[whitefox86]

Hey hows it going im new to the forum, im looking for a 2.3t complete engine and possibly a trans aswell. Looking for one as cheap as possible also. Any input would be awesome

[whitefox86]

I own a 1986 gt 302 and i recently picked up a 1993 lx 2.3 n/a it automatic and in almost mint condition on the exterior no rust that hard to find in Illinois let alone chicago. It is a dog possibly the slowest car ive ever owned,but i love fox body's iv been a chevy guy my while life until i bought my first fox. Now much like everyone im addicted and have owned 10+ foxbodys, and i recently seen that these 2.3t engines have a lot of potential so thats my goal now to make one of the most bad ass daily's ever and get 35+ mpg!!!!!!!!!

[OHC230]

Hi and welcome to the forums. From your post, I gather that you want a donor car to use for a turbo conversion for your 93’? Honestly, the engine you have in the car right now, will be fine for all most anything you want to do and if you have the budget for another car, you are also in the $$ range for some “new” replacement parts instead, to convert your car to turbo specs. Since your car is pretty clean to start with, you could get by with some new rings and forged turbo pistons in the otherwise stock engine, throw in some basic machine work and a handful of turbo and fuel system parts and you will be ready to rock for about the same cash that you would spend trying to fix up a worn turbo Ford motor. Like all things automotive, it comes down to cash.

Despite what you might have heard, the bottom ends of factory 2.3 engines were identical to the N/A versions, with the exception of the pistons. Since your goal is to build a fairly strong engine, you might want to throw a HP number out there, so the rest of us can give you reasonable info on how to get there.

[whitefox86]

Originally Posted by OHC230 Hi and welcome to the forums. From your post, I gather that you want a donor car to use for a turbo conversion for your 93’? Honestly, the engine you have in the car right now, will be fine for all most anything you want to do and if you have the budget for another car, you are also in the $$ range for some “new” replacement parts instead, to convert your car to turbo specs. Since your car is pretty clean to start with, you could get by with some new rings and forged turbo pistons in the otherwise stock engine, throw in some basic machine work and a handful of turbo and fuel system parts and you will be ready to rock for about the same ciash that you would spend trying to fix up a worn turbo Ford motor. Like all things automotive, it comes down to cash. Despite what you might have heard, the bottom ends of factory 2.3 engines were identical to the N/A versions, with the exception of the pistons. Since your goal is to build a fairly strong engine, you might want to throw a HP number out there, so the rest of us can give you reasonable info on how to get there.

Ok awesome my hp range i want to get into is about 250 to 350tell rwhp i want a bad ass daily but i want to be able to take it to the track and run respectible times

[OHC230]

OK, you should be able to get to that easily.

These pistons should be your first step. They sell for $220.00 a set. You will need the ECU and fuel pressure regulator from a turbo 2.3 ford to start with. The LA2 or LA3 ECU's are preferred, but not required.

There are a lot of variables for the fuel system and turbo system. Does your state require smog inspections?

Speed Pro ZL2500F75MM - Speed-Pro Forged Pistons - Overview - SummitRacing.com

[whitefox86]

Ok cool, the car i want.to swap is a 93 lx i have a few foxbody's lating around!!

[whitefox86]

Illinois dose have smog testing but if your car is more than 10 years old then your clear from that

[OHC230]

Lucky you, out here in Cali, we're not so fortunate. It frequently takes a fair amount of money and patience to get a car to pass a smog test out here, especially an older car. My Mustang runs at a ULEV level, but technically is still not compliant out here, which I think is completely inane and really cuts to the core of just how out of touch the government is with reality.

Back to your project, have you read the turbo swap overview yet?

[4nomore]

I have a bunch of 2.3 stuff .. Engine trans rear end ecu harness driveshaft front suspension etc etc ... pm me

Sonny

[96flmustang]

I have a 93 lx 2.3 auto that I'm fixing up and plan for it to be my dd. I was under the impression I would need to do an engine swap from an older Thunderbird or SVO. Thats great news that I can use the engine currently in my car. The pistons are $220. Whats a ball park figure on getting my engine up to 300 hp?

Thanks,

Rob

[OHC230]

Rob, pretty much other than the forged pistons, everything else is centered on the fuel delivery system and the exhaust/turbo system to make the power. Usually the first step most 2.3 engine builders recommend, is a fuel pump upgrade and that goes for 4 cylinder Mustang owners who want to modify their DD N/A engines as well, in fact many of the posts on these forums regarding loss of power, poor mileage, hard starting and many drive-ability problems have to do with insufficient fuel supply.

TRE performance sells a very high quality, super quiet fuel pump with 255 LPH capacity, for under $80.00 shipped, a good upgrade for any 2.3 Mustang.

If you don’t own a factory turbo Ford or have access to a turbo donor car, you will need a way to manage your fuel system, so it can support a turbo and the commensurate larger fuel injectors. Factory turbo Fords came with a variety of injector sizes, 24, 30 and 36 Lb. per hour injectors were offered on various models. To be on the safe side, most engine builders use a constant of .55-.60 lbs. of fuel per HP hour, in order to calculate injector sizes for HP. Most Bosch injectors are designed to operate at a maximum fuel pressure of 3 bar (44 PSI) Increasing the fuel pressure beyond this point, will quickly degrade the life of a fuel injector and driver circuits of your ECU. I might also mention that higher fuel pressure distorts the injector spray pattern and can actually reduce fuel flow! Darn laws of physics!!!

Something else to consider here is the maximum duty cycle that the injector and ECU can operate. It has been well established within the engineering community, that a safe maximum duty cycle (how many times the injectors are fired) should not exceed 80%. Temperatures in the ECU rise rapidly if this limit is exceeded. Some people ignore these manufactures recommendations and I guess they just live with the consequences.

The bottom line here, is that a safe injector size of 51 lb per hour, will supply a 300 HP engine at 44 PSI fuel pressure running an 80% injector duty cycle and in order to run these injectors, you need a programmable tuner, or ECU, unless you want less HP.

It is very difficult to lay out a firm price for this, since there are many variables, in terms of parts. I might go out on a limb and say that for a grand +-a few hundred more $, you could get most, if not all of the parts to upgrade an N/A car to a turbo set-up.

[96flmustang]

Thank you for the good advice. I feel a lot better about this car now that I don't have to do an engine swap. This forum seems to be a really good place for information. I have seen some posts where 2.3 Mustangs are getting 23 or more mpg. My automatic is only getting me 205 miles on a tank of gas. And that includes mostly highway driving. Almost makes me want to get a 5.0 since it won't be that much worse.

[OHC230]

Your car might be in a poor state of tune. Usually a well tuned 2.3 will get over 28 MPG. Even my supercharged 2.7 gets 250 miles on 10 gallons and we have 15 gallons to play with. Weak fuel pressure or a partially blocked converter are common factors in poor mileage.