The T-9 will work great behind a 2.3 if you can find one. They are good to about 200 ft lbs of torque. Unfortunately, many of the bell housings have hydraulic clutch activation which will not clear the Pinto cross member. They came behind Merkur 2.3 turbos. The good thing about them is the stock shifter position. No need to cut the Pinto trans tunnel. The T-5 is stronger but you need to cut the tunnel about 1.5 inches forward to make it work unless you go through the trouble of adding a Camaro rear T-5 housing (I did). The speedo gear is a problem but fixable and the trans mount is further back and at a funky angle. Again, workable with some creativity. The T-9 is also very expensive to repair if needed. I spent $600 on the rebuild for my Pinto race car. I have $70 in my 2.3 Mustang T-5 (Pick-Your-Parts junk yard) plus $270 in the Camaro tail housing parts (don't need to cut the trans tunnel) of my 71 2.0L A.K. Miller turbo street Pinto.
 
71HANTO