Building an engine for mileage..

[fumesucker]

My income tax finally came back and next week I'm going to get another engine for my 5 spd 87 Ranger with the 2.3 four cylinder which currently has a spun rod. I"m going to Pull-A-Part and getting a used engine and then I'm going to strip it down to some extent..

The Ranger already has among the highest mpg ratings of any pickup (gasoline) and I'm trying to determine what can be done relatively easily to increase that while I have the engine on my bench.

I'm thinking Power Lynz in the intake ports, a multi angle valve job, maybe Singh grooves in the cylinder head (I haven't looked at the heads yet so that may or may not be feasible), possibly high temp coatings on the piston crowns, valve undersides and combustion chamber..

If I had the money I'd probably get an MSD ignition, MSD has a street ignition that keeps a hot inductive spark going for something like 20 degrees of crankshaft rotation.. I've had good results in the past in terms of smoothness of running and available power from upgrading ignition systems. My first experience was putting two regular car coils on a 350 twin two stroke street bike and it made a very noticeable difference in the way the bike started and ran after the plugs were opened up to .045" gap.

http://www.msdignition.com/ignition_1_5900.htm

http://interstore.com/product/125-38...Universal.html

Anyone got any easy to implement ideas for increasing the mileage on an engine while it's on the bench?