for anyone who wants to know.........i will jus keep postin in this thread;)

i finalized my donor car last week: 85 mercury XR7 2.3T, T5. $0.00!! only thing was it hasnt run in 5 yrs, and no way to find out what was wrong with it, except dive in.

pulled the car into the shop today, and started tinkerin. motor turns freely, and turns under starter power. no start. checked for fire- ok. jus happend to look at gas guage, and it was empty!!! dumped a couple gallons of gas in her, and she will spit and sputter. spray carb cleaner in the throttle body, and she RUNS!!! very low fuel pressure, probably from dried out pump parts. but she runs fine. 168K and sat for 5 yrs, and started right up!!

put her on a lift to check out the underneath, i.e. tranny. everything looks good there.

jus outta curiosity spun a back tire and the other side spun freely, so i thought it was an open diff. looked for a tag, no tag. so again outta pure curiosity i pulled the cover. JACKPOT!! found a l/s 3.45 rearend. needs new clutches, but those are cheap, cheap, compared to a whole l/s unit.

so thats the poop so far! gonna have a turbo ranger with at T5, and a 3.45 L/S rear, pretty soon!:nuts: :nuts:

well, its been a bit since i started this project, so......

the new rear gear is in. no major problems with the install. rebuilt the l/s and put 3.45's from the car into the ranger housing. .012" backlash and a perfect tooth contact patch first time through.
mounted the VAM on the pass. side fender well, and ran the new wiring. swapped one pin in the PCM connector and added two for the VAM. hooked up and installed the turbo PCM.
changed the timing belt, and resealed the motor with all new gaskets. set the engine in two days ago. found a couple things that did not match up, but nothing major. the fuel rail from the turbo motor didnt match my lines. stole the rail from the ranger, which worked fine. swapped a vacuum manifold from the ranger upper intake to the turbo intake so i would have enough ports for everything. the IAC on the truck was mounted on the airbox, so i needed to lengthen the wires to reach the IAC on the turbo throttle body. and i used the serp. belt setup from the ranger on the front of the turbo motor.
i havent got my clutch yet, so i cant hang the T5. i am plannin out a bracket to mount an external slave on the bell housing so i can retain my hydraulic clutch.

if i ever get my clutch everything should be good to go!:)

gumby

thats awesome man

Originally posted by gumby

i havent got my clutch yet, so i cant hang the T5. i am plannin out a bracket to mount an external slave on the bell housing so i can retain my hydraulic clutch.
gumby

why don't you just use the ranger tranny??
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17283

Originally posted by Drizzt


why don't you just use the ranger tranny??
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17283

my 86 didnt have an M5. it had a TK5, and i didnt like it.
plus the T5 came with the free donor car!:E

gumby

well, my clutch came last week. it is a RAM powergrip. it has a solid hub disc, with paddle stlye friction material.
my thanks also to rangertc for hookin me up with a hydraulic bell for the tranny.
got a slave cylinder, and now the tranny is in, and workin properly. the stock length driveshaft worked, but the front yoke was different (TK5 to T5). i swapped the yoke from the cougar to the ranger driveshaft, and it fit right in.
all my guages are in. custom mounted in the center vent opening. boost/vac, oil press., and stoich meter.
the factory cougar shifter cleared the bench seat when flipped backwards like frdmerk suggested.
traction bars from james duff are on. and i decided to go with a mild pre-runner look since the body is not that good anyhow. so i am in the process of installin a 2" suspension lift w/ 235/75R15's (29"). the rear is done and i am waitin on the front springs. i think i will also add a mild (1"-1.5") body lift. maybe i wont have to notch my heater box?
but i wont know that till i get my turbo back. it is the last thing i am waiting on. i had a crack in the exhaust turbine housing that is being repaired, along with a couple broken bolts.

so a pair of springs, and the turbo, and then it should be go time!!:nuts: i cant wait!!!!!

gumby

It's good to hear everything is working out :E post some pics if you get a chance.

later