^I hear ya man. I had a ford ranger that I gave to my sister for her first car. I could not make up my mind if I wanted to put a diesel in it for mpg's or squeeze a v8 stroker under the hood for ***** to the wall speed... I keep saying I'll do one of them but all my money is spent on the cummins. It goes round and round.

 

Update: Road tested the truck a little more today. Generally my speeds were 50MPH or less. It had no problem running these speeds and maintaining momentum as I drove. I did notice that if you get caught running a low speed and need to pick up speed going up a hill it’s kind-a-slow. I’m running normally aspirated right now but would say the turbo will make it interstate worthy. The straight exhaust (no muffler) will probably have to go it’s a little loud but the turbo may quiet it down some. I also noticed that the tires on the truck are oversize making the speedometer run slow, that’s going to make figuring MPG difficult, guess I will you a GPS. Overall, VERY drivable and fun to drive. Next will be the turbo to see the difference in power.

 

Great news! When it bogged down, did you notice if it was blowing black out the tail pipe? I know that when the reefer unit that these motors are in come out of defrost, they bogg down a bit and blow black a short while, so I also think the turbo will help. The little turbo I have on mine spools quickly, can't wait to road test. I had to go out of town again, so didn't get any more done after I talked to you.

 

Update: Shortened up the governor spring till it turns 3100RPM, it makes a huge difference in getting through the gears. I not getting any black smoke so I may turn the fuel stop up a little to see if that makes a difference. I took the little turbo I have by the local turbo shop here in town, he said its too small for a 2.2L engine, he said I should be running at least a GT-25, TD-25 or similar turbo. Since I've already plumbed for it I'm going to try it but will probably buy a bigger turbo in the future. Still very pleased with the outcome so far, very drivable truck, least at surface street speeds.

 

Update: I’ve driven the truck about 400 miles and checked the mileage twice. The first was 195 miles, 6.5 gallons = 30.04 MPG. The second run was 179 miles, 5.5 gallons = 32.54 MPG. The first run had its issues as the truck got hot and popped a head gasket, I’m sure this affected the MPG. Turns out I had an air lock going on in the cooling system. I had to build a ventable thermostat housing to get the air out. I didn’t have any issues with the second run other than a lot of idling time. The majority of my driving has been on the interstate at 70 plus MPH. The truck is more than capable of running down the interstate at this speed with drops into the high 60’s on long hills. Still running without the turbo.

 

Update: Put the turbo on the truck and as my Grandmother would say, and I quote, “Bless It!!” Wow did it make a huge difference in power; it will absolutely get down the road with the turbo on it. I hooked it up sort-a temporary so this test was without an intercooler, hoping the intercooler will give me even more power. I picked up an intercooler and new radiator/fan set up today. The Intercooler came off a Volvo and the radiator/fan setup from a Nissan, $80.00 for all of it at the local junkyard. Took some modification of the radiator support but got them fitted; now I just need to get some rubber for final mounting. For the more technical folks, the boost shuts down at 8psi with the wastegate hooked up, I pulled the hose off the wastegate and it popped 15psi, it would go higher but I was afraid it would hurt the engine. I thought I would eventually need a muffler but after installing the turbo the truck is very quiet, it also helped quiet down the intake drone noise. Very Very satisfied with the truck now, great power, fun to drive, and the turbo made all the difference in the world. I’ll give a MPG update when I get all back together.

 

Nice!! Man thats a big cooler, should do the trick! Are you using that little turbo?

 

Yep using the little turbo, does just fine. The intercooler came of a 2.3L gasser so it should be pretty close to the appropriate size.

 

Nice!

 

for the money those Volvo Intercoolers are great. I use to use them back in the day on Ford 2.3 turbo motors. If you get over 15-20 psi the plastic tanks tent to crack. you can upgrade to the Isuzu NPR intercooler, bigger core and all aluminum.....