my other current project **WARNING, FORD INSIDE**

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SMSC27

Apprentice
Oct 17, 2013
69
3
8
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Delmar, delaware
before you start shaking your head at a ford on a GM forum, just agree with me that at least it's not another damn mustang LOL.. this is my fuel efficient toy.. it's an 87 Thunderbird TurboCoupe.. stock 2.3T long block, factory z-spec T5, factory 3.73 disk 8.8 with 'Trac-loc,' power everything, etc etc.. i bought it mostly stock in november of 2011.. it's main issue was spitting a follower (rocker).. other than that it just has some rust issues, like just about every other car in the north east that's worth taking on as a project.. the worst, is the front strut towers, which i've had a solution for, for some time now.. the only pics i can find in my photobucket are the 1's the previous owner sent me, but a lot has changed and i'll post those pics as soon as i can..

i'll start with what it needed/what i did before i started driving it..
- new coolant temp sensor
- new TFI/distributor module
- plugs, wires
- new slave cylinder
- new rubber brake lines across the rear
- had to make a new fuel sending unit out of my old 1 and a ranger sending unit (my lines rusted off and the top had pinholes in it)
- ditched all the A/C garbage
- Precision CCE-34 turbo, .63 A/R
- 3" down pipe and exhaust to a flowmaster 40 series, no cat
- Tial Sport 38mm wastegate
- Gillis Valve (manual boost controller)
- front mount intercooler
- ranger roller cam and roller followers
- gutted upper intake, knifed lower
- SCP 65mm throttle body (had this for my old supercoupe, but never put it on)
- 5 lug swap (Lincoln Mark VII front rotors and rear calipers/rotors, SN95 Mustang axles)
- 17x8 front/17x9 rear Cobra R's
- 4 eyed front end swap from an 83 TC (i hate the 87-88 turbocoupe header panels with a passion)
- added a litle bit of black tweed to the interior (mostly where attention was needed, due to cracking, dried out vinyl)

with all that done, i started driving the car and had problems hitting over 18psi.. it steadily got worse, so i eventually put a Walbro 255lph pump in it, then started running 22psi, daily. i tried to go higher, but i'd need an adjustable fuel pressure regulator to turn the pressure up a little OR get bigger injectors, which i don't want to do until AFTER i do my head swap (more about that, later 😉 ). so i ran the car at 22psi for about 4 months, then the clutch started going south.. i was working 6 days a week and didn't really have to the to pull it apart, so i just babied it.. that's when i got the cutlass, which was perfect timing, because not even a week later, the clutch was GONE..

so now we're at present date.. the car has NO turbo/wastegate/intercooler.. i pulled them to use them on the cutlass, but changed my mind and sold it off.. now, the plans for THIS car are far more drastic than the plans for the cutlass.. here comes a LONG list, i'll start with the car itself, then move onto the motor lol

- tubular front clip (no more sheet metal fender aprons/unibody frame rails)
- tubular k-member (building my own, i have 1 in my other TC to take measurements from)
- 13" cobra front brake upgrade
- vacuum assist brake swap (bye bye teves abs garbage!!)
- tubular subrame connectors with conjoining 'X' brace and jacking rail supports
- remove ALL sound deadening material and spray both sides of the floor pans with undercoating
- lower it 2" in the front, 1" in the rear (rear of these cars sags a little, i'm leveling it by only dropping the rear 1")
- lakewood SN95 mustang struts in the front, QA1 race shocks in the rear (have the rears already)
- removing all the premium sound, premium ride control and ABS wiring/computers/modules (that's a lot of weight shaved off right there)
- some small audio upgrades (already has polk audio tweeters on the doors and lanzar 6x9's in the rear deck)
- stripping of all paint, primer and body filler, so i can start with fresh, bare metal and fix whatever is hidden beneithe the RIGHT way
- new doors, deck lid and driver side fender (rust is a b*tch..)
- painting it the lincoln mark 8 champaine color, just because i've never seen it on any fox body car before (with blue pinstriping, because the interior is dark blue)

now onto the motor..
- stock forged factory block, bored .040
- stock forged crank, milled, lightened and balanced
- esslinger engineering chromoly rods
- JE pistons
- esslinger engineering billet flywheel
- LUK clutch (seen these hold up to over 600hp behind these motors, surprisingly)
- Volvo B234F DOHC head
- custom grind cams, to better suit the boost (the B234F's were all N/A, so turbo cams are non-existant)
- hand building an intake
- hand building a forward mount header (factory E6 manifold is considered 'rear mount,' in reference to where the turbo flange is located)
- turbonetics turbo (i will break this down below and explain why i'm aiming for this specific snail)
- Tial F41 40mm wastegate
- Stinger RFL blow off valve (RFL = REAL ****ING LOUD lol)
- Delphi 85lb/hr injectors
- Kirban fuel pressure regulator
- 28"x22"x3" front mount intercooler
- 2-1/2" aluminum 'cold side' plumbing with silicone couplers and T-bolt style clamps (i've broken waaaay too many hose clamps to go back to them!)
- SCP 75mm throttle body (you're thinking overkill for a 4 cylinder, right.. just wait and see why.. lol)
- Moates Quarterhorse (basically an ECU piggyback, not a 'chip..' gives realtime tuning and datalogging capabilities)
- speed density conversion (basically, just converting to use a map sensor, instead of the super restrictive VAM.. which is basically an early mass air flow sensor/meter, but configured differently)

anything not listed, is being left undecided until the time presents itself or i just keep over looking it.. whichever lol. the ignition specifically, is still up in the air and bouncing around inside my head.. to go distributorless or not, i can't decide!

but as far as the head swap goes, it requires modification to either the head or the block.. for info on that, go here - http://www.reocities.com/_nitro_/volvoswap/volvoswap.html.. i'm going with the head-mod method, that way my block remains stock as far as the deck goes (which is the method used in the link i provided).. but the head flow numbers from the B234F head far exceed ANY other head that's capable of bolting to the 2.3 block, including the performance 2.3T heads (boport, esslinger, ARCA, etc). i really wish i could find the flow chart, it's actually pissing me off a bit hat i can't find it.. lol but with the head mods, comes the need to build an intake and header. i can't use the stock volvo intake, because it would hit my master cylinder and brake booster. i could spend a pretty penny on a turbo MANIFOLD for the volvo head, but who wants to run a manifold when you're shooting for over 600whp? and the reason for the 75mm throttle body? 30lbs of boost, provided by a Turbonetics Hurricane #6662, sporting a whopping 0.82 A/R, which is pretty big for the motor, but great because of the small compressor wheel/housing.. if it handles 30psi well, than i'll be stepping up the boost until my knock sensor starts to knock my timing back, because of detonation 😛


i should be starting this as soon as i can get it between a roof, 4 walls and a cement floor.. having trouble coming up with a place to work around here.. really beginning to miss my old 38x46 shop in jersey 🙁



 
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]yay, pictures!! they're not in any kind of order, just posting the links as i scroll down the page.. lol all i can tell you is the first pic is the most recent

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and my hopeful end result.. would be pretty sweet, with a 4 banger 😉

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I saw one of these at an autocross recently. Slightly modified. lol
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The pics won't load on this pos phone, but the 2.3T birds have a semi-large following for a big car with a small motor.. mustang guys think it's funny to talk trash, until they get spanked by a 4cyl that's in a car that weighs around 1000# more than theirs.. they seem to never learn, though.. same with the lsx guys.. they NEVER let it go.. lmao
 
I drove one of those turbo coupes for a while when i lived in Florida. They weren't a quick car but nice to drive and they look great. I hate it when a Ford product shows up at the track cause most tech guys know nothing about a Ford power plant.
 
Always thought those were cool. The 2.3 turbo was on the short list of engine swap candidates for my 510 wagon.
 
sigh makes me wish I would've started my 84 svo Mustang project.... :? I did have big plans for it but my GP took precedence... :wink: though it would have been cool to see it done and to see how a 4cyl could make so much HP is amazing! good luck!
 
My original plan for the car was to buy it without the motor/trans and drop an NA 408w i was building at the time, under the hood.. but the guy offered me the whole, complete car for 450 after i already gave him a $200 deposit, so i jumped on it.. i was going to sell the motor/trans to a buddy of mine who has 2 88's, but i started to lose interest in building the 408, so i started playing with this thing.. the first time i drove it, i couldn't believe how much stronger it was than a stock mustang, when all it had was a cone filter and a gillis valve, running 18psi with the stock turbo.. the more i played with it, the more i fell in love with the 2.3T.. they're pretty stout little motors once you help them breathe a little.. the 3'' downpipe/exhaust was the biggest wakeup call.. i wish i had gotten a chance to run it before the clutch died, because i spanked my buddy's low 13sec honda at 20psi.. i'm anxious to get this car done, but it's a long term project all at the same time.. i need another 1 to play with for the time being lol
 
307 Regal said:
I saw one of these at an autocross recently. Slightly modified. lol
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that car is mean.. he's on fox thunderbird/cougar forums.. there is a LOT of time and money in that car lol.. the funny part is, his is an 87-88 like mine, with an 83-86 front clip, like mine.. that's actually the car that pushed me over the edge to swap my header
 
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