i've been saving my spare cash for a v8 swap for a few months and i have enough to play around with now.
but i've been looking around on the interweb and noticed i could build a 2.3 turbo for almost half the price and get about the same HP if not more....and i won't have to fab up anything special to mount it in my truck

i've always been a fan of old school motors so this turbo stuff is new to me
any tips would be helpful.

what all would i need to undergo such a challenge?

Transmission?
Gearing?
What car would make a good donor? (turbo t-bird?)

i've also thought about just making a high compression 2.3l since its just going into my DD. i dont need insane hp....220-250 is good enough

as soon as its warm enough to work outside (i have no garage) i'm gonna start but i'd like to get a list of all the parts i'll need....

 

You can get much much more power out of an Turbo, than the stock V8 could do. Use my car as an example - I have a built engine putting down 450+ to the rear wheels on a mustang dyno (well more than 500 brake-horsepower) - check the dyno link in my signature.

You won't need that much boost to reach your horsepower goals, but you will need forged internals. You can't turbocharge without fuel upgrades, and all of the supporting mods. There should be 100's of websites with way more than I could type in one post for this topic. The most important thing for the turbo will be asking "how will the computer control my new engine" - the stock ecu will fall FAR short and I'm sure will be the weakest part of the system. I would see what you can do with this first, because without the right tune you can turbocharge all you want and not make any gains.

When it comes to any automotive project, you can have 2 of 3 things

1 - Cheap
2 - Fast
3 - Reliable

Pick any 2 you want.

You've got a good idea, but there are alot of costs associated and I'd hate to see you get into a project that you don't fully see the scope of.

 

i have built two turborangers, and am in the process of gathering parts for my third. 220-250rwhp would be as simple as a good air filter, 3" exhaust, FMIC, tweaked boost, and an upgraded fuel pump.

go here, and read alot. check out the 2.3T FAQs in the tech section as well.
*seems like server issues, hopefully they get fixed soon.

you can also research on www.turboford.net and www.turborangerforums.com

 

So couldn't you just buy a Turbo Thunderbird or a Mustang SVO and rip the motor/tranny out and do a swap? or is that too easy?

 

As Gumby posted, go to TurboRangerForums.com
Its the best site.

The 2.3T/2.5T section on RPS is also very good.

I suggest doing a 2.3T swap. Reason being, for a LOT LESS money, and build much more HP. Not to mention you can keep the 4 cylinder gas mileage IF you can stay out of the throttle. I've ridden in a 2.5T Ranger and they are MUCH more fun than any stock 5.0 Stang.

 

i just picked up a 89 2.3t motor for FREE :)

 

A little late there champ, his truck was totaled

 

yeah thanks....rub it in even more

 

Happens to the best of us.

 

lmfao yeah but its hard to lose a truck that is hard to find in such good condition

 

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...ry/Turbos.html THIS LINK IS THE BOMB!!!!!!

 

Did you have to replace the stock piston rods with forged ones and if so should you replace the heads too?