Blown engine replacement

Hi. I've got an 88 LX hatchback with a 2.3L non turbo engine, and the engine finally kicked the bucket after 225,000 miles. I'm suspecting a cracked or warped head ( Overheated to about 290 degrees and I had to drive it about 4 miles in that condition, smoking, knocking and all.), and possibly a slung rod. The car takes about 6 tries to keep it cranked, has a rough idle, and won't rev past 1200 rpms wide open. Can't go more than 5 mph. It happened suddenly while coming home from a friend's house, so I'm not sure what happened. In any case, considering the possibility of major overhaul work, I'm thinking about just swapping to a 5.0L (wanted a V8 anyway, now I have more motivation to get one!!! ) Anyways, it's going to have to be a junkyard rebuild deal, because it's all I can afford. So I need to know what engines would be the easiest to swap ( crown vic or tbird perhaps? whatever will get me mobile again ) and would involve the least amount of work, since this is my daily driver and I need to get it on the road asap. It should be just motor mounts, engine, and computer right? Will my trans bolt up to the 5.0L? Any and all advice is DEEPLY appreciated. Thanks !!!!!!!

Also forgot to mention that trans is automatic in my 2.3L.

had my grandpa (old timey mechanic) check it out, he says it looks like it jumped time, so we're checking out the timing belt first (much easier to get to than the head.) How does slipped timing make an engine overheat though?

I pulled off the timing cover and it did indeed jump time. I pulled off the timing belt and found that it has about a 6 inch long section of gums instead of teeth. Also when I pulled off the distributor cap to make sure the distributor rotor is pointing at the number 1 plug, I noticed that on the underside of my cap, the little metal contact for the number 1 plug for the rotor (not sure what it's called) had a lump of corrosion on it the size of an eraser while the other 3 were clean as could be. I'm going to replace the distributor cap and rotor just to be safe. I had to get a book to do all this, I'm by no means a mechanic, though I am somewhat mechanically inclined, so before I put all this back together, is there anything else I should be aware of? I followed the book's instructions for lining up the timing marks and aiming the crankshaft pulley at TC on the timing cover, is there anything else the book might not cover? Any replies would be really great, I don't want to put it all back together and find out it doesn't work.

I think I may have a problem. The tensioner pulley (on the side the altenator is on) has lost it's springiness. I was putting the belt back on and heard a loud snapping sound, and now the tensioner won't bounce back like it used to. How do I fix something like that? I can't even get the belt back on now.

kilgorq said:

Timing Belt Tensioner or Mainbelt tensioner?

Click to expand...

Not sure what the name is. I know it's not the timing belt tensioner or the A/C tensioner. It's the one on the right hand side when you're looking at the engine, and guides the belt over the alternator pulley. It's on the driver side.

replaced the tensioner and belt, runs great now. I had to reset the timing and I set it to 18 degrees. It has a bit more pep now no detonation, but I'm running premium gas. I added a homemade cai, but I think my pvc was too thin cause it melted. probably use a steel pipe next time. Thanks for all the help guys !!!

P.S. the stupid tensioner assembly was 70 bucks