Hi, New to the forums, My current Project is an oddity, I am taking my 1977 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon

Added Mustang GT Turbines in 15x7 wrapped in 185 55 R15 Bridgestone RE040's

Installing a recent acquired 2.3 Turbo from either a Mustang or Capri Pre-82


We are hooking it up to a rebuilt C3 Transmission with a Shift kit

(yes they made them)
Also, a MSD6-BTM, MSD Disty & BlasterII Coil for the engine,Rock Auto got me the Carb for $212 shipped, a g-pop T3 Rebuild kit and the last thing I need is the damned Turbo Air cleaner, the engine currently sits like this...

I'm waiting on the Adjustable Cam gear, and the manual boost controller.

I'll take any advice & praise for the project, keep the flames to a minimum, The Reason I chose the Pinto to do this with the stock 2.3 had less than 73k miles on it when it was ripped out I got this motor for cheap, the shop is re-enforcing everything they can get to and we hope to have it up & running before January, the most difficult process will be dyno-tuning the car.

Updates to follow.
"T"


Okay, so today i decided to put the fuel pump & water pump on, I started with the engine looking like this...

Now, when I was looking @ what I still had in the Pinto I decided to use the Power Steering and alternator brackets from the N/A 2.3 Motor, Notice the Turbo on the right and the non-turbo on the left... size does matter

Now, the Pinto(s) had a plate to cover the fuel pump, it attached to the block and one of the engine mounts, so I gotta swap this too...

I love the color of Ford Blue combined with a Blue table acquired from a NAPA store, Now, this photo is KEY!, if I hadn't taken this photo I would never have figured out why I was about to have a bad day... do you see it class?

F.M.L. that is all (again do you see the issue with the 2.3T & non-T?)

Turbo is rear sump, Non-Turbo is front sump, which means I gotta swap the oil-pump pickup, and the oil pan, (also gotta knock out a 6 inch dent on the front of the pinto oil pan.)
So here is the intake Manifold off of the head...

here is the Intake manifold, looks shiny and a new-ish gasket, I may re-use these

Here is the Cam & the other Misc bits on the head...

#4 Piston has been replaced

here is the turbo engine rear sump oil pickup

front sump pickup...

Here are the Oil Pans, if anyone else ever tries to do this swap, this is important info...


Here I am installing the junction for the oil sender, notice whats to the left of my hands

Okay, the drivers side of the engine bay had some issues, the people I bought the car back from were intent on doing a 302 swap on it, so we had to remove the one inch spacers and bolt the plate back to where it belongs.  Also notice the factory ignition stuffs above that, that will be addressed in a few more photos.

Passenger side engine mount replaced.

WIN!

Wheel & Tire Combo 185 55 R15 Potenza tires

Turbo and related mess :|

Told ya we'd take care of it.

EOD Tech Ford pinto style





marking it for life

a few more wires to go & we're good

Ask me about old technology

Really old, that stereo/CB is April 76 Vintage and it STILL WORKS

here is the Engine & Transmission being lowered in...


Here is the engine sitting in without the engine mounts being bolted together


Engine & Transmission are installed... Notice how much space is between the Exhaust Turbine heat shield and the brake booster...


And here she sits, yes we will have to clearance the hood to make it close I am grafting a mid 70's era trans-am hood scoop to the Apocalypse, should be fairly entertaining.


I run the car with 10psi on 89 Octane



68k miles on the build,been through 2 head gaskets, 2 flywheels, 5 fuel pumps 9 fuel filters & a few oil changes.

Power is great with one **MAJOR exception.

These Turbo 2.3's can run with very few vac lines hooked up.  you will need the following.

#1 intake runner should go to the boost sensor on the MSD-6BTM

if you are running an automatic transmission you will need a vac line for the shift modulator and if you have power brakes you will need one for the booster.

for the carb you need one for the Power Valve and one for the choke.

#4 intake runner should go to a distribution block one  goes to the waste gate, one goes to the boost gauge.


Fuel economy will suffer greatly... I average between 10&16mpg

the cross over pipe was custom made, 2 pieces as was the down pipe to the glasspack once installed it was welded in place get your fitment right here or you will have MAJOR exhaust leak issues.


**MAJOR exception

the mechanical fuel pump will starve out above 5000rpm @ 10psi my A/F meter goes lean like a mofo if I try a 2nd gear pull for longer than 10 seconds, play nice keep your foot steady & you can hold 10psi on a pass with ease.  15psi is possible but I hope you like replacing tires.

Also the MSD-6BTM is great you can retard a maximum of -15 degrees I have mine set for about .87deg/pound
the stock ignition on these cars was -2deg/pound @ 6psi it was shizod, so that ratio works for me.

Estimated 210+hp

Intake, exhaust, ignition, boost, cam, head ported Etc...


take a few for the boost to work its way up but when it does she moves nicely, 15PSI sets me on my butt

hello MOABPinto
i saw the pic of the alt bracket, why does that have to be swapped?? doing this turbo set up to a 78 mercury bobcat, 2.3 with a 4speed manual trans, have all parts i will need, i think, have the original 2.3 in the car, pistons and rods are out of a different turbo motor, have been driving for about 7months runs great,  i did notice that my head will either have to be ported to match the intake or find a turbo head, have all the air cleaner and oil lines and tons of vacum lines, to figure out, but the only thing i see i dont have is the bracket, any info will be great was going to start taking apart but will wait to see your feed back first.
thanks
 
eric

NO on the ranger header, keep the cross-over pipe as small as possible in length, mine is 2.5"dia on the cross over pipe & the downpipe

I wanted to use as many of the pinto parts I had available, when I bought the engine I noticed some differences but since my pinto had power steering I had to use the Pinto Alternator bracket & power steering bracket because my drive belts are tensioned from the power steering pump bracket


Oil filter get a relocation kit from Oreilly's/Autozone/Federated, Don't matter.
get one to fit a PH8a filter assembly, and mount the oil filter in front of the radiator, helps cool the oil, makes oil changes easier and you don't have to take yer exhaust off to do an oil change.
re-located oil filter

Looks like a good build, 15lbs boost? Ill bet it sits you back in your seat!