2.3 Noob

vristang · Aug 27, 2005

I am beginning some research on getting my 2.3 N/A LX out on a road track next year. Probably won't be racing, just open track days to learn how to drive, and try some theories I have had floating around in my brain. I have been trying to read through old posts but just seem to come up with more questions.

What is the typical cost of doing a turbo conversion? I would like to know both what it would cost to convert the stock motor (including forged piston), and what it would cost to swap the entire motor. If you have done this please help me out. Maybe I should just ask what parts might be needed, and I can look up prices?

What kind of weight expectations should I have? How light can you get the 2.3L when the chassis is fully braced? I want to say that 2,500lb should be achievable, even if difficult.

I have yet to find the specs on the Ranger cam. What years from the Ranger are appropriate for N/A? For Boost?

I have been reading about D-port heads. I understand that "D" describes the intake runner, but what other characteristics make this head useful? What years were they used? What vehicles were they on? What is a good head to use for a high compression N/A motor? How about with lower compression and boost? I have just found the esslinger site, but with my budget I think I will be getting a stock head and hand porting.

That is all I can think of right now.
I greatly appreciate the help,
jason

Red_LX · Aug 27, 2005

The cost of swapping to a turbo shouldn't be much more than the cost of a turbo engine itself. Forget about converting your n/a engine to turbo, it's a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to swap in a complete engine. There's more info about swapping over on turboford.org if you do a search.

Weight- I have no idea. I'm sure if you completely stripped the car (no interior, no wipers, no nothing) you could get it pretty light, but it all depends on how far you wanna go.

I can't remember the years on the ranger cam but everyone uses the same one, the roller. People mostly use it for frictional losses, not so much for performance gains, because it has identical specs to other 2.3L cams.

People talk about d-ports because that's the only style of head that came on the turbo engines. However, turbo D-port engines had an open "D" shaped combustion chamber for lower compression, whereas the n/a d-ports had a closed "heart" shaped chamber. All the EFI heads were D-ports, far as I know, and they're the easiest to find.. Some people also run earlier oval port heads but I don't know much about them. A milled n/a D-port would be best for a high compression engine where as a stock turbo d-port is best for a turbo engine.

vristang · Aug 28, 2005

Red_LX said:
Weight- I have no idea. I'm sure if you completely stripped the car (no interior, no wipers, no nothing) you could get it pretty light, but it all depends on how far you wanna go.

.

The car will be trailered to the events, so if it doesn't make/transmit power or stop the car it will be tossed. I may even replace some body panels (hood/fenders) with composites?

It sounds like D ports are what I have on the 87 LX so I will most likely shave them to get CR up to around 12? Running on Race fuel would not be that bad with this car. Can the stock computer handle that?

Has anyone had any experience running 4.10 gears in the 7.5".

So the Ranger cam was the only 2.3L that was a roller? The cam specs were the same?

Any other suggestions?

Shawneebear93 · Aug 28, 2005

vristang said:
So the Ranger cam was the only 2.3L that was a roller? The cam specs were the same?

1990 or '91 to '93 Mustang 2.3's also had a Ranger Roller cam.

Red_LX · Aug 28, 2005

Well, I'm not sure how much power you'll actually be able to make on the stock EFI setup. Problem is that it's speed density, and SD can be very picky about what it likes and what it doesn't like. Generally speed density freaks out when you try to run a bigger cam or basically any "hard parts" that aren't stock. I don't really have any experience with doing anything beyond bolt-ons with a n/a 2.3L so I couldn't help you out too much there.

Honestly if you wanna do road racing, just swap to a 2.3L turbo, it'll be a lot cheaper in the long run than trying to make power with the n/a.

vristang · Aug 29, 2005

I sure appreciate all the input guys. It is helping me out quite a bit at this stage of planning.

I guess the best bet for power is the turbo motor, or just switch to carb? I don't even know if the carb setup can make decent power, but it seems like it would be easier to modify than SD. I sure hate carbs though. Maybe a 302 is an option.

As far as how far I want to go to lighten the chassis, I think I will be cutting out the inner fender wells from the engine bay. I have heard that something like 80lbs can be removed with this.

Can anyone give an estimate of how much a complete turbo 4 cyl engine is worth. I am watching ebay, but sometimes those auctions get skewed by one guy who doesn't care about cost.

Red_LX · Aug 29, 2005

Well, a couple years ago I got a complete no-title '84 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe for $150. Took me over a year to find a deal that good though.

BTW if you're concerned about weight a 302 wouldn't be much of an option unless you're planning on buying aluminum heads.

vristang · Aug 30, 2005

Red_LX said:
Well, a couple years ago I got a complete no-title '84 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe for $150. Took me over a year to find a deal that good though.

BTW if you're concerned about weight a 302 wouldn't be much of an option unless you're planning on buying aluminum heads.

$150, That would be really nice.
Yeah, a 250hp 4 banger in a 2,500lb car would be ideal. I just don't see much chance of getting that kind of performance out of a low budget 4 cyl. The thing with the 302 is I already have 90% of the parts to do the swap in the garage.

I guess I start looking for a complete 4cyl turbo. That seems like the best answer, considering all of my design criteria.

Are forged pistons the only difference between the n/a and turbo blocks? If I rebuilt my stock block (forged pistons) would it work with boost? How much boost did the stock turbo produce on these little motors?

Thanks for answering all of my rookie questions, especially Red_LX

Red_LX · Aug 30, 2005

250 hp is super easy to get with a turbo car. An intake, exhaust and a couple more pounds of boost could get you almost that much.

The turbo blocks also have the boss in the block for the turbo oil return, but you could just run the return to the pan if you wanted. If you want to use your n/a block to build a turbo engine, you could just find some turbo forged pistons and rods (I see them on ebay all the time) and drop them in your block, given that it doesn't need bored, otherwise you'll have to buy brand new pistons (which will run you around $400 a set). Also- I can't remember what the factory boost level was on non-intercooled cars, but the SVO's and '87-88 Turbo Coupes ran 15 lbs stock (10 lbs in first gear). '87-88 Turbo Coupes have the IHI (the small turbo), you can turn it up to 18 psi, the earlier cars all had T3's which can run around 20.

vristang · Aug 30, 2005

Red_LX, you rock.You have given me a great deal of info, I guess now I just hit the want ads and keep some cash available so I can move quick!

We'll see what pans out.

thanks again

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