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- Joined
- May 1, 2010
- Messages
- 1,195
- Reaction score
- 28
- Points
- 48
- Location
- Maine
- Vehicle Year
- 2002
- Make / Model
- Honda
- Engine Size
- K20A3
- Transmission
- Manual
... but I think it could be badass as hell if it were to turn out like I want...
I have a '91 Mazda Navajo as my daily driver. This is essentially a Ford Explorer Sport clone, minus the grille, seats, and door panels. It has a 31 spline 8.8 that I just rebuilt, Dana 35 TTB, M5OD-R1 tranny, and a 4.0 OHV. Now, my other car is a 1987 Merkur XR4Ti with a nasty 2.3 turbo motor in it. The body is shot along the rockers under the bodykit, and I do not feel it is worth my effort to repair the body. I've been trying to sell it, and a friend was going to buy the car but didn't feel the motor would fit in his Triumph easily without relocating the turbo.
My idea is to swap the 2.3T into my Navajo, since it needs a new transmission anyways, and the motor ticks. Now, I know people have done Rangers with 2.3t's, and 4x4 Rangers with 2.3t's, so I know the right transmission to do this is out there, but probably hard to find. My current plan is to keep looking for a good M5OD locally for my 4.0, but if I come across the transmission from a 2.3 4x4 Ranger, I will be very tempted to do this.
I have a few questions. What transmission came behind the 2.3 in the 4x4 Rangers? My motor makes an honest 225-250hp and I have room to go, and this truck sees a lot of trails and gets pounded on occasionally. I'd like to raise the boost even more, and would be looking into an esslinger head or porting this one, so the transmission would have to handle a lot of power, say around 300hp, and that's in a 4x4 SUV.
My other question, is how retarded is this idea? Am I going to hate myself since the truck will be a dog off-boost? I'd prefer an automatic with this setup, since it's turbo and I'd probably stall it less off-roading. My theory is, I can just feed it more throttle and build boost to climb over rocks and fallen trees. This IS an Explorer, and it is a fairly heavy vehicle, so I have reservations. Should I just say screw it and rebuild my 4.0, I did find a 4.3 stroker kit.
I am happy with the power of my truck currently, the purpose of this is not really to make my truck fast, but it would be different, hopefully get more than 22mpg (what I currently get) and it would have less instantaneous torque, which would shock the drivetrain less when wheeling and beating the piss out of my truck. I also understand that I would more than likely not be able to daily drive this, at least for a while until the kinks were worked out. I can always just buy a '91-'96 Escort hatch, I love those things.
I have a '91 Mazda Navajo as my daily driver. This is essentially a Ford Explorer Sport clone, minus the grille, seats, and door panels. It has a 31 spline 8.8 that I just rebuilt, Dana 35 TTB, M5OD-R1 tranny, and a 4.0 OHV. Now, my other car is a 1987 Merkur XR4Ti with a nasty 2.3 turbo motor in it. The body is shot along the rockers under the bodykit, and I do not feel it is worth my effort to repair the body. I've been trying to sell it, and a friend was going to buy the car but didn't feel the motor would fit in his Triumph easily without relocating the turbo.
My idea is to swap the 2.3T into my Navajo, since it needs a new transmission anyways, and the motor ticks. Now, I know people have done Rangers with 2.3t's, and 4x4 Rangers with 2.3t's, so I know the right transmission to do this is out there, but probably hard to find. My current plan is to keep looking for a good M5OD locally for my 4.0, but if I come across the transmission from a 2.3 4x4 Ranger, I will be very tempted to do this.
I have a few questions. What transmission came behind the 2.3 in the 4x4 Rangers? My motor makes an honest 225-250hp and I have room to go, and this truck sees a lot of trails and gets pounded on occasionally. I'd like to raise the boost even more, and would be looking into an esslinger head or porting this one, so the transmission would have to handle a lot of power, say around 300hp, and that's in a 4x4 SUV.
My other question, is how retarded is this idea? Am I going to hate myself since the truck will be a dog off-boost? I'd prefer an automatic with this setup, since it's turbo and I'd probably stall it less off-roading. My theory is, I can just feed it more throttle and build boost to climb over rocks and fallen trees. This IS an Explorer, and it is a fairly heavy vehicle, so I have reservations. Should I just say screw it and rebuild my 4.0, I did find a 4.3 stroker kit.
I am happy with the power of my truck currently, the purpose of this is not really to make my truck fast, but it would be different, hopefully get more than 22mpg (what I currently get) and it would have less instantaneous torque, which would shock the drivetrain less when wheeling and beating the piss out of my truck. I also understand that I would more than likely not be able to daily drive this, at least for a while until the kinks were worked out. I can always just buy a '91-'96 Escort hatch, I love those things.
