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?

 

is the body/int./underneath ok? If so I'd say go for it!

BTW, which body style is it?

 

Not sure which body style or what condition it is in. I haven't seen it yet. I am going to try and make it over there tomorrow. How much roughly would it cost to put a turbo on it and what kind of power does the 2.3 make with a turbo? I told him it might be a good idea to drive that for a little while (insurance won't be as high for a 16 year old with a 4cyl vs an 8 cyl) and then in a few years drop a 5.0 in it.

 

A turbocharged 2.3 is worse than a 5.0 in the way of a loaded gun...it will get away from an inexperienced driver MUCH faster than a 5.0 due to the boost.

The engines are completely different in compression ratio and piston type, cam etc....to do a swap it would be best to get the donor engine from a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and then the wiring is going to be some work. Bottom line is that it's not just as simple as sticking a turbocharger on the existing engine.

 

I got ya. What I am thinking is it might not be a bad idea if the body is nice and there isn't much rust for him to drive that for a while. 4 cyl should be less on insurance for a 16 year old and then drop in a 5.0 in a year or two. He says the car has a 5 spd transmission. Is it the same on as in the 5.0? If he did an engine swap would he need a new transmission too? Is there a lot involved in an engine swap?

 

The 4 cylinder trans is not the same. In order to swap in a 5.0 you would really need a donor car because you need the engine, trans, rear end and all the brake and fuel lines as well as wiring and other related parts.

 

Don't forget the computer is different also.
Best to either wait for a 5.0 or buy buy and drive the 2.3 till you have saved for the 5.0.

But a swap is an awful lot of work and money for something that will come along sooner or later for less money and effort

Plus the 2.3 will cost about half the money in gas.
And because its a standard its still pretty peppy.

And I agree a true 2.3 turbo is to dagerous for a beginning driver

 

If you already have a descent body and are plain stubborn and still want to build a turbo 2.3

An old wreck like this one might be just what you need
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_...s=&cardist=1164

 

Thanks for the help guys. I think that we will just keep looking for a 5.0 that he can afford instead. Something around $1000-$1500.

 

yeah, i would def just try to find a good 5.0. way too much time and money to swap all that out. its a good starting point for a race car. b/c a good racecar all that stuff is going to be replaced anyway so why start at the higher 5.0 cost?