dumb ? i know but i was wondering would a supercharger off a 3.8 buick work on my ranger

 

In a word, no.
Buick is a GM engine you have a Ford engine, doesn't matter what size, the parts don't interchange.

Forced induction means forcing more air into the engine, the more air in the cylinder the more gas it can burn so the more horsepower it will make.
Supercharging and turbocharging are both Forced Induction add ons.

Supercharging is the least efficient since it is powered by the crankshaft, so takes some horse power away while adding horse power.
It has a quicker response, i.e. no turbo lag, and can pass most smog emission tests if changes to the engine are allowed.

Turbo chargers are powered by the exhaust so take little if any horse power from the engine, so are more efficient in that respect.
Added turbos often fail emission tests, better to swap in a factory turbo engine, again if changes are allow in your state.

In either Forced Induction upgrade you have the issue of the rated horsepower of the engine, the heads, pistons, connecting rods, and crankshaft are all built for the rated horsepower, if you increase the horse power then the stress on the parts goes up and failures happen.
How much of an increase in horsepower will cause a failure?
You will know that when it fails, there is no absolute for this, 5%, 10%, 15% increase, it could not fail at 50% increase or could fail at 1% increase.
Same as the same type of engine, say a 2.5l, one will last an owner 300,000 miles, another might self destruct at 80,000.

 

http://www.ranger-forums.com/forced-...p-step-141002/

Read that. The supercharger you need is the Eaton M90 off the 3.8L in the Ford Thunderbird Supercoupe