[coffinator6]

ill start of by saying im a noob to the 2.3 liter mustang and fox body mustangs in general. I was a mod motor guy but i have come to the dark side.

well i have an 89 lx notch with the 2.3 and an auto. i also have a running 93 lx 2.3 5-speed. the body of the 93 is in bad shape and ill be pulling the motor and trans. then selling the body.

I was wondering if it would be worth it to rebuild/beef up the 93 motor and put it in the 89. What kind of wiring would be involved in the swap and in the 8 plug motor more efficient.

thanks in advance for the help.

sorry for my spelling in my title. forgot to check it before i hit post.

[zombie_pony]

Welcome to the only side of the Mustang world almost as looked down upon as the Mustang II...

I've never personally done the swap but I'd imagine it couldn't be too difficult..
I vote beef up the 8 plug; supposedly it's a little more fuel efficient and has a little more HP and every little bit counts with these motors. There was a post recently about a stroker setup (I think?) you could get from NeedHP.com, :: A Division of Summit Technology ::... and you could always go turbo, whatever works.

As far as being worth it goes, that's a personal thing. I'd dump every penny I make into my little 4 banger if I could just because I love the thing. V8 guys will look at you like you're retarded, then mention that you can buy a $30k 2008 GT and get the same gas mileage with a lot more power. I paid $1k for mine, I own it, I pay less than $20 a year in taxes, and it's a hell of a lot better looking than a cookie cutter 2005+ model IMO.

I'm gonna stop babbling about now. Good luck with the motor swap. And just keep in mind if you get tired of it you can always chunk in a 351.

[akatagyourit]

Zombie the gas milage thing is fairly inaccurate. At best that i've heard on the v6 mustangs is about 18-20mpg city driving and thats babying it. I ragged the hell out of my N/A 2.3L and maintained at least 24 mpg in the city with about 30mpg highway drivin it like i stole it. Now on the 2.3T's its a bit different long as you keep boost low, basically stay off the gas you can essiantially maintain the same mpg as the n/a motors but wheres the fun in that? And as for the power truthfully once I get my car running right and get it tuned and dyno'd i'll be making some pretty decent power for less than a 1/4 of the price of an 08 gt. To date on this 2.3T swap I've spent a grand total of about $3400. Thats the motor, and everything for the turbo installed and running. Just some food for thought. As for the 8 plug head, its a minimal improvement power wise as you can not adjust the timing at all on those to try and build a little bit of extra power. They are a little better on the mpg though. Best bet coffin, pull the 93 motor and all the wiring with it and just basically swap everything into the 89 body. Or fix the 89 the motors are simple to work on. Whats wrong with the 89 motor?

[coffinator6]

Originally Posted by akatagyourit Zombie the gas milage thing is fairly inaccurate. At best that i've heard on the v6 mustangs is about 18-20mpg city driving and thats babying it. I ragged the hell out of my N/A 2.3L and maintained at least 24 mpg in the city with about 30mpg highway drivin it like i stole it. Now on the 2.3T's its a bit different long as you keep boost low, basically stay off the gas you can essiantially maintain the same mpg as the n/a motors but wheres the fun in that? And as for the power truthfully once I get my car running right and get it tuned and dyno'd i'll be making some pretty decent power for less than a 1/4 of the price of an 08 gt. To date on this 2.3T swap I've spent a grand total of about $3400. Thats the motor, and everything for the turbo installed and running. Just some food for thought. As for the 8 plug head, its a minimal improvement power wise as you can not adjust the timing at all on those to try and build a little bit of extra power. They are a little better on the mpg though. Best bet coffin, pull the 93 motor and all the wiring with it and just basically swap everything into the 89 body. Or fix the 89 the motors are simple to work on. Whats wrong with the 89 motor?

the 89 is my daily driver and dont have another car that i can use. i can pull the 93 motor and do it and have it all ready. then do the swap on a weekend. from the looks of it, its not worth the time or effort to do it. I was guaranted the 93 motor wont blow unless i make it. the 89 has 143k mile and i dont think the owner took care of it like he said he did. I did pull the center console today to give it a nice scrub in some hot water and dawn soap. i found an origional 1989 penny inside the console. I thought that was really cool so its going to stay with the car for good luck.

oh and the wiring harness for the 93 has been hacket to shit. I would rather pull one from another car or make one from scratch and reuse the factory connectors.

[beeker]

Instead of doing that swap I would keep an eye out for an 87 - 88 turbocoupe and use the drive train from it for your swap (engine, tranny, diff) BOOST IS BEST !!!

[TurboLX]

Originally Posted by beeker Instead of doing that swap I would keep an eye out for an 87 - 88 turbocoupe and use the drive train from it for your swap (engine, tranny, diff) BOOST IS BEST !!!

+100000000000000000000000000000

[coffinator6]

well i have turned to the dark side. I decided to go to a v8.

My buddy just aquired a complete origional svo motor and wiring harness. I think he might have the computer also. He siad he wants $1500 for the whole set up. supposedly it runs but he didnt hear it run before he got it.

[87LX]

1500 seems pretty steep. I can get a whole turbo coupe with low miles for 2000, and then I'd have tranny, rear end, etc. I haven't bought that because I thought it was too expensive . What do you guys think?

[coffinator6]

Originally Posted by 87LX 1500 seems pretty steep. I can get a whole turbo coupe with low miles for 2000, and then I'd have tranny, rear end, etc. I haven't bought that because I thought it was too expensive . What do you guys think?

what kind of shape is it in? I might have to pick that up if your not going to. Where is it located.


Pm me some info on location. I might even have I cut you some money for the hookup.

[87LX]

It was in Edmonton, AB. I had a look for the ad (although not too hard), and couldn't find it again. Here's one for 3,000 although it has a lot higher mileage than the last one I was looking at. It's in Kelowna, BC (I think, going by the phone number). Castanet Classifieds - 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
I wouldn't really want to pay 3,000 for something with 211km on it, so I don't really expect you to, but I felt bad not being able to find the other ad again.