Rascal,

Hey buddy, I was just wondering how far along you are now with your turbo swap and if yove written any literature on it? Im going to be planning mine very soon and it would help to have some extra info from someone who actually performed it. 4Bangin said that the Fast Fourward section would have alot of information. Just wondering if you had any idea about it all. Thanks!

Ice

I'm probably taking the 83 to the exhaust/turbo shop tomorrow after work for the finishing touches, and I'm busting my hump to get it to the minitruck nationals in Pigeon Forge. Time will tell if I make it or not... :)

I have written quite a bit down, but as usual it's more generic than you're probably looking for. It's hard to remember all the little details that come up and get dealt with along the way. I can tell you off the top of my head that you're a lot better off starting with an EFI truck...I had more issues with the conversion to EFI than the actual engine swap.

The following questions will help people give you some advice...

What year truck are you swapping into? What was the original engine?
Do you have a donor car yet? What is it?
What's the intended purpose of the truck? (daily driver, dragstrip monster, canyon carver, etc)

Rascal,

Heres my info!

What year truck are you swapping into? 1988 Ford Ranger XLT
What was the original engine? 2.3L EFI
Do you have a donor car yet? No not yet, still researching this
What is it? Hopefully a 87-88 TBird Coupe, Possibly a Merkur
What's the intended purpose of the truck? Daily Driver/Show Truck

You will greatly appreciate the fact that most of what you need is already there... :D

I saw your post over on turboford (I'm a regular lurker over there too) and here's my take on donor cars:

First of all, all the EFI 2.3Ts are fundamentally the same. This includes the 85-89 Merkur XR4Ti, the 84-86 Mustang SVO, the 83-84 Mustang GT Turbo, the 83-84 Capri RS Turbo, the 83-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, and the 83-88 Cougar XR7. Enough so that if you find an early car in good shape for a donor, don't turn it down. That said, the later you can get, the better off you are, except in the case of the Merkur. Here's a quick breakdown by computer calibration code:
<table><tr> <td><b><u>Car</u></b></td><td><b><u>Transmission</u></b></td><td><b><u>Year</u></b></td><td><b><u>Computer</u></b></td><td><b><u>Injectors</u></b></td><td><b><u>IC </u></b></td><td><b><u>VAF</u></b></td></tr><tr><td>GT Turbo</td><td>Manual</td><td>83-84</td><td>TA</td><td>30</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr><tr><td>Capri RS Turbo</td><td>Manual</td><td>83-84</td>
<td>TA</td><td>30</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr><tr>
<td>SVO</td><td>Manual</td><td>84</td><td>ZBA</td><td>30</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>SVO</td><td>Manual</td><td>84</td><td>TE</td><td>30</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>SVO</td><td>Manual</td><td>84-85</td><td>TJ</td><td>30</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>SVO</td><td>Manual</td><td>85</td><td>PJ</td><td>30</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>SVO</td><td>Manual</td><td>85.5-86</td><td>PE</td><td>35</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Manual</td><td>83-84</td><td>PC1</td><td>30</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Manual</td><td>84</td><td>TF</td><td>30</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Auto</td><td>85-86</td><td>PK1</td><td>35</td><td>No</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Manual</td><td>87</td><td>LA2</td><td>35</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Manual</td><td>88</td><td>LA3</td><td>35</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Auto</td><td>87-88</td><td>LB3</td><td>35</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>TC</td><td>Auto</td><td>87-88</td><td>8UA</td><td>35</td><td>Yes</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>XR4Ti</td><td>Auto</td><td>85-89</td><td>PK1</td><td>35</td><td>No</td><td>Big</td></tr><tr><td>XR4Ti</td><td>Manual</td><td>85-89</td><td>PF2</td><td>35</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr><tr><td>XR4Ti</td><td>Manual</td><td>85-89</td><td>PF3</td><td>35</td><td>No</td><td>Small</td></tr></table>

Most (and I among them) will recommend getting an entire donor car if feasible, because then you can see the placement of everything and all that. But in your case, you shouldn't have to change much anyway, so... It's really just a matter of unbolting the n/a 2.3 and sliding the 2.3T in it's place. The current transmission will bolt to the Turbo engine...how long it lasts remains to be seen. You can re-pin the Ranger harness to match the computer of choice for the turbo engine...the Ranger computer won't work. You can use either the Ranger accessories (my recommendation) or the donor car's. You will have to notch the heater box unless you move the oxygen sensor to the side of the turbo's exhaust outlet.

That's what comes off the top of my head...Any questions?

Whoa! Thanks for all of that Rascal! I knew it wouldnt be too difficult and this is my first custom truck so I didnt want to try anything too mind boggling. I have found about 7 engines within driving distance of my home but almost all of them are already pulled. All arround 500 bucks too which is what I expected. How hard is it to repin the wiring harness? I went to the library and got the Chiltons for all the TBirds and made copies of their wiring maps. What all is involved in notching my heatbox? Thanks for the wealth of information. I hope Im not annoying you with all the questions. Thanks again


Ice

Repinning the harness is easy, especially with your setup...just pull the red keeper out of the computer connector and swap the pins around to where they need to be, then replace the keeper. You'll have to add the VAM wires, so get those from the donor.

I'll include a picture of my heater box, I had a buddy make up a heat shield for it too. (Thanks Doug!)

Hey Rascal King, my heater box looks exactly like that one. I just put a HUGE front mount intercooler in my Ranger. Haven't got a chance to hook it up yet. It's from a Brizilian Dodge Dakota Turbo disel. I'll have to scana pic and post it.

Sweet!