Buying a 89' 2.3L Need lots of help

Boss 351 said:

Often 4 bangers are great cars to start with. You know they don't have enough stock torque to bend the uni-body, most of the time they are only grocery getters. Check for rust on the floor boards, 1/4 panels if they are rust and putty free, check the radiator support frame for rust, also check around the windshield.

You can do V8 swap pretty easily however if you want EFI and whatnot you'd be best to find a junked 5.0 of the same year. But if you plan on a heavily modded fox body, go with a carb'd 351 or something. You'll eventually want to change the diff to an 8.8 and bigger brakes....

For $150 you can't loose much anyway...

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Ya gotta go with the 2.3 turbo man. Easy call.

SuperDust22 said:

I need pricing on this stuff. What kind power is possible without a ton of money just trying to get ideas. You 1/4s are you guys running. How big of a turob can I get.

Dustin

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Again, with the searching. Turbo swaps are cheap. You make about 200hp without any other mods. Search man, this stuff is all over this forum and chances are nobody is going to take the time to go over it all again.

Since you already have a v8 I say go turbo for something different.
I have a 2.3 right now but I'll be purchasing a cobra when I get out of college in the spring. The sick part is the cobra will get better gas mileage than the 2.3 does

SuperDust22 said:

Dustin


BTW how do the 2.3 sound?

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Generally the 2.3 gives off a very loud, but smooth sound. It's not going to give you the nice low hum of a 302, but it sounds not so bad considering the amount of cylinders.

Try this site, it has a lot of good info on it such as tech articles and what not.

www.projecthp.ford23.com

It definitely doesn't sound like a ricer, mainly because it's a huge, under-developed 4 cylinder engine. This engine definitely has it's own distinct sound that can't be related to anything else. My favorite part of the sound is at ~5000rpm where the cam makes max lift (I think that's where it makes it at). You can hear this mechanical "growl" under the throaty yell of the engine that just sounds...I dunno, cool I guess. Listen to it and see for yourself.

I'll post some videos of 2.3's on my server if you want, so you can hear them.

Brantley's turbo Stang made 212rwhp and 319+rwtq. That's with a non-revving camshaft, valve problems, and cut back timing. I don't know costs though. He's got videos too. Check em out at his site. http://www.binaryweb.com/88lx/

You can do the swap for under $1000 easy, but i've paid a premium price because I got a rebuilt engine and all new brand-name parts (~$2500). Stingers site has a great step-by-step guide for the swap. http://projecthp.ford23.com/turboswap2.html

You can use the current block that you have, but not the pistons. You'll definitely need the forged versions. Make sure they are dished so that the compression is lowered. The n/a head might give it some extra compression, which you definitely don't want with a turbo.

The turbo block is basically the same as the n/a block. The only differences being outlets for oil (for the turbo), and forged pistons. The head is basically the same too, just a slightly different cam, and maybe slightly bigger combustion chambers (dunno for sure). You can use your stock block. All you'll need to do is tap the oil pan so that the turbo can get oil, and upgrade the pistons to a stronger forged version.

I've read many articles about which is the best turbo to go with on a 2.3. The most efficient one you can get is a T03/T04 50 trim .63a/r turbine. You can definitely make up to ~400hp with this turbo. However, the biggest restriction on the 2.3 engine is the cylinder head. the poorly designed D-ports really restrict air flow, and the valves are also restricted by a "lip" in the combustion chamber. You could port the crap out of these heads yourself if you want, but I would recommend Powerheads (http://www.powerheads.com/23turbo.html) because they do CNC porting of the head, as well as offer valvetrain upgrades. If you want to go the ultra-costly route, check out Esslinger Racing's D-port aluminum head (http://www.esslingeracing.com/dport/dport turbo app.htm). Be prepared to shell out $1500 for just the bare head. Of course, you'll see massive HP gains, even when compared to the fully ported stock iron head, not to mention a 30lb weight drop.

375hp and 12's should easily be attanable if you are willing to spend some $$$. To get there safely, I would start off by getting stronger connecting rods, and possibly a stronger crank (Esslinger again). Next, find the big-valve version of the iron head, and port the crap out of it. Get a cam that supports higher revs (like, say 6500-7000rpm); this engine loves the revs when built correctly, and this is something I also want to do when budget allows. Moving on, you'll need to upgrade your exhaust manifold. There are several excellent home-made products out there. Rod (on http://www.turboford.org), 40bob (http://www.40bob.com/), and Stinger (http://projecthp.ford23.com) all make excellent products, with dyno results to back them up. Rod's header made 20rwhp more on a nearly stock SVO engine, for instance. You'll also need a full 3" exhaust from the turbo elbow outlet back. Ignition would be a good upgrade to have, but I don't think it's absolutely required. Also, I would recommend checking out an engine managment upgrade as well. The SDS Speed Density system plugs right in to the stock harness, and will allow all kinds of great tweaks to all aspects of the engine. The only drawback? It's $1100. Lastly, I would look into getting the intake manifold ported, or even gutted. That way, lots of extra airflow. Plus, it'll allow you to get a much needed 65mm throttle body.

With all that stuff named, I can see getting to ~350rwhp with some tuning, and playing around. Don't forget, you'll also have to upgrade your fuel system, and you'll need some extra parts for controlling the turbo (blow off valve, boost controller, external wastegate if required, intercooler, ducting). You'll definitely want to upgrade the suspension, the brakes...oh yeah, the rear end might be too weak in the long run, as well as the stock T5. Before you know it, you'd have dumped a good $5000+ into this setup, but of course this thing will fly, get good gas mileage, and whoop on un-suspecting V8's.

The stock engine won't handle nitrous for too long. Of course, mr_woodster might argue otherwise . I think he was running a 100shot on it for a while, and it never blew up.

I haven't gotten my engine swap even started yet, because I haven't had the time, the money, or the motivation. I'm just so damn tired all the time from work. BUT, once I get out of this rut, i'll try to jump on getting the swap done . I'm hoping for about 220rwhp or so, once tuning and such is completed.