Hey whats up! More 2.3 power needed

manicmechanic007 · Aug 18, 2022

You just make sure to check the piston to bore clearance, if using the old pistons
You use one of those long feeler gauges
For the rings
Just make sure the end gap is not .200 like I have seen on oil burning 2.3s
I'll try to find file photo of a tech measuring that piston to bore clearance

manicmechanic007 · Aug 18, 2022

manicmechanic007 · Aug 18, 2022

That is how you measure it (well one way anyway)
The guy in the picture is just using the wrong feeler gauges (too short)
They are supposed to be about 7 inches long and come in a set ranging from say 1.5 thou to 4.5 thou
Here is a picture of my set. I do not use them often but if you are going to blueprint an engine they are indispensable
Regardless of what the machine shop says the clearance is... You measure it to be sure.

manicmechanic007 · Aug 18, 2022

manicmechanic007 · Aug 18, 2022

My Matco set goes .002 to .015

Piranahbite · Aug 22, 2022

thanks, (dont remember saying it or not) i have to pay registration on the 24th and then ill be able to go full steam into the engine building and measurements and buying the parts n stuff

Piranahbite · Aug 22, 2022

Also PEOPLE I took the mustang to sears point raceway and got a quarter-mile time of Drumroll please............ 16.357!! I could use a little more practice on my starts, I had about a half-second delay so hoping I can shave off a couple of seconds when I drop that motor in

manicmechanic007 · Aug 22, 2022

Did you get to race against anyone?
Sounds way more exiting than what I did last weekend

Piranahbite · Aug 23, 2022

manicmechanic007 said:
Did you get to race against anyone?
Sounds way more exiting than what I did last weekend

Yea, i raced some guy in a hopped up sn95, a 1999 dodge durango ( i lost) some kid in a obs chevy pickup (beat him by a foot) and a cop in an exploder, he won but i won the race because he was faster than his estimated time then the next race i lost because i jumped the light and got disquallified

manicmechanic007 · Aug 23, 2022

Cool af
Gets the heart pumping

Piranahbite · Aug 25, 2022

alright, guys i have a question that i haven't thought to ask, Smog... i live in California and i don't know anyone that could or would look the other way, as well as what do i do after i put the motor in? will i be defective because i have a different motor than what came in the car?
if i put a new cam in it would i risk not passing smog if i can smog it?

i think im doing it right, im keeping all my smog equipment, keeping the stock wiring harness, not cutting out cats or anything just putting in a turbocharged 2.3 with a slightly aggressive cam

whats your say on things guys?

7991LXnSHO · Aug 25, 2022

Piranahbite said:
alright, guys i have a question that i haven't thought to ask, Smog... i live in California and i don't know anyone that could or would look the other way, as well as what do i do after i put the motor in? will i be defective because i have a different motor than what came in the car?
if i put a new cam in it would i risk not passing smog if i can smog it?

i think im doing it right, im keeping all my smog equipment, keeping the stock wiring harness, not cutting out cats or anything just putting in a turbocharged 2.3 with a slightly aggressive cam

whats your say on things guys?

I’m not from CA. But here’s $.02 from when the car magazines started trying to make emissions friendly cars.
If it’s a 2.3 replacing a 2.3 etc, no problem there. They will not be checking for a numbers matching car. If it is a newer engine (like a 16 valve out of a 2001 up Ranger), it will have to have all the emissions related equipment from the newer vehicle.

If all the smog equipment it there and hooked up with a replacement long block, I see no problem with the visual inspection.

If it’s rich enough to roll coal with gas, it will not pass the sniff test and you will not be happy with the way it runs anyway.
How much of a cam you can get away with and still pass the sniffer at idle is more of a gray area and will probably come down to tuning. An aftermarket EFI system might be tuned to run cleaner, but would violate the emissions standards without a CARB EO number.
Anyone from CA have specific experience here?

evintho · Aug 26, 2022

I am from California and I've been through this process numerous times. Any smog tech will fail you the minute he sees the turbo and the days of paying the tech $50 and a case of beer are long gone. They're monitored too closely and one violation will pull their certification. However, there is one way that may work. While you still have the N/A motor in the car, register it to a PO box in a county that's outside of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Lake county, for example. That way you can bypass the bi-annual smog inspections. I've heard about it but never tried it. I've also heard DMV got wise to that and found a way to stop it. You may want to research that.....completely.

The proper way to do it is the way I did it. Tell the DMV your car has a different engine and it's turbocharged. They'll immediately refer you to the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) for their certification. BAR will tell you no '79-'93 Mustang ever came stock with a turbocharger therefore, it's a fail. You tell them, the motor came from an '87-'89 Mercury Merkur XR4ti. That satisfies 3 of their rules.
1) Any swapped engine must be the same year or newer as the car it's swapped into.
2) Any swapped engine must be from the same 'family' as the car it's swapped into.
3) Induction systems must have been able to be ordered from the factory or be CARB certified.
Lincoln/Mercury is (was) a subsidiary of Ford and the XR4ti's were turbocharged therefore, they are factory induction systems. They didn't however come with intercoolers so if you're running an I/C, you'll need to bypass it for the initial inspection. You'll also need to install a CAT designed for the XR4ti (readily available) and a small delay valve that's in the EGR system. Once BAR passes it, they'll give you the coveted Vehicle Identification Label that tells any smog tech to disregard the visual part of the test, just focus on what comes out of the tailpipe. You'll still need to smog it every 2 years but if it burns clean.....you're golden! Just remember the techs at BAR are very experienced and very anal. They'll go over your car with a microscope but if you built it right, you're good!

This how I bypassed my I/C for the initial inspection at BAR......

Here it is in it's normal form.............

Here's the coveted smog label issued by BAR.............

7991LXnSHO · Aug 26, 2022

evintho said:
I am from California and I've been through this process numerous times. Any smog tech will fail you the minute he sees the turbo and the days of paying the tech $50 and a case of beer are long gone. They're monitored too closely and one violation will pull their certification. However, there is one way that may work. While you still have the N/A motor in the car, register it to a PO box in a county that's outside of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Lake county, for example. That way you can bypass the bi-annual smog inspections. I've heard about it but never tried it. I've also heard DMV got wise to that and found a way to stop it. You may want to research that.....completely.

The proper way to do it is the way I did it. Tell the DMV your car has a different engine and it's turbocharged. They'll immediately refer you to the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) for their certification. BAR will tell you no '79-'93 Mustang ever came stock with a turbocharger therefore, it's a fail. You tell them, the motor came from an '87-'89 Mercury Merkur XR4ti. That satisfies 3 of their rules.
1) Any swapped engine must be the same year or newer as the car it's swapped into.
2) Any swapped engine must be from the same 'family' as the car it's swapped into.
3) Induction systems must have been able to be ordered from the factory or be CARB certified.
Lincoln/Mercury is (was) a subsidiary of Ford and the XR4ti's were turbocharged therefore, they are factory induction systems. They didn't however come with intercoolers so if you're running an I/C, you'll need to bypass it for the initial inspection. You'll also need to install a CAT designed for the XR4ti (readily available) and a small delay valve that's in the EGR system. Once BAR passes it, they'll give you the coveted Vehicle Identification Label that tells any smog tech to disregard the visual part of the test, just focus on what comes out of the tailpipe. You'll still need to smog it every 2 years but if it burns clean.....you're golden! Just remember the techs at BAR are very experienced and very anal. They'll go over your car with a microscope but if you built it right, you're good!

This how I bypassed my I/C for the initial inspection at BAR......

Here it is in it's normal form.............

Here's the coveted smog label issued by BAR.............

You forgot the SVO turbostsngs. If they are not older than the body, that maker the process easier.

evintho · Aug 26, 2022

Last year for SVO's was '86. OP's car is an '87. Motor needs to be same year as car or newer.

Piranahbite · Aug 26, 2022

evintho said:
Last year for SVO's was '86. OP's car is an '87. Motor needs to be same year as car or newer.

The car is a 1987 2.3 i got a turbo 2.3 out of a 1988 thunder turd

Piranahbite · Aug 26, 2022

And geez that is a lot, and when they do the inspection they just look at the exhaust and engine? Or the whole car?

(By the way verry pretty engine bay)

manicmechanic007 · Aug 26, 2022

We been using addresses in St. George and Bear lake for years around here too
In Utah it's only the counties along the Wasatch front that have I/M due to the poor air quality
They blame cars and Leave the F22 and F35 planes out of the mix
There are more people in Utah county than there is in Wyoming
It will be a long time before I/M comes to the coast of Oregon or Hawaii

Piranahbite · Aug 26, 2022

manicmechanic007 said:
We been using addresses in St. George and Bear lake for years around here too
In Utah it's only the counties along the Wasatch front that have I/M due to the poor air quality
They blame cars and Leave the F22 and F35 planes out of the mix
There are more people in Utah county than there is in Wyoming
It will be a long time before I/M comes to the coast of Oregon or Hawaii

ahh, id love to but im going to do it the legal way, my dad would get skeptical... good info tho!

evintho · Aug 26, 2022

Piranahbite said:
And geez that is a lot, and when they do the inspection they just look at the exhaust and engine? Or the whole car?

(By the way verry pretty engine bay)

BAR will eyeball the whole car. Like I said, they're very thorough. They looked underneath to check the serial #'s on my CAT to make sure it belonged to a Merkur, verified that my CEL was working, verified the EGR was working and had the proper delay valve for a Merkur installed and even ran their own smog test to make sure it sniffed clean. I even swapped the label on the ECU in case they looked at the computer but they didn't pull the kick panel to check. It's a lot but it's best to do it right.

Hey whats up! More 2.3 power needed

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