Okay, here is the deal...
#1 - Nothing you do is going to be particularly cheap. While these cars have always been known for cheap speed, IMO prices on everything have gone up and they are getting to the point where you will need to seriously consider whether that car can cost effectively meet your goals. I have to bring this up because if you are on a budget, it will almost certainly be busted and you can buy newer Mustang convertible that will easily blow your Fox out of the water from the factory.
#2 - This brings us to the second point, which is what is your motivation for owning and modifying this particular car? There are always intangibles that are unknown to the rest of us on the internet. If your dream car has always been a Fox Mustang and you are just in love with the body style, then fair enough - that is probably most of the Fox owners on this site. In that case...
#3 - Okay, the meat and potatoes of this post. First, your 2.3L Mustang Convertible is probably the least desirable Fox Mustang they made, only made worse if it is equipped with the A4LD Automatic. Consider that you could likely sell your car and buy a better Fox Body for less money than you will spend on that one, and it will likely have better resale value down the road.
With that said, if you are dead set on making this Mustang into something, I would start with an end goal in mind. Is this supposed to be a mild cruiser? Decide what you want out of the car, then plan your build accordingly. In my opinion, there are basically only two options set for you to consider...
#1 - A 2.3L Turbo swap. If you go this route, your best bet would be to source a Turbo Engine out of an 87-88 Thunderbird. If your car is an Automatic, I would highly recommend swapping to a T-5 5-speed Transmission as well as the automatic is not reliable under stock conditions, much less under boost. You also have to source the ECU from the donor car to run the Engine and then rewire your harness to make it work. IMO this is not the best way to go as there are aftermarket ECU options such as the PiMP ECU that are plug and play for Turbo swaps, but they are a bit pricier. Still, better driveability and plug and play functionality can't be beat in my book.
It has been brought up before that the stock 2.3L engine can be rebuilt to accept a Turbo by changing Pistons and adding an oil drainback. This is true and can be done, however it is the more difficult route to go which is why the Turbo engine swap itself is more common. Realize, as one of our members who is doing this swap just experienced, that these engines are 30 years old now and you will likely still have to overhaul a Turbo engine if you buy one out of a salvage yard. I would not attempt to simply drop one in without going through it beforehand.
#2 - The other option is to swap to a 302. In this case, it is almost imperative that you have a donor car to swap all of the pieces that you need because you will be nickel and dimed to death trying to chase down random bits and pieces needed to make the swap work. This swap is well documented and is fairly straightforward, and is probably the most recommended thing to do at this point. While your car will still always have less value than a factory 5.0L car, having a 302 is always going to be a selling point over a 2.3L Mustang.
Lastly, if you are thinking just mild bolt on's for your Normally Aspirated 2.3L... forget it. These engines are pretty stout and can be fairly reliable, but they have a ridiculously restrictive cylinder head that kills any possibility of Normally Aspirated performance. There are basically zero aftermarket cylinder head options, and the ones that are available are designed with the Turbo engines in mind and have similar architecture to the stock engines. While people have done some cylinder head swaps with a Volvo Four cylinder, the reality is that it is heavy on fabrication and not cost effective to pursue.
PS: There are tons of exhaust systems available for Mustangs, even 2.3L cars. It really depends what you are trying to do before any recommendation can be made.
Okay, here is the deal...
#1 - Nothing you do is going to be particularly cheap. While these cars have always been known for cheap speed, IMO prices on everything have gone up and they are getting to the point where you will need to seriously consider whether that car can cost effectively meet your goals. I have to bring this up because if you are on a budget, it will almost certainly be busted and you can buy newer Mustang convertible that will easily blow your Fox out of the water from the factory.
#2 - This brings us to the second point, which is what is your motivation for owning and modifying this particular car? There are always intangibles that are unknown to the rest of us on the internet. If your dream car has always been a Fox Mustang and you are just in love with the body style, then fair enough - that is probably most of the Fox owners on this site. In that case...
#3 - Okay, the meat and potatoes of this post. First, your 2.3L Mustang Convertible is probably the least desirable Fox Mustang they made, only made worse if it is equipped with the A4LD Automatic. Consider that you could likely sell your car and buy a better Fox Body for less money than you will spend on that one, and it will likely have better resale value down the road.
With that said, if you are dead set on making this Mustang into something, I would start with an end goal in mind. Is this supposed to be a mild cruiser? Decide what you want out of the car, then plan your build accordingly. In my opinion, there are basically only two options set for you to consider...
#1 - A 2.3L Turbo swap. If you go this route, your best bet would be to source a Turbo Engine out of an 87-88 Thunderbird. If your car is an Automatic, I would highly recommend swapping to a T-5 5-speed Transmission as well as the automatic is not reliable under stock conditions, much less under boost. You also have to source the ECU from the donor car to run the Engine and then rewire your harness to make it work. IMO this is not the best way to go as there are aftermarket ECU options such as the PiMP ECU that are plug and play for Turbo swaps, but they are a bit pricier. Still, better driveability and plug and play functionality can't be beat in my book.
It has been brought up before that the stock 2.3L engine can be rebuilt to accept a Turbo by changing Pistons and adding an oil drainback. This is true and can be done, however it is the more difficult route to go which is why the Turbo engine swap itself is more common. Realize, as one of our members who is doing this swap just experienced, that these engines are 30 years old now and you will likely still have to overhaul a Turbo engine if you buy one out of a salvage yard. I would not attempt to simply drop one in without going through it beforehand.
#2 - The other option is to swap to a 302. In this case, it is almost imperative that you have a donor car to swap all of the pieces that you need because you will be nickel and dimed to death trying to chase down random bits and pieces needed to make the swap work. This swap is well documented and is fairly straightforward, and is probably the most recommended thing to do at this point. While your car will still always have less value than a factory 5.0L car, having a 302 is always going to be a selling point over a 2.3L Mustang.
Lastly, if you are thinking just mild bolt on's for your Normally Aspirated 2.3L... forget it. These engines are pretty stout and can be fairly reliable, but they have a ridiculously restrictive cylinder head that kills any possibility of Normally Aspirated performance. There are basically zero aftermarket cylinder head options, and the ones that are available are designed with the Turbo engines in mind and have similar architecture to the stock engines. While people have done some cylinder head swaps with a Volvo Four cylinder, the reality is that it is heavy on fabrication and not cost effective to pursue.
PS: There are tons of exhaust systems available for Mustangs, even 2.3L cars. It really depends what you are trying to do before any recommendation can be made.
Thank you so much for all the information. I bought the car because I really love the body of the car, my dream was to own a Fox. But I will start saving for a 5.0, I only bought this 2.3 because the previous owner was selling it for $900. But I started loving the car more, I will definitely keep this Fox stock then. My end goal for this car is to make it a really nice daily. Thank you for your time!