The 2.3 journey

[351wswapednotch]

So i bought a 1986 2.3 notch 4 speed last December with a seized engine (from rust) and the game plan is to get it running and driving under its own power , try to get it back to four eyes,maybe toss some go fast parts at it,pass Missouri inspection and then drive it to a local car shows this summer and ill try to post updates along the way

[erratic50]

ATF does wonders at eating rust in seized motors.

or penetrating oil, sea foam, marvel mystery oil, etc.

Id pull the plugs and fill the holes up and let it sit 7 days then try a flywheel lever on the starter teeth. Or let an impact rattle on the balancer bolt a bit — just not too much

good luck!!

[351wswapednotch]

Just bought 1 qt of atf from the local napa yesterday and a buddy of mine gave me his LX 86 clip/hood/finders for free just gotta figure out how to rewire the lights on it since wiring isn't on my list of things that know to do

[mustangxtreme]

EvapoRust works awesome.

[351wswapednotch]

Ive heard great things about that but that is going to be my plan B if the ATF fails me

[erratic50]

Since this one is all stuck, I'll share the results of an experiment.

I SeaFoamed my worn out 1986 GT's 5.0L earlier tonight. It was burning 1qt in 50 miles and would blow smoke everywhere - even out the oil fill if I revved it. The car has a lot of bolt-ons so it still had more power than stock, but hard to say how much was being lost by way of compression. Hard to say how much it picked up but a lot more than when I added an underdrive pulley setup so lots. Also oil consumption is way down. Its less than 1/2 qt in 100 miles now and lots more low end torque. This longblock has intake and header upgrades and a SD friendly cam from the late 80's but is otherwise untouched since its assembly. The car spent two full seasons at the dragstrip and all told has over 455K miles..

1 oz per gallon in the fuel, 1oz per qt in the oil. Drive. The majority of the improvement came in the first 5 minutes.

Seat of the pants improvement was very noticeable.

It seems the stuff works as advertised. I had written off this motor.

[351wswapednotch]

Ill definitely give that seafome stuff a try and last night i bought a jug of rust remover

[351wswapednotch]

Updade the 2.3 is still seized might go to plan b 302 swap because my buddy has an 85 f150 for sale and i bought a C4 transmission for $50 last week and the notch still has the 4 eyed light harness and only one bulb is burnt out 😁