Has anyone ever done a 2.3 Turbo (intercooled of course) conversion into a maverick/comet before? I am seriously considering it since the 302 in my fourdoor is a gas sucking pig. With 13-14mpg city, which is all my car sees. It might pay $ to put in a fiery four banger with a hairdryer. Since my car will need a rebuild sometime soon it might be a valid option. Double the gas mileage may pay for itself reasonably soon.
I actually considered doing the exact same swap, as the motors are plentiful in the junkyards (or were at the time). Saw the first turbocoupe, looked it over, then got the idea, hey...why not a stock 302 with turbo? Great idea....made tons of power, but the ol' 302 blocks aren't strong enough and I broke 2 and destroyed several head gaskets. Sold the turbo/headers/piping/wastegate and pretty much everything turbo-related to a fellow in Canada that wanted to do a Turbo 302 in a '66 Mustang. Had about $500 total investment not including the broken motors/parts. Still thought about a 2.3T in my Mustang, though...but jeez, I can't seem to keep those 7.5 rears together long enough to drive the darn thing.
Ya gotta love turbos. I am not an import fan by any means but I have some friends who make some big HP with some small engines. My buddy has a Supra Turbo with over 700HP from a 3.0 liter six, and thats no BS (over 630 to the wheels on the dyno). I am really striving for a quiet and powerful combo that will get good fuel economy and is something a little different. (Can you say SLEEPER)
Hey Big Bully, I'm glad to see you have decided on a 73 build up I still can't get past the advice of going the I6 route and heres why. As some of us have tried and are still trying to make these 250's scream, there is some serious power to be had if you have a few bucks to burn. The easy route would be to order you a 2004 Tickford Built Ford 4.0 (250) Turbo'd ready to run shipped to you in a nice crate! But if your like me a good ol dose of 429 Cobra Jet/671 would be fine. lol Both of which would cost a couple more bucks than what I would want to spend but if I could and it did'nt hurt.. :bananaman I still want to adapt a fuel injection kit to a 250, bore the 1.75" hole out to 2.25", and use a Vortec SC , dual out header, 270 cam, and just a small little bit of the juice
I toyed with the idea of a 2.3 T swap but I got stuck on how to do the motor mounts. If you could fab your own I guess you could, but I don't have a welder so I can only bolt stuff together. I'd love to see it happen though. Russ
Here's a question and answer that I posted on a 2.3 Thunderbird site. On the Turbo Coupe cars. What is the differance in the 2.3 and the 5.0 motor mounts?Are frame side of the mounts the same or are the engine side differant? I looking into swaping a 2.3 turbo into a Maverick that has a 302 in it now. Thanks in advance. Russ Edited by: RussRat at: 4/4/04 8:33 pm Dare Registered User Posts: 3526 (4/4/04 10:12 pm) Reply Re: 2.3 and 5.0 motor mounts? The upper mount bracket only bolts up to a 2.3. From what I know of the Maverick, they have a unique motormount setup. A friend of mine spent 2 years looking for a motor mouth for his Maverick.
Russ, that was about the biggest question I had concerning the 2.3 swap was what the motor mount story was going to be. I remembered that Brazilian cars came with a 2.3 fourpopper. I might have to try and find some Brazil motor mounts or fabricate some by welding a plate to the stock Maverick mount and then adapting the 2.3 to that. Just a thought. Thanks for the help.
HAHAHAHA I believe Elliot is gonna get dangerous very shortly!! This is the way monsters are born..........With a dream and a Mwaaahahahahaha !!!! Preston
When I first got my 72 comet GT I wanted to make it as light as possible and drop in a turbo 2.3L out of a turbo coupe and a t-5 from the same car. I was told that wasn't a good idea and that I should build a carbed 302. I also thought of snagging a 3.8L out of a super coupe and twin turbocharging it to see what happened. I haven't talked my mother's boyfriend out of his super coupe yet. He bought it for $300 because it didn't have the supercharger that it should have had on it. The motor needs rebuilt but wouldn't that be something to see in a comet or maverick? When you get yours done Please post pics so others may see. I know I'm curious how it's gonna look.
What about just adding a turbo to the stright 6 (200 or 250) so you don't have to do a whole engine swap?
