how much horsepower can a stock 79 2.3 auto tranny take without failure
Are you asking about power or abuse??? How much power are you talking? Are you thinking turbo (2.3 bolt pattern)? If you are thinking of over 200hp, go to a c4.
I have seen and heard of the t/c c3's having problems with and without abuse .
My "stock" turbo pinto has the stock c3 in it and I have not had any issues, but it only sees some minimal abuse when my wife drives it. Most of the time we just do "Normal" driving (sporty, not beating on it much at all) and it seems to be fine. I don't plan to run stickys with it either (if you are not breaking traction, you are breaking something else), it's just a fun driver.
I worried more about the 6.75 rear. Got rid of it early on.
There are some good threads around that are about c3's and c4's.
Bill
im not quit sure what trans it has im building an 2.3 engine with the following .040 overbore headers possiple 4 barrel (i need a intake)and a mild cam in my high school shop class what would be a good rear end for it? what car at a scrap yard would have it(bugdet very limited)
thank you for your valueable info ;D
The tranny should be a c3 for that year. Count the bolts on the pan, c3's have 13, c4's have 11.
I saw your post about the cam. I had a mild one in my racecar, if I were to do it again it would be a radical one.
You might want to put new "lifters" in (and valve springs too). I found that on the pintos I had that sat for a while had a few sticky ones. Ran much better and smoother after. You will need a grease gun with the pointy fitting to get them out (inject grease into the hole near the base of them, works like a charm. don't forget to remove the grease after).
The rears that will DIRECTLY bolt in can only be found in a pinto, bobcat or mustang II. There are others that can be made to work. Look for the 8" ones (they don't have a cover bolted on the rear of the pumpkin). I have seen them go for 50 to 250. Some of them came with 3.4's and 3.55's, check the gears before you buy. New gear sets and install kits get pricey. Look on 'car-part.com'.
Get a "header" style exhaust manifold from a ranger, they go for about 30 to 60 bucks on ebay. Racers use them, they are good and cheap.
This might be bad for you:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8013882892&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT
The stock engine in that car has about 85HP, but with the stuff you are talking about, and depending on what you can spend, you can get another 30ish out of it without too much work. The best part is it will be durable. I have heard of people getting over 150hp from a n/a 2.3. Get the power where you can, electric fan, remove smog pump (off road use), manual steering, exhaust, air filter.....
Bill
whould an axle out of a 80s mustang work? what car whould have the same bolt pattern for a c4?
Thank you for your help
The bolt pattern is the same, but those stangs have coil spring rears. You would have to cut off the stock brackets and weld on new ones (keeping the proper pinion angle and center). IF you are staying with the stock n/a motor with just a few updates AND you don't beat on the car, the stock rear MIGHT last for a long time. Torque applied to it tends to re-crush the crush washer and miss-aline the gears causing them to wear at a very fast rate.
If you are running the 2.3 and want to run a c4, you will need the bell for a 2.3/c4 or a 2.0/c4 (use of custom dowl pins required for the 2.0, like 25 bucks for them). The 2.3 one is not as strong and not as easy to find. They tend to go for about 100 bucks.
Bill
ok thank you for your help ;D