Hi all,
I have a '77 cruising wagon with a 2.3L. Can you give me some of your experiences with bolt on mods for HP increase? What intake manifold, carb, header did you have good results with? Any thing else to consider?
-thanks
One of the best bolt-ons I have found is the roller cam found in late 80's Mustangs an Rangers from about the same era. Good find in a salvage yard, usually cheap, and good for a few horse. Don't try to but one new, your wallet will have a heart attack. Take a speed hyandle and a 10mm socket to the salvage yard on a Saturday and start pulling Mustang and Ranger valve covers. There arrre two phillips head bolts in the back of the head that hold the cam retainer in, remove those and the retainer clip slids out. Make sure you remove the cam followers first, and I usually take the lifters just for grins. Take along a box that will hold the lifters, because you should keep them in order. Have fun, scrounge the dalvage yard, and enjoy some good weather. Does it really get any better that that?
I would the following for HP increase:
1. Get rid of the stock lower pulley (on the crank shaft) and replace it with an aluminum one.
2. Ford Ranger header
3. Purchase an adjustable cam gear and advance it +2
This should give you between 15-25 HP or more, since I don't have a dyno I have no idea, all I can tell you is that you will see a huge difference
You can also replace the card with a Holley 350 and use 56 jets to get a little bit more.
Hope this helps, there is a lot you can do. It depends on how much money you want to spend.
Thanks for the tips. It should be easy to find the ranger/ 'stang parts.
This may be an ignorant question but, what about cylinder heads from these engines (late 80's 2.3) if I change the cam?
the late 80's 2.3's have a dual plug design, and fuel injection. i'm not sure if you can use the distributor but I'd bet against it because it uses what ford calls a TFI module. this is triggered by the FI computer.
if you want the late model head you'll likely have to convert to fuel injection. and if you're gonna do that swap you might as well get a turbo motor and wiring harness
The cam from the previuosly mentioned Rnagers and Mustangs will slide right in to your Pinto head. Even uses the same bearings. No need to change to the late model head. Four plug heads will work with a distributor, but you cannot utilize the second plug without some creative wiring.
John
Great! Thanks for all the information. Keep it coming please! I'll take pictures and post as I progress.
hey fellas...I too have a '77 cruising wagon with a 2.3
I just purchased a NOS 4 into 1 ; 2" out long header, 1990 Ranger roller cam w/ roller followers. NEW hyd. lifters.
Question(s):
Will the 1990 roller cam fit the 2.3 properly? (it was for a 1990 2.3 ranger)
Should I use an adjustable cam gear?
What intake and carb setup would you recommend?
I also have the 4 speed Tranny with 3.08 rear Axle. Is there anything I can do to upgrade the drivetrain? ie; 5 Speed, rear axle swap, or Gear change?
thanks for any info...
Keeb~
what rear end do you have in there now? I know some people on here have done the 5 speed swap, but i dont know how much trouble or what tranny they used, but it is possible. I believe the cam and followers and lifters should go in pretty simple, without any trouble. I also belive that the turbo thunderbird heads will bolt up and give a little bit more power, if i'm not mistaken.
The Ranger roller and roller followers will go right in with no modifications.
An adjustable cam gear isn't absolutely necessary, but would be helpful for degreeing in the cam, or if you want to play around with the cam timing to move the powerband up or down.
Since the Ranger roller isn't a "big" cam, you really don't need to change the intake or carb, but if you do, I would still keep things small to help daily drivability.
What brand of header do you have? My full length Hedman header would not clear the larger bellhousing that the T5 transmission has. A five speed from an early '80's Mustang (the RAP transmission) uses the smaller clutch and has a smaller bellhousing. It is probably as strong (or as weak) as the original four speed.
If you want to use a T5, you could use a factory shorty header from a mid '90's Ranger or Mazda B2300.
Oops, I see others have already answered the cam question and recommended the Ranger header.
This is the URL to the Header I bought on ebay....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2483107408&category=34203
I was assuming that the performance from the Ranger cam was Substantially better than the stock Pinto cam. otherwise i will just end up buying a mild stage 2 cam from Crower cams...
What im looking to get out of the engine is a Solid bottom end, average driveability, (I only drive 1 mile to work and back), and a Quick 1/4th mile time. Somthing that will make those chevy guys grit their teeth, without going to the extreme of doing a turbo swap or breaking my wallet on specialized parts.
later all,
Keeb~
I disagree with the "goes in with no mods" statement. After 1989 the valves were changed to smaller diameter posts. I know this because I had to have the ends of my valves turned down by a machine shop to fit inside the roller followers. Keep this in mind.
Bill in WV
Thanks for the heads up! ill call my machinist on Monday and have him check. if thats true, it would probably be cheaper to buy a matching head from the salvage yard...
later,
Keeb~
Quote from: WVBobcat77 on July 31, 2004, 06:38:10 PM
I disagree with the "goes in with no mods" statement. After 1989 the valves were changed to smaller diameter posts. I know this because I had to have the ends of my valves turned down by a machine shop to fit inside the roller followers. Keep this in mind.
Bill in WV
I think it was a little later then that. Mine was pulled from a 90 covertible Stang and it still used the same diameter valves.