If its a ford aod auto tranny you'll be lucky to see 8-10psi due to the vac ref lines on it and blowing the tranny. The T-5s that was in the 2.3L I haven't heard of a max for them as of yet. I used a donor 88 2.3L mustang to do my swap and still using that transmission although I did have it rebuilt already.

 

well i don't have a mustang so i don't have a t-5. i have a ranger and it's 5-speed. it had 2 options for 5-speeds, the mazda trans and mitsu trans

 

It would be a good idea to swap the Ranger tranny out for a T-5. The T-5 is a little longer to the shifter so you'll have to cut the tranny hump a little and put in some bucket seats...but the T-5 is stronger than the stock Ranger tranny so well worth the trouble. Plazma can fill you in on that, He has a 2.3t Ranger.

 

your best bet is to buy a complete turbo long block. they are usually around 300.00 then freshen it up. I believe the turbo motor has different rods also they are forged. I was using a 4 cyl t5 @ 300 to the wheels. we are going to be upping that to 400/450 so we will see what they will take. I have broken them before behind a 351 but it had massive torque down low. since you already have the ranger motor why not torture it until it breaks

 

Turbo motors got: Forged pistons, blocks cast from the "diesel" iron w/ oil drain backs, rods w/ oil squirters, and heads with induction hardened seats (cool process but Boport has determined that it changes their expansion rate so much that they crack the heads).

You could probably start out with the mazda tranny but I'd have a T5 ready just in case. There is a reason why those trannys are missing from every Ranger in the jy, they break behind stock NA 2.3Ls. There is a tail section from the S10 T5s that puts the shifter much further forward, but I don't know of anyone who has tried it on a ford setup (bottom).


Not a big deal cutting the floor though, and bolt in explorer buckets are way better seats anyway, just put some in my Ranger (thanks cash for clunkers).

Actually Levi's 2.3T Ranger is for sale so if you just wanted to skip all that and step up to a running one just shared_pm Plazma!

 

i didn't know you could put a t-5 in the truck because of the shifter being shorter. i'm use to dealing with transverse engines and transmissions everything is a little different.

i already do. it has 200k miles and i just had the driveshaft rebuilt. thought the rear end was going out on me, come to find out it was the u-joint eating away at the driveshaft making it unbalanced.

i would buy it but i'm looking for a project of my own before i get shipped out to basic training because i have 2 years of schooling after that so i'll need something to do in my spare time.

 

Really? Anymore info like pictures or videos?

 

to make 500 with a stock na head you would have to be using nitrous also because theres no way you are cramming enough boost through the 2.3 head. and if you were you would have thousands in engine management/turbo/intercooler/piping/ported manifolds,you get it? so why would you be using a stock head? I have been building 2.3 turbo motors for a while now and I dont know anyone making those kind of numbers with a stock n/a head

 

That's some good head right there!

 

Oops opened mouth and inserted foot lol. Lemme rephrase that retard remark. The guy locally near me was making 500 rwhp with an na single plug head. He did the porting and polishing himself removing some of the heart shape in the chamber, upgraded the valve train and installed himself. The NA heads are fine to be used, just gotta do a little work on em. Mainly putting in the turbo valve train otherwise you'll bend a valve. Posting at 4 am or what ever that was was probably a bad idea.