jamie, man... I hope this project encourages more people to save more mavs and use them daily. Can't wait to see some videos of it running. Keep up the good work!
I mess with a lot of 2.3 Turbos at my shop and have 2 SVO Mustangs making near 400RWHP out of them so I have been tossing up the idea of doing a 2.3 Turbo Maverick out of mine.....I'm on the fence....either a 5.0 with 5 speed or 2.3L Turbo with 5 speed.....I've got plenty of both engine/trans combos here so I just have to decide what I want to do.
On my '72, I have a 302 with fuel injection installed and the original fuel line works fine. I did replace the rubber connector line with rubber hose intended for the higher pressure used in EFI (generally around 38-40 psi). In fact I was able to use the fuel vapor line as the return line. Ya just have to make sure that there aren't any restrictions at the tank end of the line. As far as the fuel pump, I am using a frame rail mounted pump. Lots of people are retrofitting cars for EFI, so it's easy to find 'em. I know Jegs and Summit sell them...I think I got mine from Mustangs Plus at the time because that one had a bracket I liked...
your project is coming alone nicely. We scrapped 2 pinto motors last month. If I would have known I would have given you a oil pan
Oh, man. It's a mighty encouraging feeling to see this. Jamie, you're a champ. Now why am I more eager to see a 4 cylinder swap then I ever would be about a 8 cylinder one?
Let me guess. $4.00 per gallon of gas? Good project Jamie. Should be fun and economical after you get it in with a 5-speed.
Too cool maybee ill try the same, $4 gal gas is a real killer! I should have kept the engine from my SVO.
2.3l Good work Jamie. There's a local racer that's using turbo 2.3L in a Fairmont. He runs mid to low 8s and drives wherever he wants during the week. Kind of got me thinking too, hmmmmmmmm. Jerry
8 cylinder has been done a million and one times? I'm not really sure what kind of gas mileage to expect. If it gets around 30 on the highway I'd be ecstatic. I don't even have the thing running yet, and I'm already researching how to improve the gas mileage.. I'm surprised to find just how many resources and how much info there is out there for these engines. I'm off work Friday, and plan to spend the whole day junkyardin' looking for an oil pan, and the 3.8 Taurus electric fan, which should be a very easy find. I'm going to run a 3 core '70 Mustang radiator, and a 3G Ford alternator, both of which I already have. Thanks for all the positive comments and encouragement.
I love the project. I think though that you will quickly install that turbo. I have driven enough non-turbo 2.3s to know that they are dogs. You'll hate it. I love 2.3s with turbos, so I am eagerly watching your swap, and will take notes on your "installing a turbo on the 2.3" thread shortly after you get this thing running. Good luck Dave
I already know what to expect as far as performance. I have an '88 Ranger with a carbed 2.3/5 speed, and my dad had a '90 Mustang LX convertible a few years ago with a 2.3/auto. I've been driving a '92 Nissan Sentra a lot lately, has a 1.6 4 banger, and I know a N/A 2.3 will blow the doors off of it... it's painfully slow, but the gas mileage is great. I'm not building this thing to win any races.
I've read turbos can improve mileage, if the engine of the turbo you get has 50-70% (i.e. 1.8T) the displacement compared to the engine (2.3) you're installing it will help both performance and economy. It might be worth a try, just saying.
I wasn't disparaging your idea Jamie, just didn't know if you had experience with that engine. I guess you have! Turbos are said to help economy, but I don't know for sure myself. One thing I do know is headers and relatively free flow exhaust DO help economy, as well as power and other factors. So if economy is what you want, build a set of headers. Should be super easy on an I4 and having plenty of room to run them. I would probably do it for the learning experience. Heck, if this swap becomes a fad, you could corner the 2.3 header market for our cars! Heck, engine mounts too! I better stop now! You'll stop posting your pics and I'll have to wait to buy the swap kit!
I'm hoping one of the many headers already available for the 2.3 will fit. I've found several for Pinto, Ranger, and Fox Mustang applications. I'm also going to get a throttle body spacer, and get rid of the EGR. All of that will be further down the road though, right now I am just concentrating on getting it going first.
