Anyway- the engine that is going into this beast. Yes it's a 2.3L Pinto motor, but please hear me out. As I've mentioned, this car is going to be light, so a big 'ol V8 is completely unnecessary. My goal was to find something that is relatively compact, easy to work on, has parts readily available and is decently powerful. This engine is that.
It was yanked out of a 1986 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Couple that originally was planned to be dropped in an early '90s Ford Ranger to become a drag truck. That Ranger suffered catastrophic damage from a certain 4-legged brown animal named Bambi stepped in its path before the swap was even made. The owner let the motor sit in the corner of his body shop for 2 years and accumulate a massive layer of overspray before realizing that he might as well just get rid of the damn thing. I apologize for not having better pictures, as I neglected to take any before really working on it, but here are a couple that the guy emailed to me while I was considering the purchase:
"Pics look horrible," the seller wrote in the email. And he was right. I could hardly tell that there was even an engine in that hunk of a mess. But I agreed to go look at it, so down to Howell, NJ I drove.
I'll be honest, once I saw it in person I didn't feel any better. There were wires everywhere, a layer of primer overspray on everything, everything was just piled on top like it hadn't been moved since the time fuel injection was invented. The thing is, even though it was all a mess, it was at least all there:
-full long block
-wiring harness for the engine and a lot of the car
-computer
-intake
-turbo
-bellhousing
-clutch
-fan
-fuel rail, injectors
Long story short, the guy assured me the engine was in full-running condition when it was pulled, that it only had 76,000 miles on it, and that would work. I gave him 300 cash and drove home.
I then spent my weekends in October and November of 2009 cleaning the motor down to using a fine-tooth brush and repainting everything. I didn't take many pictures along the way, but here's what it looks like now (and again I promise better pictures in the future.)
And one of me attempting to make sense of a lot of colored wires and diagrams that don't 100% match up:
Some history about the motor.
It's nearly identical to the Mustang SVO engines that were used from 1984-86. It's a turbocharged 2.3L all steel fuel-injected Pinto motor that at the time made around 215 HP in the Mustangs, which is more than the V8 GT's made. Seriously impressive stuff. The differences between the SVO and the Turbo Coupe Motors, which made 190 HP stock, are minimal. I've been told the SVO has a more aggressive cam lift, and that it allows more boost, as it was fitted with an intercooler, albeit a small one.
To upgrade my engine to make the HP that I want, which will be around 300-330 at the crank at full boost (which I will hardly actually keep at full boost), I bought an LA2 computer and the larger vane air meter (VAM) to go with the it. Parts that I still need to buy are a high pressure fuel pump, a 3 inch exhaust, a higher lift cam, a MASSIVE intercooler, a bypass valve, a boost controller, custom headers, external waste-gate, and probably some other things that I can't think of right now.
Let me make this clear: I DO NOT intend to run this thing at full boost all the time. Most likely around 12-15 psi in regular driving, which should equate to about 215-240 HP at the crank. That will be more than enough to propel my car.
And I guess that's all for now. Once again, it was a long post. I'm sorry. Brevity is not my strong point.
No comments:
Post a Comment