Close



Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1

    Default Turbo 2.3 build - Thought Exercise

    Hello all. Some time in 2018 I'll be getting to work on the 2.3t for my 92lx. My goal for the car is to be a good, street-able, canyon carver that will hold up to a track day or two per year and lay down a respectable 1/4 mile time. Not looking for 10's and road course records out of the same car or anything, just a good, well rounded car. I am thinking anything over 300whp (maybe 350...) should keep me plenty entertained but I'd like to be able to push for more later. I have two complete '88 turbocoupe engines sitting in my garage now. Ideally, I am looking for a fairly linear power delivery, all the way to redline. My Fiesta ST daily driver hits boost really low in the revs and then runs out of steam by like 5500, my old turbo infiniti lagged and then blew the tires off (entertaining but not effective). I'm looking to you guys for advice on a good setup with whats available on the market today.

    My gut says over-build and under-boost with a larger turbo. This does not need to be a budget build, I am willing to pay for quality and I'm not on a time line, I'd rather do it once and right. That said... I don't have unlimited cash flow and don't need 600hp haha. My thoughts so far are Stinger ECU, ROn Francis wiring, good quality front mount, forward facing throttle body. I won't be running AC or power steering so those things won't get in the way. Not sure if anyone makes a good quality twinscroll top mount exhaust manifold.

    Main recommendations that I believe I need right now from you guys are for cam specs, good turbo sizing (bigger Garret T3, some precision piece?), rotated upper intake vs aftermarket plenum and any advise on quality parts for a healthy set up. Any advise is appreciated and discussion welcome. THanks!
    -Randy
    '83 Mustang GL notchback - 351w - T5Z
    '84 Mustang GT350 20th Anniversary Hatch #2808 - 302 - T5
    ''92 Mustang LX Hatch - 2.3t - IRS (in progress)

  2. #2
    FEP Power Member ccurtin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,462

    Default

    There are lots of examples of builds over on TurboFord's website. There are also a couple of recent threads on the TurboFord FB page about heads, cams etc. for you to follow.
    I'm an FEP Paid Supporter and proud of it. Are you?

    1984 Capri Turbo RS - Alive after 7 years! Build Thread
    2018 Mustang GT - daily driver

  3. #3

    Default

    Thanks, I recently registered over at TurboFord. I wish there was a way to only access the car stuff on FB... the rest of it is such a mess.
    -Randy
    '83 Mustang GL notchback - 351w - T5Z
    '84 Mustang GT350 20th Anniversary Hatch #2808 - 302 - T5
    ''92 Mustang LX Hatch - 2.3t - IRS (in progress)

  4. #4
    FEP Power Member ccurtin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,462

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by NY5speed View Post
    Thanks, I recently registered over at TurboFord. I wish there was a way to only access the car stuff on FB... the rest of it is such a mess.
    If you hover over the 'Shortcuts' area on the left side, then 'edit' will magically appear. Then I select 'pin to the top' on the car groups I want to follow directly. Then the list of groups I care about appear in 'Shorcuts' and I can go directly to them and ignore everything else.
    Last edited by ccurtin; 12-15-2017 at 04:03 PM. Reason: Got the name wrong
    I'm an FEP Paid Supporter and proud of it. Are you?

    1984 Capri Turbo RS - Alive after 7 years! Build Thread
    2018 Mustang GT - daily driver

  5. #5
    FEP Power Member SchoolBoy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Arlington Washington
    Posts
    2,220

    Default

    Your gonna need to determine what rpm range you want and a hard number on budget... But your probably want to invest in the guts of the short block and find a really quality machine shop (HissingCobra's brother is in that area I think). Get stronger rods, strap the caps, and top it off with pistons from stinger. Do not let people talk you into a lose piston to wall clearance! Use the piston manufactures recommendations because they know how much the piston with grow once warmed up. I bring this up because my 1st motor was shot at 25k miles because the machine shop set my piston to wall clearance at .005" when it should have been .003". So by 40k miles I had .0075" with so much blow by the dipstick would eject from the block. Blue print and balance everything! I would also tap threads into the smooth port in the block where the factory oil separator sits under the intake manifold. This will allow you to thread a A/N nipple into the block for a real catch can from Tracy Lewis or Elite Engineering. The head should be a fully ported big valve head from either boport (on ebay) or steve scholdes (on facebook). Either of those guys can do you up a gutted and rotated upper manifold. A ported E6 exhaust manifold should have the most reliability and decent power, but a tube header will put out the most power but are prone to cracking, (pretty much reguardless of who makes it.) The cam of course will dictate your power band, but I've been super happy with a stock 86 grind in my svo because of the curve shape. You on the other hand might want to poke around and see if you can find graphs for the curves of a boport cam. For your power level I'd call precision and ask what size T3 with ball bearings will give you 20-25psi of boost. To me its that rush of high boost that makes a car fun to drive. I would build your own intercooler system with 2.5"-3" pipe, just start with a quality core. I built mine using a tread stone core (sadly I dont have any data yet to say how effective it is as my temp sensors before and after the core are not hooked up) but a spearco is probably the best. That leaves the exhaust, and the standard is to use a 3" down pipe to either 3" single or 2.5" duals. but I have always wondered if 3.5"-4" down pipe into 3" duals would fit.... As for engine management the stinger pimp might be the current best bet without going to a haltech or if your old school an SDS. The computer you pick will also probably dictate what after market injectors you use because at 300+hp the stocker are maxed out I think... Other things to think about is bypass vs blow off valves and I highly recommend an electronic boost controller.

    To give you a basic idea, have a look at the links in my signature for my old dyno graphs, motor builds, FMIC build, and the EBC I'm using.

    Something else you might want to google is the "red Barron svo" or "mike flemming svo"
    Last edited by SchoolBoy; 12-15-2017 at 06:26 PM.
    If you blink at the end of the straight away you'll miss the twisties and what fun would that be!
    1982 Capri RS 5.0L
    Suspension Build http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...tion-and-Build
    1985 SVO 2A & leather. Stolen & Destroyed 2022
    Motor Build http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?t=63505
    Dyno stats and exhaust install http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...Dyno-d-finally
    My FMIC build http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...-amp-D-project
    Electronic boost controller and bypass valve
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...d-Bypass-Valve
    Opperation SVO Tunes http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...51#post1148551

  6. #6

    Default

    Thank you SchoolBoy! I'll look into all of those recommendations for sure. I have used spearco intercoolers in the past with good results, I can put together my own pipe kit. I have also used Tial BOVs in the past, not exactly subtle but this car likely won't be subtle either. The practical side of me says to just run a big single exhaust, but strait twins always just look so right on an LX.
    -Randy
    '83 Mustang GL notchback - 351w - T5Z
    '84 Mustang GT350 20th Anniversary Hatch #2808 - 302 - T5
    ''92 Mustang LX Hatch - 2.3t - IRS (in progress)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •