[OHC230]

Jake, since you are on a budget and have a baby on the way, you might want to consider the Moates 1/4 Horse as the cheap alternative to a stand alone. It does virtually the same thing as the stand alone, but you don’t have to re-do the entire wiring harness from scratch to make it work. It will support any Ford ECU that you choose to use for a 2.3. I have made over 500 HP using it. There is a small but decent tuning community for support and a few different programs and support files which you can use for tuning. LA3 ECU’s can still be found in wrecking yards and make good donors for what you are after.

[JakeM]

Originally Posted by OHC230 Jake, since you are on a budget and have a baby on the way, you might want to consider the Moates 1/4 Horse as the cheap alternative to a stand alone. It does virtually the same thing as the stand alone, but you don’t have to re-do the entire wiring harness from scratch to make it work. It will support any Ford ECU that you choose to use for a 2.3. I have made over 500 HP using it. There is a small but decent tuning community for support and a few different programs and support files which you can use for tuning. LA3 ECU’s can still be found in wrecking yards and make good donors for what you are after.

Thanks again. I have experience on Quarter Horse. So I'm not apposed to using it, that's for sure. The guy that had this donor wanted to jerk me around so I nixed it. Have possible trade in the making though with another guy. He wants to trade me a real clean 1991 Vert. 5.0 for my Novi kit. So I'm waiting for details on that now.

[OHC230]

"The guy that had this donor wanted to jerk me around so I nixed it"

I had the same experience a few weeks ago, when I tried to buy an SN/95 roller, so I wound up getting an SVO instead. I guess some people don't believe in keeping their word.

The plus side of using the Moates is that there are a few folks that have paved the way for others, in terms of building files. These files are all ready well supported (see below and click link) and any of these ECU's will work for your project.

T23B.xdf

8UA - 88 2.3l Thunderbird auto
LB3 - 87-88 2.3l Thunderbird auto
LA3 - 88 2.3l Thunderbird 5sp

TunerPro and TunerPro RT - Professional Automobile Tuning Software

While I like the look of the rag top models, I must say that owning one has been a pain in the ass; water leaks in heavy rain, tremendous wind noise and ridiculous lack of chassis stiffness, which is what prompted me to do a SN/95 roof conversion in the first place. Being a hack engineer "most of us are nuts anyway" I built an entire CAD model (yes the whole chassis) of the Fox convertible so I could analyze it's structural weakness, using an FE program and my limited skills in manipulating the data. When I was done, I parked the car for a long time, until I came up with a solution to fix the problems. Yeah, it was that bad Not that it can't be fixed, but how heavy do you want your car to be?

[JakeM]

Ragtop isn't my preference, but if I can get a great deal then so be it. So far everything has fallen through. Other guy traded his for a bike. So, on the hunt again. Not down or out though. Still don't have cash right now anyway. LoL

On the bright side, I'm going to start going to dealer only auctions with my Uncle in the very near future. I may end up being able to pick something up there for a steal. At what kind of mileage should I be looking to rebuild on a 2.3? I'd like to get a season or two out of the motor if at all possible. If I can make it that long I'll rebuild the entire long block.

[OHC230]

At what kind of mileage should I be looking to rebuild on a 2.3? I'd like to get a season or two out of the motor if at all possible. If I can make it that long I'll rebuild the entire long block?


The trend for N/A 2.3 engines is for the piston skirts to show signs of wear around 150+K. Although not detrimental to engine life at this point, the wear creates an annoying clatter/ knocking noise, especially on cold start up, which sometimes goes away when the engine warms. The worse the piston skirt wear becomes, the more the piston shifts in the bore. This eventually creates a sealing problem with the oil control rings. The indicator for this is blue grey smoke, most noticeable on cold start up. An honest machine shop, might tell you to just re-hone the cylinder walls at this point and install new pistons and rings.

Turbo engines suffer the same fate, except at much higher mileage intervals. I would attribute this to the use of forged pistons. Turbo motors are more prone to head gasket failures as well, which are all most always the result of poor owner maintenance or excessive boost. Valve guide wear doesn’t seem to be a big issue with most factory 2.3 engines and I think that is mostly due to the factory low lift cam profiles found in these engines.


Are you drag racing or road racing your car?

[JakeM]

I'm hoping it will spend most of it's time Autocrossing and Road Racing. Trying to plan on throwing most of the Maximum Motorsports catalog at it as long as I can get the car/motor/drivetrain for cheap enough. Also looking into the new line of Borg Warner turbo's. http://www.full-race.com/articles/bo...fr-turbos.html As long as budget permits I'd like to try the 62mm (6258 EFR). Goal is 300RWHP on the top end with as quick of spool as I can get without totally sacrificing top end.

[JakeM]

Plans have changed a bit, but I'm still on track to do a build. I bit more interest in my supercharger kit and there are a few rolling chassis local. What has changed? I think my budget would better suit a drag car. Therefore, I am thinking auto instead of manual. So, what auto's are compatible with the SVO/T.C. 2.3T's? With my E.T. goals around 12 seconds for the first season or two until I can save up enough for a serious build. This car will see track time a LOT more than street time. It'll be trailered to and from the track if everything goes right. From the limited stuff I've read I believe it is a AOD or AODE? Would a AOD or AODE be able to handle a Lentech trans brake and valve body?

[OHC230]

Would a AOD or AODE be able to handle a Lentech trans brake and valve body?



For drag racing, your choices are a bit narrow, in terms of auto transmission selection, unless you plan on doing some fabrication, in order to get a different transmission to fit the 2.3.

The C-4 and The A4LD four speed overdrive transmission, are going to be your 2 choices if you own a 2.3. The Mazda automatic transmissions used in some Rangers, are not well supported and not very strong.

The A4LD can be upgraded to handle about 275-300 HP, but anything beyond that, I would be looking at a C-4. The bell housings for the C-4's are hard to come by. They were used on 74'-77' Pinto's and Bobcat's and out of those, I kind of recall that they came mostly in the wagon models. I would ask the guy's on the Pinto forums, they might be able to lead you to one, if this is really what you want to do.

[TurboLX]

Before you decide to buy anything, what are you planning to do with the car? DD? Race Car? what? lol