I have a 1988 Ranger with a broken 2.3. pulled off head expecting a head gasket, found a 1/4- 3/8" deep groove in #2 cylinder. (4plug head) 5spd truck.

I found a 1993 Mustang 2.3 with only 160,000km on it for $275 Canadian. I can still hear it run in car. (8plug head) 5spd car

My big question is: can they be interchanged and if so what should I get off of the mustang more than just the engine. Manifolds/computer/sensors? anything else .

I am a truck/coach mechanic and this is my first attempt at engine swapping a 2.3.
Sorry for my 4cyl ignorance, I had a 1987 and a 1988 tbird coupes afew years ago and was amazed at what the little 2.3 could do. They were very reliable and all I ever did was a basic tuneup.

Any tips, knowledge, advice, all appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any help. Don't hold back, I'm hoping to look at Friday or Saturday.

 

They can be interchanged but it will require some work.

If the head from your ranger is still good, I'd recommend stripping the mustang engine down to a rotating assembly (sans head), and swapping everything from your Ranger engine over to the Mustang engine. The block & rotating assembly on the DIS 2.3 was identical to the older 2.3's.

The DIS block will have a rubber plug in the distributor hole, you can pull this plug and you should be able to install the distributor. The auxiliary shaft should be there as I believe they left it there to drive the oil pump. You'll have to check all this out.

Like I said, most everything will swap over. Got any q's just lemme know. I'm no expert on the DIS engines but I do know the 2.3 pretty well inside and out.

 

The major change in the blocks for the distless engines cam in 1994. Other than main bearing dia the short block should interchange.

 

I have talked to a few local ford guys and think I can use my dist. and electronics and only wire up the 1 set of plugs, and leave the "intake side plugs where they are. Does this make any sense? I really don't want to use my original head as I have NO history on the engine.

Thanks for input and keep it up. I will probably get down on Monday to check it out.