This is Jerry Hoffmann from www.DIYAutoTune.com and I've got one of my new guys working on MegaSquirt'ing a 1988 2.3 liter Mustang I bought recently-- we've got the car running but need to dial the timing in and the timing cover is missing. I've searched the local pick-n-pull for a timing cover and they were all gone-- since then we've searched the web and several Stang site for a pic of it that we could use to make our own... We're coming up empty. (mostly) Here's the best pic I can find, and it's low resolution so I can't make out the marks: http://projecthp.ford23.com/TechPics/TimingMarks2.jpg Can someone here snap a couple good high-res pictures of the timing cover and marks, maybe one of them with a ruler laying across from the TDC mark on the timing cover to a reference point nearby (bolt hole or something) that I can use to mark my own timing marks? I really just need TDC as I've got a light with advance... BTW-- this car, and an 88 5.0 GT that I bought the same week are being used to improve my 'How to MegaSquirt your Mustang' docs at http://www.diyautotune.com/tech_articles/how_to_megasquirt_your_ford_mustang.htm -- the more I know about these cars the better I can document the process for you guys and make MegaSquirting them even easier...
Shouldn't be hard to find a timing cover in a yard, I just did one late last year. These things are laying around by the gazillions... Beware there are at least two types and they don't seem to inter change. The 88 should have the earlier bolt on type. Somewhere in late 88 or 89 or so they went to one that has a couple bolts and snaps in place. For just timing the car, just set it one time at tdc no 1 and mark it up.
That's probably what I'll end up doing-- just figured I'd see if someone had a pic first... I went over the whole yard here, Mustangs, Rangers, and B-series Mazdas, and you could tell people came to the yard specifically for these covers as that would sometimes be all that was missing from that area... or just the part with the markings would be ripped off and the rest left behind.
is there a MS kit for the 2.3? i race in the scca in a 1987 mustang with a 2.3L and they just opened the rules concerning the ecu. i would to be able to control my fuel and ignition. any more would be helpful.
I can definitely help you get a system together for your car-- it's not a plug-n-play affair but it's getting to be pretty well documented for the TFI ignition cars. The wiring is the same for all TFI cars, the settings will be a bit different between the different engines. I should have more details worked out on the 2.3 pretty soon, well before you'd need them... The link above to my 'How to MegaSquirt your Mustang' page will be really helpful, I'd recommend the MegaSquirt-II route and building it yourself if you really want to learn the in's and out's of things, though we can build one up for you as well. Take a look at that and let me know if you have any questions. Note that it doesn't attempt to tell you 'everything' you need to know about MS, it just fills in the blanks that the main docs can't really cover on a car specific basis. So the MegaManual at www.megasquirt.info would be a great read too. Long, but really good stuff.
That's my site/pictures... Finding TDC without the timing cover is easy. Simply put a straight edge between the center of the crank pulley bolt and the center of the auxiliary pulley bolt, then turn the crank pulley until the timing mark is inline with the straight edge. Then, find the diameter of the pulley, calculate the circumference, then take that # divided by 360 to find how far 10 degrees is from TDC. Check ebay for a timing cover as well...should be one on there.
Thanks for the tip on the straight edge from pulley to pulley-- that's what I was looking for. At this point I just found TDC the old fashioned way and fab'd up a TDC pointer from a bit of aluminum angle. Works great. Timng light has advance so I just needed TDC really... Thanks again!
