83 Turbo Ranger

[Scorpion 10+ year member]

Hey Yall,

I have a 83 Ranger that will have a 2.3L Turbo under the hood. Just wanted to know if you guys had any ideas about trannys for this thing. It did have a C3 but I shelled it doing 120 in a race last week. I figure I NEED to get a better tranny for it. Just suggest me something, I will listen.

This is my system so far:

Pioneer MP3 HU

Legacy 12 Band EQ

RF 501bd Amp for subs

Jensen Amp for surround

Kicker RMB6 and RMB4 for surround

Kicker Comp VR 10" Subs

Amps are mounted on roof of cab and subs have 1.5 cubes (sealed).

Click to read more...

 

[LoudCrownVic 5,000+ posts]

Well, there's always the C4... But I dunno if it'll mate up with the 2.3, it's ,made i think for the 5.0. I have no knowledge of the C3, but you might have just gotten a bad egg.

 

[Billyf17 10+ year member]

The C4 from a V8 will not fit for obvious reasons. But if you search hard enough you just might find a Pinto with a C4. It will bolt up but according to a ranger site I visited recently, it isn't a drop in swap.

My suggestion is if you want a better transmission and are going to go through with all the work to get a C4 to work, go with a T5 manual. They are fairly cheap if you know where to look, around $500 for everything. There are plenty of sites that have walkthroughs for this type of conversions. I have a Cougar with the 2.3l in it and the process to convert that to a 5 speed is basically the same. If durability is an issue, you could always run a 5.0 T5 instead of the 2.3l T5. But remember to get the correct belhousing.

Basically the only things to do is C4 or T5 swap, the A4LD has overdrive, but is very very weak. Just like the AOD for V8 cars. The best you could do for yourself and your truck is put in a T5. Although the C4 is a great tranny, its still a 3-speed. The 5 speed will be easier on you engine in the long run.

Hope this helps.

 

[wErd 5,000+ posts]

im getting a T5 when i put my 2.3T in my mustang.

 

[laserturbo 10+ year member]

i honestly know bearly anything about these engines, but would a merkur tranny from there turbo 2.3 fit? i know alot of people use those cars as street race cars an there stock trannys held up pretty well, just an idea. Dont even know if it would work. may be wurth doing research on.