Ranger Conversion

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking for a little while here on the forums and this is my first post. I am kicking around the idea of putting a non PD 1.9L in a ranger with a 5 speed tranny. I have done some searching and have not come up with a good solution for a rear wheel drive tranny. I know that it is possible to hook up a tranny with a samuri or toyota conversion kit, but I don't know how hard it will be to put the tranny in the truck and mate the driveshaft to that as well. I would really like to put a T5 behind the engine but there is very little other info out there other than, "it could work" or "were looking into it".

Is it possible? What are the problems? Is the Input shaft long enough? Are the splines correct? Are there any problems with adapter plates mating up?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Have you thought about mating the diesel flywheel to the existing truck transmission and clutch friction material? You may need to machine up an adapter plate with one set of mounting holes to match the engine and another set of holes matching the transmission to allow bolting the two together.
Depending on the adapter thickness you may possibly need a spacer to restore the clutch stack height. Spacing the flywheel off the crank and towards the transmission or increasing the thickness of the throwout bearing may be a way to match the adapter plate thickness change. Which you choose to use may depend on the starter location and whether it is bolted to the transmission or to the engine.
Then there's the gearing issue. Will the diesel's operating rpm range be a good match for the existing gears in the truck transmission and final drive? Automatic transmissions are more difficult because of the torque characteristics of the engines and the 'tuning' of the torque converter to match one engine's output. A different engine may not allow appropriate shifting points.

T-5 trany

If you have one of the t-5 trany's with the removeable bell housing than you have many options for what engine bell housing you want to use. The t-5 trany was used in many applications. Jeep wrangler 4 and 6 cyl, ford Mustang 4,6,and 8 cyl, Ranger. There is many more I do not know all of the vehicles that came with t-5 trany's but the list is not small. So if you have a t-5 with removeable bell housing you could pick wich one is the closest match.

acmeadapters.com could be another possible. I was directed to them for a 4runner conversion that's still on the drawing board

As you already know the only RWD trans adapters you can buy are for the Samurai and Toyota transmissions. Adapting to anything else means you a are designing/making your own.

Had a chance to examine a Mazda five speed from a Ranger. As far as I could see the input shaft is set too far back in the integral bell housing. By the time you put an adapter plate between the engine and the Mazda trans, my opinion is that you would need a very thick custom flywheel to get the clutch far enough back for the disc to mate up with the trans input.

The T-5 trans is a good idea. The GM 60 degree V6 pattern bell housing used on the Chevy S-10 pick-up truck with 2.8 V6 and T-5 trans is fairly short from engine to trans. Based on the mock-ups I have done, there is room for an adapter plate between the engine and that bell housing and still have the stack come out correct. I will be using a flywheel and pressure plate intended for a 98 to 04 Passat with 1.8T engine, and clutch disc from a Chevy Cavalier. I plan on retaining the throwout bearing and throw out 'fork' that came with the S-10 bell housing. Starter along side the engine like the longitudinal VWs (dasher, Quantum, Fox, 98 to 04 Passat). Still working on the specifics, those details remain super top secret.

That is all I think I know.

Piper106

Thanks Piper106, that was the info I was looking for. Anyone else working/worked with a t5 RWD conversion before?

Thanks

Another option I believe is that Volvo in the 200 series used a VW diesel which was available in a manual or automatic. This would then only require a custom drive shaft and working out the issues with clutch operation.

you do NOT want that volvo transmission. The M45/6/7 is the bane of rwd volvo enthusiasts. You can drive a (well, volvo) between the 2-3 gap it's so wide. Also it's pretty fragile and will not likely enjoy excessive torque if you end up doing much tuning. Please do not go down that road.

I would very much like to see a T5 adapter plate made up for the TDI. There are T5 adapter plates for volvo engines because it is the go-to transmission to replace the awful stock volvo transmissions.

My personal reason is because I want to put a TDI in a p1800ES with a t5 transmission and would greatly appreciate it if someone else would do the legwork

I know you probably don't want to go this route, but the International 3.0L NGD engine that they put in the Ranger in South America has been rumored to be coming to the US in the form of light-duty trucks/delivery vehicles in 2007. It might be worth looking into, it's a great engine!