Got Some Goodies

[JamesBaumann]

As some of you may remember, I've mentioned before that this summer I was going to take a stock 2.3 Head and EFI intake and make some mods to it to get some more power. Well, I finally went and picked up the head and intake today. Intake looks good, definitely something I could use, Im going to start polishing it up in the morning. The head has a lot of surface rust on it because it had been sitting outside and we get a lot of rain around these parts. Is this surface rust a problem? I wouldn't imagine it would be, as I think hot tanking it and polishing it at the machine shop, but I just want to make sure that it shouldn't be a problem. Incase any of you forgot/care I plan to put a roller cam and roller followers in it and have it ported & polished and probably milled a bit. Actually, here's a question, what are having the port & polish and milling it going to do to fuel economy? I'd imagine it would decrease it by a bit, but how much? Anyways, Im pretty excited about this new project, so I just had to let somebody know. Also, what kind of horsepower should I be looking at once all this is done? Keeping in mind that the intake ports are going to be polished as well. Im thinking between 120-130 plus Im going to put on a new exhaust and CAI. After that hopefully I'll be looking between 130-140. Thanks.

 

[351wcoupe]

hey that sounds good.
What car do you have? you mentioned you are adding a roller cam so I assume its 87-90.
I read an article recently about porting the 2.3T head. The main idea it stressed was to remove any left over casting and make the runners as smooth as possible. This was for a turbo car so you might not want to go to the extent of worrying about the extreme polishing. The turbo adds heat which aids in the vaporization and then atomization of the A/F mixture. On an N/A a super smooth finish may not help with the vaporization part. However this is in a very small amount and probably wouldn't amount to 1 hp difference either way.

My opinion was to always port the smallest place to match the biggest runner, then gasket match, then polish. I also cleaned/polished my valves and chamber to a shiny finish in the hopes of reflecting heat back down into the cylinder. after about 1000 miles of running, it was the same clean finish when I removed the head.

 

[JamesBaumann]

Good work. I talked to the guys at the engine shop today and they told me that they weren't going to touch anything until they were positive that putting a roller cam from a 91-93 Mustang was going to work out alright. The lady at the front counter said that she didn't think it would and that I would have to change everything else in the motor if I wanted to swap in a roller cam. I told her that I was pretty sure that it was a direct swap, am I right or do I have to make other mods to the engine to make a stock 93 Stang roller cam work smoothly? Im pretty sure it's a direct swap, but if it isn't, somebody let me know please. The actual machinist also said that it wasn't a good idea to mill out the head because my valves will hit the top of the piston. This makes sense, but many of you guys on this forum have milled out your heads and I've never heard of this problem. The other thing they talked about were potentially putting in some oversize valves. Do you guys here recommend this? I dont want to sacrifice too much fuel economy, and I dont want to touch the block, so is this a worthwhile mod? And how much would it increase horsepower by?

 

[JamesBaumann]

By the way, it's an 88

 

[rvracers]

Man, is it ever time to find a new machine shop. The 2.3 head goes from 1975 to 1998 and the major differences where in the type of cam shafts (hydraulic vs. hydraulic roller), the intake port shape (oval vs. D-port, hence different carbed intakes), the exhaust ports (EGR transfer holes vs. the newer style), 1991 thru 1993 Mustang 8 plug vs. all the other years with 4 plugs, and on the really old Pinto heads, an extra water passage hole directly above the waterpump on the block and head.

The valves even with stock .400" lift and the head milled .150" will not hit the pistons even when loosing a timing belt at 6250 RPM with a stock head gasket thickness (about .035" compressed). Close, but only the carbon dust got brushed aside.

So look around for a new shop. And by the way, one of the best articles on porting heads was in a Grassroots Motorsports article from about a year ago. Following the directions given, look for about 15-20% gains.

 

[140cilx]

Your fuel mileage should increase with your plans, not decrease, so be encouraged. If you bump the compression to 10:1 over the 9:1 you currently have by milling the head, you might see an increase in hp of 15%, and w/ the roller cam, good exhaust, good intake, advance the timing, tweak/tune the heck out of it, you might hit 120 hp.

 

[JamesBaumann]

What about the valves? Is it worth putting bigger ones in?