2.3 Turbo over 5.0

[QUICK91LX]

well, ive always been a hardcore 5.0 guy, but theres a part of me that wants to put a 2.3 turbo in a stang to be different. i owned a 79 with a 2.3 carbureted turbo and even though it was gutless, it was such a blast laying into the gas and hearing the turbo spool up. that makes me imagine what it would be like to have one that was actually fast. what would be the benefit of going this route? could i do the swap into a decent car and hop up the motor a little bit for less than it would cost to buy a nice 5.0? any input appreciated...i need to decide where i wanna go with this haha thanks

Bill

 

[Asha'man]

Definitely worth it. You can find a decent 2.3 Stang for pretty cheap....spend a grand or so total swapping in a reringed and built up 2.3T and you've got yourself a unique, pretty fast street car. The carb turbo's were pretty gutless, but go EFI and you'll be a happy man. Go check out www.turboford.org and just lurk for a while, look at peoples' combos and problems, and figure out a plan.

Ash

 

[realtripp]

I used to think about putting a 5.0 in my stang but looked at this site and some of the members that have done the 2.3 turbo swap. I decided to do the 2.3 swap for a few reasons.

-Cost of doing the 2.3 swap is cheaper than a 5.0 swap
-I like working in the engine bay with a 4 cyl, lots of room
-Gas cost, when staying out of the boosted range, will be cheaper
-Most people have a 5.0, I want something a little different
-want more power? Get a boost control valve, $50
-The one example of a dyno proven engine I have seen here showed 280hp and 315 ft/lbs. at the rear wheels.
-I dont care so much about the drag strip, I would rather have a lighter engine.
-I want an extra guage(boost) on my dashboard
-Much more to swap in a 2.3 to 5.0 swap

These are my reasons, come to the dark side with us.

 

[tenor58]

I have a 2.3T from an 88 Turbo Coupe that I'm planning to put into my 92. What's holding me back is that I think I'm going to have to do something about the transmission at the same time. Right now it's a 2.3 n/a with an A4LD. Would the automatic even bolt up to the 2.3T, and, assuming I wanted to do that, could the A4LD handle the increased power? I'd rather have a five-speed -- are they all the same, or are some five-speeds made to mate up to the 2.3? Or is it just a matter of getting the right bellhousing?

 

[leakyfaucet]

For a little more money you could throw in a 5.0 and do a custom junkyard twin turbo kit that would make you forget every 4 cyl. car you ever drove. People have made $400 twin turbo kits with 2 T3 turbos from the thunderbird coupe. Just a thought.

 

[Red_LX]

Well, if around where you are is anything like here, it would be cheaper to buy a 2.3L Mustang and swap in a 2.3 Turbo than it would be to buy a 5.0. The majority of 5.0's go for around $4000 and up here.

Another option is to just buy a turbo coupe. They aren't as fast as a Mustang with a turbo swap but trust me when I say that they are a lot better put together than a Fox mustang (in my opinion). My '87 feels super solid for being 17 years old.

 

[spook]

I have a 2.3T from an 88 Turbo Coupe that I'm planning to put into my 92. What's holding me back is that I think I'm going to have to do something about the transmission at the same time. Right now it's a 2.3 n/a with an A4LD. Would the automatic even bolt up to the 2.3T, and, assuming I wanted to do that, could the A4LD handle the increased power? I'd rather have a five-speed -- are they all the same, or are some five-speeds made to mate up to the 2.3? Or is it just a matter of getting the right bellhousing?

The A4LD will bolt up, but it sucks up a lot of the power from the motor and is also pretty weak, meaning with the turbo motor there's a good chance it'll break. You can get a T5 from any 2.3 manual car. Mine is a World Class T5 from an '88 Turbocoupe. From what I understand, the WCs have better gear ratios and are a little tougher than the regular T5s.

 

[MSM0075]

Buy my '93, $1000.

 

[tvinson86]

your probably going to run into much less problems as far as getting a 2.3T road-ready than just fixing the typically horribly banged on 5.0. Also ur not really going to be much slower, none at all in my experience, than most people's 5.0s out there.