Hey guys, I have a 96 ranger with the 2.3 and the 5 speed manual. I'm looking for thoughts on swapping to a 6 speed, and suggestions on what transmission to go with. I don't have much experience as far as transmissions go, so I'm hoping for something that would be close to a direct fit. Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

 

Welcome to the forum

You have a 2.3l SOHC Lima engine, also called Pinto engine, used from 1974 to 1997 in several Ford vehicles

All engines have a specific Bolt Pattern so the transmission used must have a Bell housing that matches that engines bolt pattern

Current 5-speed is an M5OD-R1(M5R1) model, has a one piece case so bell housing doesn't come off of transmission, so M5R1 is an engine specific transmission, there are several M5R1 models, each only works for the one engine model it was built for
i.e. a 3.0l M5R1 won't fit a 2.3l or 4.0l engine

Many manual transmission have detachable Bell housings, so transmission itself can be used with several engine models, if there was a bell housing made for the engine you have
You can pay to have a custom bell housing made, but $700-$1,500 would be cheap, lol

As far as I know there is no 6-speed manual trans that works with the 2.3l Lima engine, off the shelf
I would check over at Mustang Forums
Mustangs used the 2.3l Lima engine from 1974 thru 1993, and Mustang owners would be more inclined to the 6-speed swap than Ranger owners

 

Would there be much benefit to 6 speed swapping a ranger?

 

In my opinion no

The Tremec T56 has a 2nd Overdrive gear for higher top speed
5th gear 0.80
6th gear 0.63

1 thru 4 are same as Ranger's

 

Sorry dude, the 2.3 doesn't have the power to warrant needing a 6 speed, even if you were able to swap it in.