I have a 74 2.3L sedan. The engine is starting to give up on me. I want to do a swap with a more modern engine but I don't know which way to go. I have limited time and money being a college student in Canada. I used to have a 89 mustang 5.0 so I know that engine a bit better. I will be using the car as a daily driver and I am looking for more HP and better gas milage (the best its getting is 7km/l or 16mpg). I have good mechanical skills (rebuilt my last 302), limited tools (no welder), and limited fabrication experience. I understand I will have to do some modifications and also swap my tranny and rear. I can't find any parts cars to do either swap so I will have to buy the parts bit by bit then do the swap all at once. I basically would like to know what your opinions are an which swap is easier, which is more suitable for me and, which is cheaper without a doner car. I have already read the FAQ for the turbo swaps and looked for the 302 swaps and just want some opinions. Thanks for your time.
my thunderbird turbo gets 21 to 23 city and 31 to 33 highway and weighs 3600 lbs. dont know on my pinto turbo yet as the speedo is not correct but theres little to no fab work needed for that swap. you can get by with the stock rear for awhile if you dont side step the clutch. the turbo motor is basically a bolt in.
I've done Two Turbo swaps into Pinto's & One V-8 swap into a Pinto.
Turbo Swap: not that much Fabrication the wiring was the most difficult, other that that it IS just a drop in if the Pinto is already a 2.3 car. You can just use the Tranny and Rear like 4cammer72 said. As for Fuel economy, with a Turbo Motor in my First Pinto Wagon I drove about 200 miles (to Milan Mich.) raced all day and drove 200 miles (back home) and got an AWSOME 24 mpg round trip (with racing)! You can't beat that.
V-8 swap: there was quite a bit of Fabrication involved, Motor Mounts, Core Support, Exhaust Manifolds/Headers, Suspension (stiffer springs), Bigger Brakes, Tranny Tunnel, Oil Pan, Radiator and so on. Fuel Economy, what Fuel Economy! If you go with a V-8 good luck finding a Bellhouseing for a cheap price (without a donor I'm refering to), it's also tuff trying to get a stick in there with the right Bellhouseing and making the Clutch Linkage all work. I'd recommend (if going with a stick) to go Hydrolic, that can be costly.
With that being said out of the Two different Motors, I'll NEVER go V-8 UNLESS it's a track car only! The anmount of Fabbing, time involed, drivability of the car MY OPINION is 2.3 Turbo all the way.
Keep in mind this is just MY opinion.
turbowagonman
Quote from: zkit18 on June 05, 2007, 01:52:20 PM
I have a 74 2.3L sedan. The engine is starting to give up on me....
...I have limited time and money being a college student...
...I will be using the car as a daily driver and I am looking for more HP and better gas milage... .
..limited tools (no welder), and limited fabrication experience....
...I can't find any parts cars to do either swap so I will have to buy the parts bit by bit then do the swap all at once....
...I basically would like to know what your opinions are...
...which is more suitable for me and, which is cheaper without a doner car....
IMHO: Save your money, park the Pinto and get a different (cheap) D/D for now. No-matter what ANYONE tells you, NEITHER of the swaps you mentioned is going to be "easy" without the tools and skills; if you don't have either, you will need lots more money. Putting off this project will give you time to think about what your goals for it will be, give you time to work on your skills, give you time make the money needed, and most important: give you more time for school.
Just my $.02,
Bill
My first dream was the V8 Pinto but after owning an XR4TI my mind QUICKLY changed to the turbo swap. I only got the XR by chance... it was $400 running and in my opinion there is no better motor in the world then the 2.3 Turbo. Much easier swap to do, way cheaper, more bang for the buck. I may have $2000 in all 4 cars total and with all my extra parts I have a running daily XR driver. That includes Ranger cams, intercoolers for both cars and LA3's in both. You wont get all that out of a V8 swap and its a much safer ride.
My 1.5 cents..... I am kinda stupid!!
Thanks. This helped a lot. I am going to do the turbo. I will probably end up having to wait till next summer to actually do the swap. While we are working with opinions, what parts do you all think would be best? I know the XR4TI harness is easiest, but what about radiator, engine, turbo, computer, intercooler, etc. Keep in mind I'm not making this into a drag car, just a daily driver with more HP and gas milage. Opinions appreciated. Thanks again.
from 83 to 89 the turbo 2.3s are all basically the same engine. differences being intake style, computer, injectors and vam, and either intercooled or not. you should be able to get a engine for 2 to 300 or a whole parts car up to maybe 500. depends how you want to go about it. id look for an 87 or 88 tc. has the big vam intercooler and ihi turbo along with the better computer. small turbo but plenty of kick for a pinto.
You can use stock radiator in the Pinto and a computer out of any XR4TI but the LA3 is what you might want if hp is what your after and its made to run with an intercooler. The later TC wiring harness is a bit harder to work with so try to stay away from that. Intercoolers are fairly cheap its just finding room to put it will be the hard part. I went with front mount 30"x20"ish. I have an extra XR wiring harness and computer if interested, email me on that. I can even repin it for the LA3 for you.
If you are going to run with the LA3 I've got a great IC that fits in the Pinto. I know it fits because I had it in mine for 3 years. I've got it in the "For Sale" forum (Pinto Tail Lights, Hinges & FMIC), I'll post it here for you.
Internally finned Front Mount Intercooler $40 + shipping
Specs:
2¼" Inlet/Outlet
Core Size: 7¼" x 3½" x 8¼"
Overall size: 13¼" x 4½" x 8½"
this is from a Renault Box Truck part #'s
Renault
77 00 715 628
Langerer & Reich
3.7123.2.12
http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/turbowagonman/Parts/?action=view¤t=P1020954.jpg
http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/turbowagonman/Parts/?action=view¤t=P1020955.jpg
http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/turbowagonman/Parts/?action=view¤t=P1020953.jpg
http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/turbowagonman/Parts/?action=view¤t=P1020957.jpg
If you are going to wait till next summer to get started on the project that works out well. I say that because you can pick up a part here and there so that once you start your project you won't have to part with alot of $$$$ at one time!
turbowagonman
I have a 302 in my Pinto and it isn't that wild and it is a great daily driver. I get decent milage as well...decent for a v8 pinto that is. But I am also use to drive SBC cars that get 10-15 mpg.. ;D