t-bird 3.8 to 2.3T swap?

[durty85]

hey guys i have an 88 thunderbird, it has the 3.8 FI with an automatic, i was wondering what it would take to swap in a 2.3T and a five speed, i wanna make it a daily driver, what would i do about the wiring harness and everything. the 3.8 has some problems, overheating and lower end noise, i have heard the 3.8s had alot of problems with this. thanks in advance for any help

tim

 

[Shawneebear93]

The 3.8's also have a lot of problems with blowing headgaskets so watch out for that.
Anyways, for a 2.3T swap, you'll need the motor/transmission and complete wiring harness and I don't know personally but I'd assume you'll need motor mounts. You're toughest part may actually be getting some motor mounts in your engine bay, everything else is straightforward.

 

[4bangen]

go to www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com

 

[Red_LX]

Yep definitely check out the FTCF listed above.

Anyway a short list of what you'd need....Engine, tranny, motor mounts, tranny mount, probably driveshaft, computer, harness, fuel lines, clutch master & slave cylinder (unless you want to use a cable-operated tranny), and if your car has the digital dash I don't think the 2.3 stuff will work with that as all turbo coupes had analog gauges, you could just swap to a TC gauge cluster though. Of course you'll also need the exhaust and that sort of stuff too.

Might be easier to just swap a 5.0 into the thing, I dunno

 

[durty85]

yea i have thought about just swapping in a 302, but i have always liked the little 2.3t cars....i have an 88 lx 5.0 coupe so i have the v8 covered, i was wanting to build the 2.3t car for a daily driver and winter beater.

 

[4bangen]

there is a guy on the site I mentioned that did a 3.8 to 2.3 swap. looks real nice ill try to point you in his direction.