THE 2.3 Liter Natuarally-Aspirated Performance/Modifications Thread

alexhawkins · 02-05-2003

Hey all this is my first post to this board and I'm hoping someone can help me out a little bit. I just bought a 1987 LX. Its 2.3L and 5 speed but other then that I don't know anything about it. The owners manual is long gone so I have no idea of where to look for specifications and stuff. Is it turbo or not? I don't have license plates or insurance yet so I can't drive it around any. Is this a fast mustang? More importantly, is it faster than the stock civics my friends drive? Its blue, does being blue make it faster?

Anyways! Any help anyone could give me would be awesome. Thanks a bunch!

**74stang2togo** · 02-05-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by alexhawkins
Hey all this is my first post to this board and I'm hoping someone can help me out a little bit. I just bought a 1987 LX. Its 2.3L and 5 speed but other then that I don't know anything about it. The owners manual is long gone so I have no idea of where to look for specifications and stuff. Is it turbo or not? I don't have license plates or insurance yet so I can't drive it around any. Is this a fast mustang? More importantly, is it faster than the stock civics my friends drive? Its blue, does being blue make it faster? Anyways! Any help anyone could give me would be awesome. Thanks a bunch!

First of all, welcome to the board. Now let's get to work.

You can probably get another owners manual at a swap meet or from ebay, but if it's specifications you're really looking for, you'd probably be better off with a Haynes manual or a Chilton's manual.

The car is probably not a turbo unless it's had a 2.3 turbo motor swapped in from a Mustang SVO, Thunderbird Turbocoupe, Merkur XR4Ti, or Mercury Cougar.

Stock 2.3 cars that aren't turbocharged aren't known for being particularly fast, but there are some things you can do to fix that, all the way up to and including a turbo motor swap from one of the afore-mentioned turbo-equipped cars. You can find some discussion on this in other threads in this section and the SVO/2.3L Tech section.

As for it's performance compared to Civics... It all depends. On your driving skills, their driving skills, which bodystyle/engine/transmission they have and the conditions at the time.

No, there isn't a magic paint color to make your car faster, some, including gloss black, Ferrari Red (or Yellow) or Viper Blue do make them LOOK faster though....

Also, posting some pictures of the car and its components to either this forum or your personal gallery would probably help myself and other members to help you out with your ride. Good luck!

Twister · 02-05-2003

You can add a turbo to this car, but if you do, there are allot of upgrades needed to make it safe for the power, almost all of them being suspension, oh, and red cars are faster, just ask the Ferrari F1 crew...

alexhawkins · 02-06-2003

Thank you for the prompt reply. I picked up a chiltons manual this afternoon so I'll have a look through there. How much do you think a 2.3 turbo engine would cost? and where might be a good place to start looking? And if I got one, would this be something I could do on my own (keeping in mind I have only basic knowledge)?

I'll go pick up a camera and try and take some pictures today. Thanks a lot! Cheers

**74stang2togo** · 02-06-2003

You can get a 2.3 turbo engine from the junkyard, but its better to pick up an entire car as you'll need the wiring, plumbing, and some other stuff from it. I'm not sure I'd recommend an engine swap to someone with just basic knowledge, but we've all got to start somewhere.

alexhawkins · 02-07-2003

hmm alright well I'd guess the engine swap is out of my league. What would be some other smaller things I could do to kick it up a bit?

**74stang2togo** · 02-07-2003

1. K&N FIPK, I don't know if they make one for the 2.3, but I'm betting that you can fabricate one using a K&N cone-style filter without too much trouble. You can also go with a Cold-air intake system, I don't know of anybody that make them either, but they shouldn't be too difficult to fabricate.

2. Exhaust, There are literally thousands of choices here from nearly 100 brands, the most common include: Flowmaster, Dynomax, Edelbrock, Hooker, Thrush, MAC, Walker, Cherry-bomb(my favorite), and about a dozen styles(cat-back, header-back, off-road, glasspack, dual-chamber, dual outlet/inlet)

3. a T-5 tranny, if you have an automatic, consider switching to a T-5 manual, the performance and reliablitly increases are amazing.

4. Ignition system: Options here range from just upgrading the plugs and the coil, to a full-on MSD ignition box.

5. Camshafts, go down to your local parts house (Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, Pep Boys, etc.) and have them look up cam shafts for your car in the computer, see if they offer a high-performance option, you may be pleasantly suprised.

6. Intake setup, If street legality isn't important to you, you may want to look for the all-rare, but all-awesome Offenhauser 4-barrel intake for 2.3s, these are designed to allow you to bolt on a Holley or Edelbrock 4-barrel carb to your 2.3, Recomendations state not to go bigger than a 390cfm Holley, but a 400cfm Edelbrock is much cheaper and is of comparable quality.

7. If street legality is important, but you already have a carb 2.3 intake (2-barrel) you may want to consider looking around for an older Holley 2--barrel carb, or getting a Holley 2300 model (available in 350 and 500 cfm)

This is basically the same list I typed up in this thread: http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...&threadid=9706

alexhawkins · 02-07-2003

Thanks a whole lot

I'll investigate that further.

henner91lx · 03-08-2003

I have a 91lx coupe, 110HP. I need help trying to increase the ponies. Does anyone have any suggesstions? What does the knock sensor do for performance when disconected?

svoperformance · 03-14-2003

I need help on modifing my non turbo 2.3 91 lx i need more power and maybe more sound from exhaust and any intake mods and engine mods well please help

NoSlow5oh · 03-15-2003

Sorry, but the only thing I can think of is nitrous. MM&FF had an article about spraying the non turbo 2.3L a while back. It made a huge difference. You might can go to links at the top and search for a dedicated 2.3L site.

140cilx · 03-15-2003

I have a list of items on my website, may be useful to you.

85NewfieGT · 03-17-2003

I suggest a V8.
BrianG
85 GT Convertible 351W T56

Flex · 03-19-2003

Henner,
Look at my replies in previous post. Lists just about everything possible without a power adder.

The knock sensor drops timing about 20 degrees when the faintest sign of knock, that you would never hea,r is detected. The computer then slowly adjusts timing back to normal over the next several minutes. This kills performance big time.

Disconnecting it prevents the ECM from getting "knock" signals so the timing remains constant.

Flex · 03-19-2003

First off, get rid of the air silencer if you have one and put in a cotton filter like K&N or Accel.

Get a 96 Ranger manifold from a wrecked. It is a tube steel header.