2.3 in Ford's minivans?!

[mr_woodster]

LOL i know they used 2.3n/a in many differnt vehicles, but today at picapart i found a labeld '86 aerostar with a 2.3 !!! i sat there scratching my head, i just couldnt believe it. Also by the looks of it it had one of the wierdest factory headers i have ever seen for a 2.3, i know the ranger has a shorty, but this looks more like a full length long tube(welll sorta )! the 1 and 4 ports come out and and join like a Y and inbetween the 2 and 3 run straight out into each other and run down seperate from the 1-4 , so you have 2 exhuast lines runing down seperate to an evened out collector. Very elaborate for a minivan! it looks alot like the GT esscort header, except it was designe for the 2.3. I was gonna pull it just too say i found something that amazed me....even wiered it had Torex exhuast bolts holding it to the head. Maybe im am easily amused, what have i never heard of any swaps with this n/a header?

 

[Anlushac11]

Aerostar uses the 2.3L HSC motor.

 

[mr_woodster]

Aerostar uses the 2.3L HSC motor.

Ok, HSC means?

 

[bhuff30]

Ok, HSC means?

That means it has pushrods and the cam is inside the block. Our cams are in the head. Totally different engine.

 

[mr_woodster]

That means it has pushrods and the cam is inside the block. Our cams are in the head. Totally different engine.

Wierd, i wonder if the exhuast spacing is the same (i.e. usable headers for a ohc setup) anyone know about that?

 

[pixie]

Wierd, i wonder if the exhuast spacing is the same (i.e. usable headers for a ohc setup) anyone know about that?

All I know is that I have an Aerostar header on my 2.3...went on fairly easy...

 

[bhuff30]

I would like to see someone take one of these headers, and make a true dual exhaust with 1-4 and 2-3. Word is that it will sound exactly like a V8.

 

[blastit116]

so the aerosta header is and exact bolt on???

 

[mr_woodster]

so the aerosta header is and exact bolt on???

from the looks of it, it wont bolt up to your stock exhuast becuase it is much longer than a manifold or a shorty ranger header. I think this setup would be the easiest way to try to make a dual exhuast, since they are already split, just need a little fabing to the dual exhuast out back.

 

[pixie]

so the aerosta header is and exact bolt on???

Worked fine for me...just a little long, so I had to adjust some of the hangers for the rest of the exhaust.

 

[notched86]

So does the 2.3 aerostar have a transaxle/fwd? I also recall and all wheel drive version of the aerostar...
good little vans, my family has owned 2 of them.

btw, how does the aerostar header sound?

 

[pixie]

So does the 2.3 aerostar have a transaxle/fwd? I also recall and all wheel drive version of the aerostar...
good little vans, my family has owned 2 of them.

btw, how does the aerostar header sound?

Gives the 2.3 a throatier sound, lower toned, and definitely not whiney...

 

[nomuffler]

So does the 2.3 aerostar have a transaxle/fwd? I also recall and all wheel drive version of the aerostar...
good little vans, my family has owned 2 of them.

btw, how does the aerostar header sound?

Nope they're rear wheel drive.

So what exactly does HSC stand for? Does anyone know?

 

[notched86]

Nope they're rear wheel drive.

So what exactly does HSC stand for? Does anyone know?

got this off a tempo/topaz site. Same engine?

"The powerplant came from a new, specially developed 2.3 Liter 88 horsepower four-cylinder motor. The H.S.C., or High Swirl Combustion engine was a new innovation for Ford and included a 1 barrell carburetor that was standard. The High Swirl Combustion came from a design in the cylinder head that compressed the air/fuel mixture into a rapid swirl and directed it right to the spark plugs. This design allowed for the engine to receive more kick out of each droplet of fuel. The 2.3L engine was used as a standard powerplant until the end of the Tempo/Topaz's production run in late 1994."

 

[JamesBaumann]

So, this exhaust header off of a 2.3 HSC motor is a higher flow header than the ones of our 2.3 OHC motors? Meaning horsepower would be increased? This sounds like something I would be very interested in doing.

 

[Anlushac11]

Yes the Tempo/Topaz 2.3L HSC is the same motor.

The point of the high swirl was to get the air/fuel mix to swirl past the spark plug. The end result was more complete burning which gave a slight power boost and reduced emmisions.

Aerostar is based on the Ranger platform. Suposedly the Aerostar 2.3L HSC will work in a Mustang but I dont know anyone brave enough to try one.

The 2.3L HSC was a way for Ford to recycle the tooling of the 200 I6 which was discontinued in 1982. The 2.3L HSC is literally a 4 cylinder version of the 200 Inline six. In fact the 2.3L HSC flattop pistons are a drop in replacement for the 200 I6 dished pistons to rasie compression. If you think you have a hard time getting performance parts for the 2.3L OHC there aint squat for the 2.3L HSC.

I am amazed the 2.3L HSC header will bolt up to the 2.3L OHC head.

Hey...if the 2.3L HSC header will bolt to the 2.3L OHC head, that means the 2.3L OHC turbo header will bolt to a 2.3L HSC motor...

 

[notched86]

Hey...if the 2.3L HSC header will bolt to the 2.3L OHC head, that means the 2.3L OHC turbo header will bolt to a 2.3L HSC motor...

uh oh....so thats how ideas like this get started.

 

[mr_woodster]

what are the specs on a aerostar motor? i would think they would be abit differnt, it being a push rod motor. Hows the head? same design, same flow numbers? just wondering cuz thinking maybe a interesting turbo project theory...*pondering* (lack of info on this motor causes me to ponder )

 

[MSM0075]

Yeah I was going to say, Don't Tempo/Toapz have that same motor? Beacuse this lady came into work with on to get service done and im like cool, a 2.3L Ford, I gotta see the motor, and it looked alot different.

 

[Anlushac11]

Well the one thing in the 2.3L HSC motors favor is that the head is Aluminum. My moms 90 Tempo was aluminum but not 100% sure on the earlier models.

Also IIRC starting in 1991 Ford made a 2.5L HSC.

But to run a turbo you would need to have custom forged pistons made, negating any cost savings of building a 2.3L HSC motor.

Maybe you culd run the 200 I6 dished top pistons to lower compression even lower. IIRC the dished pistons would make it about a 7.5:1 or 8.0:1CR