My brother is turning 16 in January and we are looking for a Mustang for him. He wants a fox but we are having trouble finding a 5.0 that he can afford. There is a guy in town selling a 1988 2.3l for $900. I know very little about the 2.3 b/c I have always delt with the 5.0. I do know however that some people make good HP out of a 2.3 with a turbo. I was thinking he could either turbo this engine or keep it stock until he can afford a 5.0 engine swap. The car has only 86k original miles on it. What do you all think?
Go for the 2.3,when you figure the HP to weight ratio a 2.3 can pack some power without a turbo, balance the crank add a set of 5.7 rods trw shorty flattops deck the head0.090 three angle valve job double valve springs 479 lift cam 280/230 duration and asperate it with a 500cfm holly 2bbl and a good exhaust then hang on for the ride ! good luck on what ever you get.
hey all, I have a 2.3l myself in my '92 pony, I've made a cold air intake, disconnected the a/c, put a cherry bomb (glasss pack) on it, I've also gutted out the factory air silencer so now theres more air head'n into the motor. I'm still working on my custum body kit. I've read somewhere that a stock 2.3L pumps round 85 - 95 HP (not sure thats right though) with my cold air intake, gutted air silencer, cherry bomb, I been told that it pumping bout 115 - 120 HP right now. But I do know that anyone can get lots a HP outta the 2.3L.... K'Lar
hey all, I have a 2.3l myself in my '92 pony, I've made a cold air intake, disconnected the a/c, put a cherry bomb (glasss pack) on it, I've also gutted out the factory air silencer so now theres more air head'n into the motor. I'm still working on my custum body kit. I've read somewhere that a stock 2.3L pumps round 85 - 95 HP (not sure thats right though) with my cold air intake, gutted air silencer, cherry bomb, I been told that it pumping bout 115 - 120 HP right now. But I do know that anyone can get lots a HP outta the 2.3L.... K'Lar
from 87-90 the 2.3L put out 88hp at the flywheel, approximately 76rwhp. from 91-93 the 2.3L got a dual plug upgrade giving it a whopping 105hp at the flywheel.
making yourself a cai will get you about 2-3hp giving you the benefit of the doubt, 1 cherry bomb muffler wont give you much hp maybe 5 if youre lucky, and the AC belt may give you 2-3. so youre looking at about 9-11hp gain from your n/a 105 stock engine. at the most youre getting 116, which still seems a bit high. id say youre making anywhere between 110-115 at the most.
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Only adults like us are allowed to say "damn", "*****", "ass" and "hell". So get your helling damnin' ass back in that bitchin' damn room, dammit!
I checked on the differance between a 2.3 and a 5.0 and it was about 10%higher on me a 41 year old with a clean driving record and all the discounts,my daughter's insurance on a 90 LX 2.3 was bad enough and she was getting the discount for a/b honor role in school still was over twice the cost of my insurance, I would hate to see the cost of a 5.0,besides 2.3s are more fun they even handle better to me they are not as nose heavy 90LX HB2.3
16 years old and gonna get a 5.0? I suggest you have really good insurance.
way too much power for a 16yr old just get him the 2.3 maybe pop a turbo on or something wait till he gets some expierence lol he'll crash right away LOL
Secondly 300hp out of a 4 banger is a hell of a lot cheaper than the 5.0
wrong. the performance parts for a 2.3 are so rare that they are much more expensive, and they dont produce a significant amount of hp. you'd be lucky to get 250-275 out of a 2.3
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawngodfather
And someone lied to you about the 5.0 being less on INS. Just wait till you give them the VIN number to the car and watch that skyrocket.
wrong again. call state farm and ask them to do an insurance look-up for both a 2.3L and a GT/LX 5.0 of the same year and he/she will tell you that it is slightly less for the 5.0, not much less, but it is.
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representing MustangForums.com
Only adults like us are allowed to say "damn", "*****", "ass" and "hell". So get your helling damnin' ass back in that bitchin' damn room, dammit!
wrong. the performance parts for a 2.3 are so rare that they are much more expensive, and they dont produce a significant amount of hp. you'd be lucky to get 250-275 out of a 2.3
If we're talking about a 2.3 turbo here, I must respectfully disagree. To wake up a turbo'd 2.3, it needs to breathe. The biggest obsticle would be the head. Nothing a little porting and valve bowl reshaping won't cure. This can be done at home with a minimum of tools and lots of patience. A good flowing E6 exhaust manny can be opened up to expel the gasses. An early T3 turbo w/3" downpipe and accompanying piping will finish the pathway.
35 lb fuel injectors from an '87-'88 TurboCoupe will deliver fuel. You'll also need a large VAM and LA2-LA3 computer. All of the above can be referenced from the TC (with the exception of the T3, which can be found on earlier TC's and XR4ti's). A good front mount I/C to help cool the charge (either the TC or SC mounted behind the grill).
This combo, if tuned properly will get you real close to 300 hp and these are all used parts you can score at a Pick-n-Pull yard for next to nothing! A better route would be to buy a TC donor car. In my area you can find them all day long, running in the $500 range! For a few more $$, 400 hp is easily attainable. Anywhere beyond that and you're gonna have to address the bottom end which can get into some dollars. Bottom line - you can pluck 300 hp out of a turbo'd 2.3 easily and cheaply! Just my $.02.
i can only agree with you on that under one condition, the fact that the person that owns the stang knows what he's doing when porting. its not hard, but its very tedious and easy to screw up. and i wouldnt advise attempting unless you have experience with it.
on the other side i would have to disagree with you because if you want it done right then its gonna cost a lot do have done
by the way, a friend of mine came across a tutorial for this tonight, that seems to look really good.
We're on the same page, brother! I tried porting my first head, only to hit water after about 5 minutes! DOH!! I picked up another head and sent it to Boport, one of the top 2.3 head gurus on the west coast. He ported it, unshrouded the valves, cut down and smoothed the valve guide bosses, shaved it, cc'd the chambers, 5 angle valve job and assembled it with new springs and a ranger roller cam for $700 including shipping!
Yeah, I spent some bucks but it can be done fairly cheap if your diligent in hunting down parts. My point is, you don't have to spend a fortune in aftermarket parts to close in on 300 hp. Most everything can be scrounged from the 'yard, ebay, craigslist, turboford.net classifieds, etc.
Here's come pics of my motor and engine bay that HOPEFULLY will come together in the next couple of months.
Need 2.3L advise. 
good luck on what ever you get.
(not sure thats right though) with my cold air intake, gutted air silencer, cherry bomb, I been told that it pumping bout 115 - 120 HP right now. But I do know that anyone can get lots a HP outta the 2.3L.... K'Lar 
DOH!! I picked up another head and sent it to Boport, one of the top 2.3 head gurus on the west coast. He ported it, unshrouded the valves, cut down and smoothed the valve guide bosses, shaved it, cc'd the chambers, 5 angle valve job and assembled it with new springs and a ranger roller cam for $700 including shipping!
