2.3T Ford Ranger

6gunn

high on gas fumes
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Yeah...for the 2 of you who will look at this thread, here is my 87 Ford Ranger 2.3 Turbo.
Its an '87 Ranger supercab fitted with a 2.3 Turbo and a 5 speed Mazda transmission.
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Its all stock except a roller cam and #35 injectors. I still need a Walbro 255HP, gillis valve, and an intercooler and I will be able to turn the boost to 15-20 psi. Its only at 6 right now. I have alot of time and money invested into this truck and I feel its pretty much where I want it as far as looks and performance. The motor is out of an '83 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and the trans is out of a 94 Ranger. As for the interior, its got 40/40 bucket seats with a Bronco II center console, 50x4 Jensen flip down face AM/FM/CD and a 500watt Jensen amp bridged to two 10" JL subs in a custom built box. It has 15x8 chrome directional wheels with 215/60/15 directional Bridgestone Potenza tires. The tonneau is LeBra and is showing its 5 year age, but still looks good. The main reason I installed the 2.3T was for gas mileage and the extra punch was just a bonus. Ive owned this truck since March, 2002 and its been the most reliable truck Ive ever owned! I lost $ count long ago.. lol
 
Neat truck!

And one helluva sleeper :cool: I've seen several older Ranger's down here at our local car show with the 5.0 swap and one that had a 351W motor, but this is definitely the first I've seen with the 2.3L turbo swap... Makes perfect sense to do this swap cause as you said better gas mileage as well as the added bonus of turbo powa! :D

Thanks for sharing pictures of your turbo'ed ride, hopefully more follow suite:)
 
Good job on the truck. More people need to be adapting and innovating vehicles like that, brings craftsmanship back into automotive mechanics.
 
nice truck! the service manager at my work is puting one of those turbo 2.3's in a 36 ford truck.
damn good idea :cool:
 
I've got a 94 with the same swap. For what the little motor has and what the truck weighs I am very happy. Put some alky a FMIC and a gutted and ported intake and watch out, all at about 26-28 mpg in town.
 
Nice motor, Harry Hruska has an SVO Mustang with that motor in it sitting outside his shop in Indiana I believe. (Precision Turbo)

I like the innovation you've got there.
 
Ok, so how did you get the ac to work with that manifold?

Is that the log manifold flipped upside down?

Good setup, i had a 88 TCoupe i bought for 500 and flipped it for 2800 in one week, i really wanted to keep the manifold and serp setup, but it wasnt worth the $ i made off selling that car.

I have a buddy with a 85 Tcoupe and a t-3 turbo, he needs a truck with AC, how can it work out?
BW
 
For info on the manifold, go to www.40bob.com
The A/C system should route just like any 2.3N/A Ranger. I havent got the A/C lines(or compressor) on yet, but am thinking Ill have to make a heat shield if I want to see any cold air. The turbo is about 1 inch from the dryer.
Thanks for all the comments!
 
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