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Turbo Ford Ranger

visceralsoup

Ready to race!
Well, I would have posted this in the Member's Car Journals forum but it seems that only MK6 builds are posted there. Mods, please feel free to move if I messed up.

Anyway!

This has been an ongoing project for the last year so I thought I would share it with you. I will do my best to explain the weird Ford lingo I use throughout this post.

1992 Ford Ranger XLT 2wd 5 speed

I got this truck a little over a year ago in a trade. I traded my 1977 Yamaha xs750 bobber for it. I had about $2500 into the bike so it worked out in my favor. At least in my opinion haha.



The build has taken a few turns and had some hiccups but this is how it currently sits.

Engine- 1988 Thunderbird TurboCoupe 2.3 Turbo. This engine can be found in several other Ford cars from the 80's. Its a forgotten gem that a few of you might know about. It has serious potential and is cheap to build. It has forged pistons and the rods are good to about 450 hp.

Management-
Currently I am using the stock ecu from the T-bird. EEC-IV is a wonderful system for its time. However, I am reaching the limits of what the ecu can correct as power is added. I have purchase a microquirt system known as P.I.M.P. from Stinger Performance (a front runner in the Turbo Ford community.)

Fueling-
Stock 35# injectors
190LPH intank pump

Bolt ons and machine work-
Cone air filter
Large Vane Air Meter (basically a primitive MAF)
Front Mount Intercooler
Gutted, ported, and rotated intake manifold
Head is ported and machined for the largest intake and exhaust valves the stock iron head will take.
Ported E6 exhaust manifold (this is the more desirable factory offered manifold)
Airesearch (Garrett) T3 turbo .42/.63 running 20 psi
3 inch straight pipe exhaust





In this form it should be anywhere from 275 whp up to 300 if I got it retuned.

Suspension- Stock (I know hahaha)

Wheels- 1998 Mustang GT wheels with some bald rear tires. (I did that... oops.)

I am currently stockpiling parts while I am on deployment.

Future plans include:

Already purchased-
P.I.M.P. microsquirt
Ball bearing t3/t4 .50/.63
T5 trans

Soon to purchase-
#80lb/hr injectors
Ranger Roller cam (roller vs stock slider cam)
Calvert Racing Caltracs
03/04 Cobra wheels with 275 drag radials out back
Strange adjustable drag shocks
DJM dream beam lowering kit
Explorer 8.8 axle with LSD
the list goes on but I'm trying to keep it reasonable for now.

The truck should put down close to 350 whp on E85 with the new parts.
Shooting for high 11s in the 1/4 mile

Hopefully you guys will enjoy seeing the progress of this strange build. It's definitely a sleeper. Thanks for looking.
 

Tk_mkv1

Go Kart Champion
nice build man, I love surprising people a car that gets underestimated because of looks alone :laugh:
 

visceralsoup

Ready to race!
So as far as obstacles I am currently working one out.

Right before deployment the head gasket let go.

I was able to limp home (about 1 mile away) without the truck overheating.

Oil was drained and there was no coolant or shavings present.

The truck is being rebuilt by a friend and his father (ASE mechanic) for a steal of a deal. They have been taking their time but it is all currently being buttoned back up and should be running soon.

The cause of the headgasket failure appeared to be from poor machine work leading to bad valves. The machine shop the head was sent to reported that the previous owner ported the head for hardened exhaust seats and larger valves. However the poor craftsmanship lead to the failure I speak of. After some heavy machine work the head now has the largest valves a stock iron head will take before it starts to be a danger to the water jackets. Hopefully this will result in better CFMs for more power.
 

vwgti2.0t

Go Kart Champion
LOL, I replied to your post in the Big Turbo thread about head gaskets on these things. I had mine in an 83 Mercury Capri RS, connected to a 4 cylinder T5 and a turbocoupe 8.8 rear with 373's. The motor was awesome, when it worked, but I had tons of issues with it. I seriously think I blew 10 headgaskets with it. Finally found one that held together, and then the oil pump shaft broke and that was the final straw and a put a 5.0 back in.

They are one of the first turbo 4 cylinders though. I still want another one someday. And a striaght 3" exhaust sounds AWESOME on these.
 

visceralsoup

Ready to race!
LOL, I replied to your post in the Big Turbo thread about head gaskets on these things. I had mine in an 83 Mercury Capri RS, connected to a 4 cylinder T5 and a turbocoupe 8.8 rear with 373's. The motor was awesome, when it worked, but I had tons of issues with it. I seriously think I blew 10 headgaskets with it. Finally found one that held together, and then the oil pump shaft broke and that was the final straw and a put a 5.0 back in.

They are one of the first turbo 4 cylinders though. I still want another one someday. And a striaght 3" exhaust sounds AWESOME on these.

Hahaha yeah I know a few people who have had head gasket trouble on these. I went ahead and put ARP head studs so hopefully it will hold a little better. That's pretty awesome you had a Capri. Not too many turbo ones around, or at least for sale.
 

vwgti2.0t

Go Kart Champion
Hahaha yeah I know a few people who have had head gasket trouble on these. I went ahead and put ARP head studs so hopefully it will hold a little better. That's pretty awesome you had a Capri. Not too many turbo ones around, or at least for sale.

If I remember correctly, there was a Fel-Pro gasket that worked worlds better than the others. But the studs should help a ton too!

Well mine started off as a 5.0. It was my dads and modded to the max. Cage, nitrous, etc. When I was 14/15 he sold the 5.0 out of it and gave me the rest. We had a 2.3T sitting around and told me to go to town, and it would be slower for my first car. I put the motor in, did the wiring harness, all that crap. It stayed a 2.3T for probably 2 years, until the headgaskets and other issues got the best of us. I ended up buying the 5.0 that he took out of it back and put it back together. It was a super fun car. College came around and I sold it half way through my first year and bought a MK4 GTI (which was the start of my VW addiction). 9MPG 3 hours from home as a college student wasn't working too well. LOL. I still actively search for Capri's monthly. One day I'll pick up another.

Anyway, good luck with it man. Can't wait to see some videos when it's back together!
 
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