broke it when it was half done ), shaving the side emblems, shaving the 3rd brake light and making a custom one with L.E.D.s that will sit just inside the slider, a hood scoop (hopefully grafted Subaru), a sunroof, color matched bumper (sitting in my bedroom, waiting till the truck goes to primer), fixing the rock chips on the front end, a couple small dings and then paint.
After the body is close to being finished, I need to swap in a new tranny. A T-5 so I can dump on it. I also want to swap in a sploder rear end with disc brakes and an l/s posi with 3.73 gears. Very soon I hope to build the exhaust system from the turbo back; all 3 inch." ~TRS