lx 2.3 turbo to 306 swap

stang87306 · Mar 28, 2011

ok to start i have a 87 svo turbo car that runs good it has been a good car i bought it a year ago for 400 and a case of beer i think i did alright the car is in real good shape but 2 weeks ago at the track i ran it very hard and now have a bottom end noise that dont seem good at all my ? is i have a 306 with h beem rods forged pistons trick flow stage 3 cam x7 heads that have been worked for the cam duall plane intake edlebrock high rise and a holly 650 double pumper will the 4 banger turbo trans hold this v8 on the track

junkyardwarrior · Mar 28, 2011

There was no SVO in 87. SVO's were 84-85, 85 1/2, and 86 only.

Probably an 86.

I would swap in a V8 to an SVO. Kind of ruins the image of the SVO, in my (and many others') opinion. The SVO is well known as a 2.3 turbo...and they can be built to make a ton of power and still get good fuel mileage and handle great.

However-it's your car and you can do what you want with it. The SVO shell-if in decent condition-even if it's got a knock, is worth quite a bit more than you paid for it assuming an SVO collector/restorer knows it's for sale. They were rare when built and even rarer now because so many people swapped in V8's and trashed them. Nowdays when you see one, usually people are like "whoa, man I haven't seen one of those things in ages....COOL!"

stang87306 · Mar 29, 2011

i understand what you are saying and i thought the same as far as the years that the car was made it is titled as a 87 though the mnf date is 8 of 86 the car has the later model front clip as the 87 should its no a 4 eyed car if it was i wouldnt have bought it everything is factory from the airbox to the cat i got the car with the v8 swap in mind from start i have a svo tbird so keeping the car 4 banger does not interest me in the least i bought a solid body i just got lucky its held together this long

stang87306 · Mar 29, 2011

my ? is with the trans has anyone done this how did the trans hold up or did it another ? can i use my ac compressor and lines with a v8 i have never put air on a car that i have done a motor swap but im getting older and ac seems nice for a change

Slugstang · Mar 29, 2011

stang87306 said:
my ? is with the trans has anyone done this how did the trans hold up or did it another ? can i use my ac compressor and lines with a v8 i have never put air on a car that i have done a motor swap but im getting older and ac seems nice for a change

Is it a stick car? If so it has a t5 in it but the 1rst gear ratio is different. If you put it behind a v8 1rst gear will be useless. I had a 2.3 Turbo car I built using a 88 T-Bird motor. Ran great, and loved beating 5.0's with it. Mine blew up as well from running 30# of boost through it with 150k miles on it.

You can use the t5 but you will want to change the 1rst gear ratio. any 2.3 turbo forum will be able to give the the ratio differences.

If the car is an auto, I don;t know, I never researched that far into the auto trans behind a turbo.

Slugstang · Mar 29, 2011

Also if you wan to retain the AC you need the V8 ac compressor and the ac lines.

rd · Mar 29, 2011

No the 5.0 will not bolt to the a4ld trans afik. If you have a t5, use a v8 bellhousing and the specific pilot bearing and it will bolt up. Others have said if you thrash on the four cyl t5 it will fail.

May also want to look at what rear you have, 7.5 or 8.8.

wv109323 · Mar 29, 2011

v8 swap

I kinda new but here is what I know. The transmission pilot is a different diameter from 4 cyl to V8. That means you will need to put a V8 input shaft into the transmission or put a special bearing in the V8 crankshaft. You will need the V8 flywheel, bell housing and clutch.
The tag on the transmission will tell you what series T5 you have. The number to look for is 1352-XXX. Get on this site and search T5 Torque rating. You will find a chart that will tell you what ft-lb. torque your transmission is rated. You can decide if you want to risk it.
Also with the extra weight I would worry about front suspension, possibly front brakes, radiator, starter and power steering.

junkyardwarrior · Mar 29, 2011

I don't think you can simply swap the input shaft...I believe the cluster is different as well (but could be wrong). So that's out. If you must use the 4 cyl T5, get a special pilot bearing-search the site and you'll find the part number. It won't last long though.

But before going through the trouble, get the 1352 number off of the T5 and cross it. If it's a 1352-116 it's worth some money. Those are a 4 cyl 3.50 first gear SVO only transmission. They'll work behind a V8 but they're worth the same as a V8 T5 which is a direct bolt-in for a V8 and will handle the power with no worries. If you found an SVO guy needing a trans, might be able to swap even and get a good V8 trans (which is what I did).

Keep in mind that there were a million different T5's. Everything from 4.03 first gear 4 cyl T5's to 2.95's for a V8, 3.35's for a V8...so on and so forth. And the torque capacity is different between most all of them as well.

stang87306 · Mar 30, 2011

thanks for the info and i did some research on my cay last night and with the local ford dealership they said the fact. 4 banger in 86 witch is what i found out the car is witch i new something wasnt right as far as the interior was concerned they someone put a late model clip on it but anyway 86 2.3 turbo had 205 hp 5.0 had around 220 the tech says the trans should hold up he suggested a beef up rebuild kit that sounds like a good idea anyway any more sugestions i would be glad to take a look at

lx 2.3 turbo to 306 swap

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