2.3T Swap Before and After (Theoretical)

conor · Jan 23, 2004

Well, looks like the turbo will squeeze in. Thanks to Stinger, whose photograph I stole and chopped up for these

Current (real):

Future (fictitious):

Now that I have a taste of what it will look like, I have some inspiration to get going on in some time soon. The only problem here I can see is that the inlet angle looks like it'll be a bit weird... I know the engien photo I used is incomplete, but the stunningly similar angle was too much to pass up. Just needed a little resizing and tweaking.

Stinger · Jan 23, 2004

Haha...good chop

Asha'man · Jan 24, 2004

What the hell is that? That engine bay is tiny!

Ash

351wcoupe · Jan 24, 2004

Asha'man said:
What the hell is that? That engine bay is tiny!

Ash

Put my guess down for MG

stinger:
is that in your SVO?

bhuff30 · Jan 24, 2004

WOW, you did a hell of a job chopping.
Anyway, you can get a streight intlet for the turbo. That is just a wierd ford inlet.
Have you thought about the engine mounts, or transmission requirements?
It would definatly be worth it. That little thing would FLY.

conor · Jan 24, 2004

Hehe, I wish it were an MG No no, this is an actual Mustang with an old Mercedes Gazelle kit (1929 roadster). The body is so-so, the chrome's in poor shape in many places. It's definitely no prime replica specimen, so I'm going to have some fun with it.

A small photo:

More photos of it, including my hoodscoop chop can be found here.

As you can see, every inch of Mustang body and interior is gone, replaced with fiberglass. I don't have any idea of what it weighs, but I think it's safe to say it doesn't weigh the original 2800 lbs..

I'd like to put a 2.3T in it, of course. I don't see a 5.0 fitting, not that I really want one anyway. My own hands-on experience with this is very limited, although I've done tons of research. It'll most likely be a learn-as-you-go kind of project for me, heh. But hey, the car's just sitting around now. Can't hurt to play with it, even if I mess it up some.

dmsead · Jan 25, 2004

The Turbo swap seems like a cool idea.

The hoodscoop does not.

Some different rims might be a good idea, though...

Red_LX · Jan 25, 2004

You should rodderize that thing

Ditch the horns and other junk off the front end, get some smaller headlights and mount them closer to the grille, get a different bumper...lose the continental kit, ditch the fake exhaust pipes (if you can), lower it a bit in the front to give it more of a rake and slap on some smoothie wheels with wider tires. I bet it'd look pretty sweet! You can probably do a lot with the exterior on that car without spending too much money.

conor · Jan 25, 2004

Red_LX said:
You should rodderize that thing

Ditch the horns and other junk off the front end, get some smaller headlights and mount them closer to the grille, get a different bumper...lose the continental kit, ditch the fake exhaust pipes (if you can), lower it a bit in the front to give it more of a rake and slap on some smoothie wheels with wider tires. I bet it'd look pretty sweet! You can probably do a lot with the exterior on that car without spending too much money.

Lovin' all the comments!

That's pretty much what I was thinking about doing (rodderizing). To be frank, the suspension on it sucks, so there's no point in wasting money on making it handle better when it could get a new engine and some wheels/tires. The body is all fiberglass, so doing something like ditching the fake exhaust should be easy enough.

The only thing I'm fairly certain of with this thing is that I might as well use a 2.3T, because it's bolt-in and I won't have to screw around with drive shaft lengths and engine mounts. And, well... 170-200hp should be enough for a car that weighs under 200 lbs. I'm already worried about aerodynamics with the big exposed front fenders.

Hopefully I can find myself an engine to get this going soon. Otherwise... why am I even on this board?

78CobraII · Jan 28, 2004

Mmm ... looks like a Mustang II or Pinto was the donor on this one. If so, there are plenty of suspension parts available. Check with Racer Walsh and in any of the Street Rod magazines. It can be made to handle like a race car, especially with the lighter weight.

Does it have the 6 3/4" rear (inspection plate visible from the rear) or the 8" (smooth rear)? If its not the 8", then its lifespan will be limited.

You can tell if an MII was the donor by looking at the front suspension...the subframe that the strut rods attaches to is rubber isolated in the MII.

I have seen a 302 in this sort of car, but it probably had a square-tube frame.

Good luck!

conor · Jan 29, 2004

Well, I'll be honest. I haven't a good idea of what you're talking about, specifically, but here are some photos I took today of the rear end and front suspension:

Rear End

Front Suspension

The ugly teal beasties were there when I got the car, I swear

Dr_EluSivE · Jan 30, 2004

Might want to throw a timing belt on that thing, May run a little better . nice chop though, should prove to be an interesting car. probably be pretty quick when all is said and done but the biggest headach will be the wiring for EFI and computer. Should be doable though. BTW i have an MG and from the looks of it that engine bay is SMALLER than the one in the Mg. If only these 2.3s werent so tall

Dr.

conor · Jan 31, 2004

Dr_EluSivE said:
Might want to throw a timing belt on that thing, May run a little better . nice chop though, should prove to be an interesting car. probably be pretty quick when all is said and done but the biggest headach will be the wiring for EFI and computer. Should be doable though. BTW i have an MG and from the looks of it that engine bay is SMALLER than the one in the Mg. If only these 2.3s werent so tall

Dr.

Ha ha, timing belt... I'll remember that

Why would the wiring be an issue? If I get the whole engine/tranny with the ecu and what not, what's left to cause trouble? The dash gauges, I suppose...

bhuff30 · Jan 31, 2004

I wonder if the oil pan will clear.
The hood looks relativly tall, but our engines are pretty tall, and the steering stuff and suspension always get in the way.
I wish you luck! It will be awsome when it's done!

78CobraII · Feb 1, 2004

Looks like a Mustang II front suspension...without the front sway bar...probably why it handles so badly!

You do have a square tube frame, and looks like a late-model 7.5" or 8.8" rear...could be the 6.75" from a 2.3L Mustang II though. If it is a 6.75", you may be replacing it after your first Turbo power launch.

The MII front suspension will likely require you to swap the oil pan and oil pump from the front sump MII 2.3L to the rear sump Turbo 2.3L engine. Not a big deal.

Looks pretty solidly built. A bit of looking through Street Rod magazines should give you some ideas about updating the body. Maybe you could remove the running boards and shorten the fenders a bit.

When you pick up the Turbo 2.3L, try to get the fuel tank with it. You will need the EFI fuel pump. I've seen folks with Mustang II's convert to EFI in 2 ways: transplant a late-model fuel pump into a MII fuel tank, or use an external EFI pump say from a F150 and mount it out of the way on a framerail.

conor · Feb 1, 2004

The shopping list keeps getting longer. Oh well, it's to be expected.

Maybe I should just wait a bit and buy a car to cannibalize, that way I'll have all the parts on hand and mostly if not all in running order. Looks like the best bet would be a Thunderbird, since the Merkurs are so rare and I'm sure I'd have a mob after me if I offered to buy this SVO just up the street...

Are the Thunderbird rears and fuel tanks interchangable with my chassis?

Stinger · Feb 1, 2004

conor said:
Looks like the best bet would be a Thunderbird, since the Merkurs are so rare and I'm sure I'd have a mob after me if I offered to buy this SVO just up the street...

Are the Thunderbird rears and fuel tanks interchangable with my chassis?

Merkurs are not rare...they made over 100 thousand of them...

Yes, you'd have the mob after you if you bought the SVO for the drivetrain.

Rears and Tanks...yes, interchangeable. Well, the tank might be too big

78CobraII · Feb 1, 2004

I dunno about the T-Bird fuel tank, its likely wider than the MII fueltank. Question is, what tank do you have now?

Same for the T-Bird rear...its about 3 inches wider than a MII rear. Both the Fox Mustang 7.5" and 8.8" rear and the T-Bird rear are coil sprung rather than leaf, but the brackets could be removed and the leaf spring plates could be re-used (probably with new U bolts though).

If you can find a cheap 2.3L Turbo engine and tranny, I'd go with that and use a frame rail mount EFI pump and hang onto the 6.75" rear (if that is what it actually is).

Can you get pics of the fuel tank?

Is there an ID tag on the rear?

Thanks

conor · Feb 1, 2004

How's this?

Another photo from underneath in the back.

Damn the pipe from the muffler is long. I never really noticed that before. I didn't see anything back there that looked like an ID tag. The car seems to be devoid of VINs too.

MSM0075 · Feb 1, 2004

Nice chop dude. The lighting threw it off though.

2.3T Swap Before and After (Theoretical)

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