Talk to me guys, help me build a motor for my 80 Pinto.
Requirements are as follows:
donor motor in my garage is a 89 Mustang 2.3 low miles motor
motor must be a 4 barrel carb
all motor, no turbo, no NOS, no supercharger
Possible T5 (more then likely I will put the T5 in)
on the fence about stroking to a 2.5
I want a torquey motor, something good off the line but also something that can wind up pretty good so that I can do S-Turns with speed and have fun. Car must be drivable, street use, I don't do track time or drag time.
Any info you guys could provide would be great. I am most interested in any mods that may be required to do a T5 swap.
Thanks
Note: I already have an Offenhauser dual plane intake, and a Holley 390 4 Barrel, which I would like to put on the motor. I am not 100% set on that set-up though, so if anybody can suggest a better set-up, it would be greatly appreciated.
That carb sounds huge for a street 2.3. Will the motor be souped up? Like ported head, bigger cam, header, exhaust? Gears? What RPM will it see? What is your HP goal?
The stock 2.3 doesn't do much above 4000 RPM. Ford made em' like little tractor motors so they peak their torque low in the power band so they could move mid and light weight cars almost decently :) Not saying they don't have freakish levels of potential. Just that Ford made em' weak from the factory.
Originally, I was going to send the factory head & block to a local shop to get them re-worked. Block was going to get bored, with higher comperssion pistons. Was possibly going to swap in a crank & connecting rods from a 2.5 Ranger motor, but I think I'm gonna keep it a 2.3 for now. Was going to have the head ported, new valves, new cam, the works on the head. Then run the Offy intake & 390 Holley.
The current motor is a slightly worked head, stock block & internals, Racer Walsh Solid Lifter cam, Offy Intake & 390 Holley. The powerband is about 4,000 up to about 6,500. Way to radical for street use and cruising. Also running 3's in the rear end (8" ford) and 245-60-14's in the back for tires.
As of right now, I'm thinking about getting a complete alluminum Esslinger head (cam, ported aluminum head, valves,springs etc ready to bolt on), and then having the local shop just bore the block, new pistons, and using factory crank & connecting rods. Bolt in motor, use current exhaust (2 1/2" full exhaust), bolt on the Offy intake and carb and away I go.
EDIT: I want to make more power then the stock motor, but I don't want to run the RPM's I have to run now. Maybe like 2500 to 4000 or 4500 would be nice. Idle right now is about 1000 to 1200, so I currently have to really wind it up to get power.
From readings, there are always a lot of compromises. The higher compression should improve power every where but you may need high octane gas. The flow improvements porting, big cam, etc. generally move the power band up. Consider putting a small/stock cam in your existing motor to lower the power band and maybe have the head milled some to raise compression (check valve clearance).
If stock, that 89 engine should have D shape intake ports. I suspect the dual plane Offy manifold was made for a oval port head. If correct, the lower manifold runners will have some blockage when it meets the head.
You don't need the alum. esslinger head, it's over kill for what your doing, any idea what stage Racer Walsh cam you have? not knowing what your combo is currently, and not knowing if your currect engine is in need of rebuild or just to radical for you right now, if your currect engine is in good order, look real hard at the overdrive 5speed, ( I use a T-9 out of a XR4TI) and gears those two will make what seems like a wild cam, turn out to be mild.. if your going to build a new engine, look at Bo-Port Racing, or joe laramee, both guys can make HUGE power with an iron head, I use Bo-Port and love his work. Oh, did I say my 2.3 make over 350whp at 5K rpms with his work??? I'd stay with the solid lifter set up if you want to turn any rpms, ya, you'll have to adjust valves every 5 to 10K miles, no big deal... also get the static compression up to at least 9.5 to 1, do the math or find a compression calculator on the net to figure it out, and that carb and intake combo is great for the street, if, and I say if, you keep the soild lifter cam, if you choose to go back to hydrolic it may be on the big side, no reason you can't get 150 wheel HP out of a very streetable 2.3...
Hi 80 2.3 Ess-- Postalpony here--My personal experince is with a
2.3 is with a stock head & valves I have ran a Ford motorsport
A238 flat tappet cam with anti-pump lifters, Racer Walsh cam followers, & Sig Erson dual valve springs, for a lot of miles with
good performance, plus 28-33 mpg on the interstates. You have
seen Postalpony at Carlisle, & heard the about the speed episode
I'm sure. I was in 4th gear when the officer clocked me--- I had
another gear to go. This is with an original 1980 100,000 + mile
engine with the above cam change & a Blackjack header with a
2 1/2 " exhaust system & 2 mufflers. Nuff said?
GO FOR IT--Dick Mathias Postalpony
Here is a very simple breakdown of what I'm running right now. The motor is currently burning oil a little, and I don't think the secondaries are working correctly on the carb, so I think I may be loosing power there. The factory items listed have 100k plus on them for milage, actual milage is unknown, the odometer was messed with at one point.
I am currently running permium gas in it (93 I think), I don't wanna go higher than that, as I want to be able to use standard pump gas.
1980 ford 2.3 block (factory)
1980 ford internals (crank, connecting rods & pistons)
1980 ford factory head, home done mild porting / polishing
Racer walsh solid lifter cam, I am pretty sure it is a stage 3 if I recall correctly
stock valves & springs
Offenhouser dual plane intake
Holley 390 cfm 4 barrel
schoenfeld stepped header
2 1/2" full exhaust with a hushpower muffler where the factory cat should be, and a straight through Raven "muffler" at the back under the bumper.
I'm sure if I tore the engine down and did a complete overhaul, it would be fine, change the piston rings and fix the carb to have the secondaries kick in. I figure since I have a spare motor kicking around, I could use that. I also have another 2.3 out of another pinto, but I am not sure what year it is out of, not sure of the milage either.
I just figured it would be easier to build up a sick second motor and then do a quick swap in a weekend.
As to the T5 and a new set of gears, those are on my list as well, and maybe a posi unit as well. I want the O.D. from the T5 for highway use and for the better gearing. Does the T5 bolt right in? I have heard the shifter is located in a diferent spot, so I would have to cut a hole in the floor. That's no big deal. My uncle is a sheet metal fabricator and is good with a welder / torch.
The T-5 will bolt right in however make sure you get a cable bell the bell housing from any T-5 car but a 1987-88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe is hydraulic and will need a lot of to make it work. BTW have you tried the mouse trap cam from Racer Walsh it's RPM rate is some what higher than stock...I off hand do not know but it's a race track part ....Also try Speedway they have some parts for the 2.3 look for pony stock parts..
t5 needs a different tranny mount. (easy to weld) need a clutch cable and mine i needed to make a bracket because the stock hole there was a support for the t5. and a hole in the floor. also it is a little longer so a different driveline. i used one out of a 97 mustang i believe, it was the perfect length. it has funky u-joints that are like 4X3.5 or something