I was just reading the Shorthorns article about a book on Mavericks (on front cover). It said the Mavericks were available in 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines. I had never heard of the four cylinder, was this an option in one of the foreign models?
The Brazilian Mavericks could be equipped with the 2.3l I4. I'd love to find some original I4 mounts to install a Turbo Coupe Motor I have in one. - Matt
Interesting, I had a '74 Mustang II and a '78 Bobcat both with the 2.3 I4, that was a good little motor, never had an issue with them.
If the oil wasn't changed regurarly, 2.3L were famous for eating cams. Also almost any engine before '80s had valve stem seal issues(with bad seals the 2.3 swilled oil). I've repl probably half dozen cams & 2x that in valve seals. Late ones(90s) used roller followers, those were all but bullet proof.
Come to think of it my '78 was handy for keeping mosquitoes away near the end. The '74 never did burn any oil though.
No doubt. The 2.3L Lima engines use a "slider" cam, meaning cam literally slides across follower to actuate valves. Cam is hollow, oil to followers is supplied from cam. Dino oils of the day formed sludge accumulating deposits inside cam, thus restricting oil supply to followers. At one point Ford issued a bulletin to NOT use 10W-40 oil, as the amount of viscosity index improvers(additives) hastened sludge formation. Cam wear announced itself as a steady "clack", much like conventional rockers out of adjustment. Problem was mostly cam wore on heel(area past max lift & oiling port), so when follower moved down back side, it sort of dropped into place. I usta to occasionally buy Stang II & early Fox chassis at auction with clattering cams, had to replace one Turbo Coupe cam. Bottom ends were "Hell for stout", though I got one that was blown(picked that one up from trader paper). However it happened, a rod cap loosened, could see where piston had been hitting head before cap fell off and it blew up. Interesting was that week prior, seller had cam replaced because of noise(yes it had a new cam). I was looking for a nice one, for over a year I'd been driving a II that was T-boned on passenger side. Was hit so hard the top had a small buckle, interestingly still drove perfectly. BTW early 2.3L were prone to bust #1 piston, that was issue on first one I ever owned, saw others.
My cousin and another guy raced a 2.3L in a Pinto on dirt track back in the day. It was a stoudt little motor. I know my 86 SVO was a nice little runner and never had any problems with it. - Matt
Yeah 20-25 years ago they were the "big deal" in amature classes. Knew a couple guys who raced them. I saw two cam failures in the '87-'88 Turbo Coupes. One I repl with a Ford Motorsport Cam, made bottom end power a bit soft, but she'd really turn on above 3K RPMs. Second was in the 2.3 I pulled from my Turbo Coupe. Sold that engine, told buyer(owned SVO) cam was slightly noisy. I'd put around 3000 miles on engine, cam noise continued to be about same.
Does anyone have a picture of a Brazil Maverick with the 2.3 in it? It would be interesting to see all the open space there must be in the engine compartment.
