96 Ranger with blown head gasket- what are my options?

[Bushwalker76]

Hey guys, after 2 months of searching I found a 96 2.3L ranger with 93000 miles for 3k. Long story short I think I've got a blown head gasket and left the truck with my mechanic over the weekend so that he could confirm if it is or not. If it's blown ima try to get my money back but I don't have much hope for that. so if I get stuck with it what are my best options with fixing this one. Just change the gaskets or swap an engine and If I swap an engine should I go reman or used with low miles. And if I do do the swap should I consider a 2.3 out a ranger or turbo model out of something else? I plan on having a ranger for a while and am wanting to do all the power upgrades anyway as money allows
What do y'all guys think?
Thanks

 

[Johnnyboiranger22]

Hey there Bush. Well first we need to find out if it was a blown head gasket. Was there any intermix? (oil mixing with coolant) Any misfires? Compression tests? What made you think head gasket failure? If head gasket if blown you need to see if head is warped or block is warped to a point not being able to be fixed/milled or in proper tolerances if all good just swap gaskets and any other parts while you're in there. If you did decide to to turbo its not that hard to do and that little ranger would be a rocket. Lets us know!