Upgrade DIS, rear axles?

Accel makes a coil pack that is an upgrade for the 91-93 2.3 mustang. Accel 140018 Accel 1989-98 Ford Super EDIS Coil As for the axle, any 8.8 ford mustang fox (out of the 5.0 cars) axle will bolt right in on the 2.3s. Hope this helps!

P.S., if you end up pulling an axle assembly out of a 5.0 car make sure you grab the rear sway bar too!

imthaman01007 said:

Shifter, check...

onto my DIS.

Any upgrade options for this?
might the coil pack off the 94-5 5.0 work? the 4.6? Obviously noone makes an upgrade for the 2.3 coil pack...

Also rear ends? could I grab the rear off a 5.0 and slap it in (xcept for the brakes)? any tip/tricks?

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I have bolted in a 5.0 8.8 Axle in with very little problems.

An 8.8 from any Fox will go in, a few things might be a problem.

1. If your 2.3 is an automatic, I'm told you will have a driveshaft issue. Not sure how to deal with it, If it is a 5 speed, there is no driveshaft issue.

2. The drum brakes are the same for 2.3 and 5.0.

3. The rubber brake line is located in different places, but I have dealt with it a very easy way. Most people say you have to re-run the rear brake line from the front to the back which requires passenger fender removal. You do not need to do this. I have figured out the best way to deal with it:

simply pull the old axle out. Try not to damage the rubber hose, (or buy a new one for a 2.3 if it looks bad). put old axle one next to the 8.8 axle. Now, simply remove the metal brake line systems from each axle and swap over. The 2.3 axle has the brake line Tee on the passenger side and it's held down by the vent tube bolt. Remove the brake lines off the 8.8. The 8.8 axle has the vent hole in about the same place. Unbolt the vent hole check valve off the 8.8 and put the 2.3 entire brake line system on. you may have bend the lines a little to get them to fit, but they basically bolt in without too much hassle.

When i swapped in my 8.8, my wheel cylinders from the 2.3 were in better shape and the drums of the 8.8 were in better shape, so I simply put the best stuff on the 8.8 and bolted it in....and 60,000 plus mile all is still good....welll except that i put in 2.71 gears thinking major overdrive since most driving i do is highway.....too much gear for the 2.3 for 5th gear. It worked out ok...I run 4th gear and turn 2500 RPM at 75 mph...gets the 30 MPG versus the same in 5th at 55 MPH on old axle.

I do plan on getting another 8.8 with 3.08 gear. I think tht will allow me to run 5th gear...just waiting to find a good one in the yard.

yeah, most people don't. when i was researching the swap, not one person mentioned doing that, even when converting to the 5.0 they say you have to replace the brake line. to me, it's much easier and less hassle to swap over the 2.3 axle lines and be done with it. I know that a 5.0 conversion (which i may do eventually) the front discs are bigger and the proportion valve change is required but other than that, a brake line is a brake line.

I wasn't sure what I was gong to do about the issue when i started. I was prepared to buy a metal break line and fittings to bridge the distance from the 2.3 to 5.0 axles - but i measured the backing plates of both axles and they were within a 1/4" of each other and that's when i thought....why not swap lines over, and then there isn't an issue with the lines. It was awesome when i found the vent tubes were real close and and same thread, I knew it was no biggie after that.

It all bolted in nicely. only thing I would suggest is new bushings on the axle if they look old, since you have easy access to the axle before it goes in.

Only thing with a 8.8 swap is check the gears that are in it! 2.3 5 speeds had 3.45's, autos had 3.73's. Anything much steeper and you'll have a hard time maintaining speed on the highway.

I have found that the 2.3 engine I have (1993) gets it's best vacuum under load at around 2500 RPM - so depending upon how fast you like to run on the highway and tire height depends upon the rear gear you are looking for.

I do know that the 8.8 I have has the 2.71 gear in the rear and it is way to low for the 4 banger, well unless you do what I do, and keep it in 4th. Yields 75 MPH at around 2500 RPM in 4th. I do have big tires on the back - 255/60R15's. My speedo is 8% reading low - so it says 70 at that speed. If I drop mine into 5th, it drops RPMs down to 1800 and vacuum is somewhere around 8. Really lugs the motor.


I would like to find a 3.08 gear 8.8 and see what that does for me. I do know that I can correct my speedo to be very close with the 3.08 and my combination of tires.

You are probably looking for the 3.08 . If you like to run about 80, I would think the 3.08 might be what you are looking for. Nice thing is that is what most auto trans 5.0's came with and alot of the 5 speed cars, but a good amount of 5 speeds came with the 2.71. and again, from personal experence, i would avoid the 2.71.

tca7291 said:

P.S., if you end up pulling an axle assembly out of a 5.0 car make sure you grab the rear sway bar too!

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Grab both sway bars