'85 Ranger project

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FObangah

FObangah

Member
run down: 85 ranger 4cyl.( 5 speed ) 2wd reg. cab
burns oil but the body is straight, paint needs a bottle of jergens

Straight to the point. I need ideas... I really like this old basterd and don't want to see it go. So this means i need to figure out what I'm gonna do to it. My idea was to do something really different and rice it out. By rice it out I don't mean kit, primer,altezzas..... I mean mini truck meets spo-com. I guess a good example of what I want would be like the Mustang at the end of tokyo drift. It' has been churning in my head and I think I have a good idea for what I can pull off on a limited budget;

Obviously the first plan is the engine. I was thinking F20C swap. 9,000 RPM Ranger= ludacris. Heres the problem with that though, $5,000 for a motor and tranny minus ECU, harness, yaddy yadda... is not exceptable. Another power solution would be to drop in an old carbed V8. It would be cheap but wouldn't stick with my theme. My best idea so far ( I think ) is a K swap. Now before you start flamming, I don't mean THAT K motor. I mean KA24DE. They have a healthy after market support, SR20 swappers use them as jack stands and boat anchors so they are readily available and cheap( ECU,tranny, harness included). I've seen a few of them boosted and they make good power even on stock internals. Drive-train won't be a problem, custom drive shaft, motor mounts, and Im ridin' .( save for the weak rear end )

Looks wise, axle flip kit and a set of dream beams would be good for stance, Staggered spo-com influenced wheels, sick fart can exhuast ( drift style kickout to the side of course ), and a ittle JDM flare ... like old yellow block fog lights, maybe amber side markers, hood hinge risers A.K.A bolt washers. Hell it already has a chin spoiler from te factory.

Give me some input... good idea? bad idea? something else? Please no flamming though......I'll try to post some pics later.
 
sorry my camera took a sh!t on me but these Are some good examples;
 

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Coooool you have the same year S2k that I do. :)

A full F20C drivetrain is only $4k plus shipping from HMotorsOnline.

http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc2000search.cgi?what=page&item=30012

I watch the price monthly, waiting for it to come down... but I really only need a block. :D

The KA24DE is a nice choice- like you said, dirt cheap or free, good aftermarket support, and it has REALLY good budget grassroots modding support. Quite a few of the 240 guys that mod them don't want to spend the money to swap in an SR20, so they find really effective cheap ways to make power with the KA.

The torque curve might be a bit better suited to your truck's weight too. I don't know how much your Ranger weighs, but since it's an 85 I assume it's close to my Hardbody's 2800 pounds. The KA in my truck moves it pretty well. The F20C might be a little buzzy for the Ranger chassis, and it is really expensive to mod. For the price of the S2k swap, you could have the KA drivetrain in your truck and turbocharged, plus have a spare block and transmission sitting in your garage just in case as a backup! I have an extra KA drivetrain, do you? And yes, I got mine for free too. :D
 
nice looking project truck :thumbsup:

put a 302 in it. it would be the easiest to swap...so to speak of. if you want ideas, i have plenty but you want to "rice it out" as you said and the ideas i have are not "rice" as you want to do. although its a good start to do the DJM Dream Beams up front and rear axle flip kit. i believe you can get springs from a 93-97 Ranger Splash and itll drop it down another inch up front. that would give you a 4/4 drop roughly. i will say have fun installing the new drop i-beams...they are a bitch. you could also do a Mustang II front suspension swap to if you want to get rid of those i-beams. a good site to do resreach and ask all kinds of questions is rangerpowersports.com. alot of good people and info there and theres quite a few people with the 1st gen Rangers. hope that helps.
 
289/302 with a T5 and a 4link.

btw... save up about 2 grand extra for all of the tanks of fuel and tires you are about to go through.
 
i dont think he plans on bagging it. IF he does decided to do that, then theres things he should do FIRST before even putting bags on it.
 
Appreciate the ideas. I'm definitly leaning towards the V8. I can still get the look I want with plenty of power. Not to mention.. never swapped anything nissan before but damn I want to do it.

bodydrop; Thanx for the site! I heard dream beams were a PITA, as for the springs..... you still have the ones off your yellow ranger? If so how much? And your right.... I really don't want to lay frame, Im just looking for a sport truck with some punch that I can drive back and forth to work, not to mention I want to be able to carry sh!t in the bed.

Calesta; The K is tempting..... its like the d-series of the nissan world. I've spotted a few wrecked 240's in the local trader from $300 to $600. They would have everything I need.
But then again, a neighbor has a fox-body GT he wiped out in the ditch ( folded over both driver side wheels) thats still running. I think I'm gonna call the county and tell them what an eye-sore it is so he'll have to tow it away, then come swipe it for a couple hundred bucks!HAHAHA!!! By the way... I think your s2k is silverstone too.... silverstone pwns

nissanninja; Good idea but no 4 link.... I was thinkin' maybe adding a leaf and slappin' on some traction bars. OL'SKEWLLLLLL!!!!
\keep the ideas coming...but keep it cheap!
 
no i dont have the springs off my truck anymore. they got trashed about 2 years ago. you can get drop leafs for the rear to get the rear down some more after you do the flip kit. with the flip kit, it WILL move your axle forward slightly but it doesnt affect anything. just looks kinda odd when you are laid out. how much of a static drop are you lookin to have?
 
I really havn't thought about how much drop.... I checked RPS and i saw one that had flip kit out back and beams in the front... it looked pretty good. Drop the heavier V8 in there and I'd imagine it would kinda have a hot-rod-ish rake to it. Alot of the guys there aren't running very good times with v8 rangers though.... i think its becuase alot of the guys are running old crown vic motors......My step dad has an old 350sb (4bolt main) and a set of double hump heads in the garage.... how 'bout chevy in a ford??? he might even pay ME to take them away.....
 
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FObangah said:
Calesta; The K is tempting..... its like the d-series of the nissan world. I've spotted a few wrecked 240's in the local trader from $300 to $600. They would have everything I need.
But then again, a neighbor has a fox-body GT he wiped out in the ditch ( folded over both driver side wheels) thats still running. I think I'm gonna call the county and tell them what an eye-sore it is so he'll have to tow it away, then come swipe it for a couple hundred bucks!HAHAHA!!! By the way... I think your s2k is silverstone too.... silverstone pwns
Click to expand...

Mine's white. :) If you can get the V8 for next to nothing, go for it!
 
i say you get the 03 or higer cobra motor from a junk yard. that would be fast and have great aftermarket support. knaww mean.
 
yeah i Knaww meeeeeen... but I say the cost of the 03 or higher cobra motor ( even w/o the blower on top of it ), plus the harness, tranny, ecu, bla blah blah.... would warrent me to buy a cratemotor, crate tranny, good locker, and a set of slicks.... then stomp a complete 03 cobras ass.:p In other words... to expensive....knawwww meeeeeen??????

calesta; white > silverstone:worthyp:
 
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WERD, I have already contemplated this route and it isn't very tempting because of it's simplicity but not because of reliability issues...... I got a friend that has a 86 turbo coupe in his yard, he swapped another turbo motor in it ( he blew the first one) now it doesn't run right. Another guy has a Indy500 pace car edition 'stang in his yard, also equiped with the turbo motor, but he won't come off of it. I've searched around and alot of turbo coupe pwn3rz are saying its hard to keep them running even in stock trim.

NOTE; The INDY edition mustang ran a little more boost then a stock turbo coupe and had a better 5speed behind it. You may have seen one because of its distinctive look..... It was a T- top earlier model fox-body, silver with black ground effects, Orange over red pin stripe, a fading " wild horse" graphic down each side, and a polished set of wheels that would come out 10 years later on the 96 V6 mustangs.
 
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yeah but the ford companie doesn't make replacment parts for that. i know i work there. so yeah i mean do what you want.
 
Oh one other thing..... I orignally paid $250 bucks for the truck cuz it need a timing belt. $11.52 later, I got the timing set dead-nutz and drove it till the clutch let loose. ( week before last ) so $8,000 for an engine/tranny ALONE isn't gonna fly.

I know Ford doesn't make parts for those anymore, even though I don't work there. On the other hand, I know people that work at Advanced/NAPA/AutoZOne/ etc. that can find companies that DO make parts for them.^_^
 
On a lighter note, how bout a police interceptor swap???? You can score an EX-cop car for nothing here in VA. Good idea/bad idea???

And before anyone says..." than why would you think $5,000 F20/F22 would be worth it."
An F20/F22 with low miles would set pretty in my s2000... thus leaving me with a higher mileage ( yet still potent ) F20 to put in the truck.....
 
hey FO....get on RPS and check out 22Below. he has a Ranger with an S2000 engine in it. he maybe able to help you out regarding questions on putting one of those motors in your truck.
 
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