I've searched the forums but It always seems to miss my questions. I'm going to buy a merkur 2.3L turbo motor and port the hell out of it, put a t3/t4 turbo on it, and get a forged rotating assembly to show those import tuners who was here first... I figure it will be a fun change from the 5.0's. I lined up this motor for 350, complete with wiring harness and computer, what do you guys think about that? Good deal? Also, my quesiton was do I need the computer or wil the stock 4 banger fox 92 computer work? How hard is it to swap? Thanks
Go to my site to see how to do the swap. You will need the turbo computer and air meter. The motor already has forged internals. Don't touch them unless it's got over 170k miles. Stinger
I plan on making this a sub 12 second car, so I'll go with a built bottom end with some h-beam rods and arp fasteners, I dont want a mild 2.3 turbo. Thanks for the info on the computer!
GOODLUCK JADE! I just turbo'd a N/A 2.3ltr LX car yesterday, and thanks to Stinger for his help, it should be running great by the end of the week(if not tuesday of next week). Of course we went with the ZERO budget plan and used the stock header, flipped it, welded a flange to the end, and well, she runs. When she dies, she dies. BTW, what is the optimal PSI the N/A 2.3ltr should see without catastrophic failure? Also on a side note, the car has 110k on the clock. Pete
Well, if you have all the turbo engine management installed and don't detonate you could do 15psi without hurting anything. If it detonates though it will frag the pistons. 10psi is probably safe no matter what.
Stinger: We got the VAM but we dont have a HARNESS that plugs into it... Maybe this is not the correct one? How would I go about connecting the wires to the computer? VAM=>EEC? Also another question, what do I do with the IAT sensor? Thanks
Not the correct one? Are you saying you don't see where anything plugs into it or you just don't have the plug/wires for it? It shows how to connect the vam to the eec on my site. You can't just half-ass it...you have to do EVERYTHING in the wiring section of the swap page. Stinger
No halfassing. Just asking questions, as I have NEVER attempted to even dare to try to turbo a 2.3. The VAM doesnt have the plug connected to it. And I am using the stock wiring harness, and using your diagram to re-pin the computer. We got a LA3 computer off a late 80's TC I believe. Is there somewhere I can buy the plug? No junkyard in the tri-state area has one... maybe not all but the 30 we called did not. Thanks in advance.
Have you checked out turboford.org? I used the classifieds section ther many times. Most of my turbo parts I got from there, including the VAM harness.
Yea as a matter of fact I was browsing there last night right after I posted here. Found quite a few interesting things! Pete
"sub 12 car" that is mild unless your running 1/4 mile instead of 1/8th. SVOmike did it (12.30's) really cheap and with a stock bottom end. So you can save money there. If I mentioned that to my 2.3 mentor that was the response I would get. You'll need a good intercooler or a little "spray". Randy at TurboFord was running a coupe 7.5's in the 1/8th or mid 11's. Using stuff that can be had easily from ebay. Including nitrous to get things moving.
Heres a few more questions. How much boost can I run on a mildly built 2.3L motor (ARP fasteners, aftermarket forged pistons/rods) ?? How much boost on pump gas?? So when I do this conversion, I will need the computer out of the merkur, I was trying to follow your conversation but I just dont understand the turbo computer slang. I get from the most of it that I need a harness to hook a merkur/turbocoupe computer to my factory harness?? Is there any other sensors, etc.. that I need to have? Also, will all the cluster and code sets still fuction? I really want a 2.3L that runs low 12's high 11's on pump gas, that I can drive around, that would be fantastic... I want to really do it up big on this one, get a nice break from the 5.0's. I now have a choice between a merkur motor, and a turbocoupe motor, which would be an easier conversion?
How much boost has nothing to do with how built the bottom end is. It's all about feeding it enough fuel and being in tune. I've seen 33psi on the stock bottom end. I've seen about the same on "built" bottom ends. Pump gas normally limits you to 22-24psi...depending on the IC, ambient air temp, tune, timing, etc. You will be better off with an LA series (87-88 Turbo coupe) computer. That is what my directions are for and it's also the best easy to get hold of computer. You don't need and harness that connects the turbo computer to the stock harness. The turbo computer will plug right in...the wires are just in the wrong place. You have to move the wires in the stock plug so they match what's shown on my site. You need an ACT (Air charge temp) sensor (stock on 91-93 cars and 87-88 TC's), and the vam. You will also need the coil and a few inches of the coil harness (if you have a 91-93 car...I don't remember what you have). Stinger
