Put a 2.3 into a 5.0 chassis?

Clearanced the alternator bracket tonight, and it clears nicely.
Also installed the block off plate for the egr, but that the plate is embarrassing, so no pics :hide:
Also attached is the egr delete circuit I’ll use. Resistors should be here tomorrow, in packs of 100 :rlaugh:

Don’t want to jinx it, but if things go well, I could have the engine in the car by Friday…
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I had to swap out the top cover between the 2.3 and 5.0 t5’s. The 2.3 cover didn’t have a mounting provision for the neutral switch.
Pic is of the 2.3, ready for installation…

Test fit the eBay contour fan on the eBay radiator. Will play around with mounting it later. For now I will be bench testing the variable speed controller using an arduino…. Hopefully more to come soon on that side project.

I put the wheels on tonight, and they no longer sit evenly spaced in the wheel well. Will send Team Z an email, most likely I have a parts mismatch somewhere…
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Been slow lately, but finally going forward again…
Still haven’t sorted out why the new suspension sits an inch or so forward in the wheel well. I assume it is the control arms, but it could be in the kmember as well. I’m waiting for Dave at TeamZ to review some photos…

I found a ranger thermostat housing on last junkyard trip. Had to oversized the (2) bolt holes in it, as the bolt threads in the head were larger. I should find a smaller water pump pulley too. It clears, but not by much, lol

The flywheel to pressure plate dowel pins didn’t come with the flywheel or the clutch set. Took several days to locate those.
But they came in today, and I was able to get the transmission bolted up, then engine in the car.
Was trying to get the driveline in, but those (4) bolts are a bitch, so I’ll finish that tomorrow…
 

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Finally done scrapping the exhaust together. It looks horrible, but it fits high, and is very secure. I’m probably going to try welding all the scraps together, then I can remove the clamps, lol…

I used a ranger header and the Mac 2.5” passenger muffler that was on the car with my 408w. I added a resonator then filled the rest with scraps and connectors that were laying around.
Hopefully it won’t be obnoxiously loud… EFB7660F-30FA-441E-8EF2-A7B5BA84E5EF.jpeg 2354E750-18C0-4E71-BBBF-01863BA94572.jpeg BB659035-E8F6-4BB8-8E9B-226466E12AF8.jpeg F1F2D667-CCC4-438F-881C-DF2B3BBA8B62.jpeg 135FF0C5-FBFB-4699-84DB-D60304EAC6E7.jpeg 37508DBA-691A-4EDA-A217-402C9E94C7FF.jpeg 3949A161-09FE-4921-BDC5-5F11B53F294D.jpeg
 
Decided to use smoked headlights, and other than not sitting completely even, hey look nice. LED bulbs are installed, just need to plug them all in…
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Had to replace the side mirrors, which meant digging into the absurd dynomat on both of the doors… CC8C41BD-BE58-4860-BF8A-50F20D058DB6.jpeg

Doctored up the map pockets with some zip ties, lol 39783CB0-131E-4625-8AFE-0B9A2362DB1A.jpeg
 
Didn’t get many pics, but I had to replace the carpet. This had been stored since 2006, and the carpet was trashed. All the speaker wire is a little crazy.
Still a ton of interior work to do, but should have it wrapped up after another day or 2…
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You can drop 2-3 lbs welding the exhaust, ebay those clamps as rare fox body pieces.
hit me up (is that how they say it?) if you can't find that trunk lock retainer clip.
I have stuff, most apparently useless :shrug:
 
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Speaking of dropping a couple pounds….

I’m going to be removing the subs.
Back in the day, the full system was pretty nice. Wish I had some decent pics of it in all its glory.
(2) 15’s
(2) 8’s
(3) amps
(2) 50 disc changers
Kickpanel speakers

I sold off and partially removed some of the system years ago. It’s time to streamline the rest…

I’ll relocate the chrome amp on the right, to under the passenger seat (if it fits). The sub box will come out.
The hatch needs some serious cleanup work still…
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Your 4-post lift looks almost identical to mine. Triumph ? I installed many a 5.0 into a 4 cyl car so I know the crossmember essentially the same. You have the 7.5 diffy that you need in your parts car to have a usable gear ratio. Are they 3:73's. Right now a fuel mileage car is a good idea. Follow through with what you are doing!
EDITED: I posted after reading page 1 then I realized there was two more pages. What does the top of your aftermarket front crossmember look like? does it sitting forward throw off your transmission crossmember and make the drive shaft too short?
A 2 quart kit of catalyzed pick up truck bed liner sprayed on the inside floor board will weigh a lot less than the carpet and padding that you pulled out.
I like the fit of the Contour fan.
would a Contour radiator fit and solve the fan mounting issue ? Otherwise use those plastic zip tie type things that come with aftermarket fan and go through the radiator.
I'll purchase a few of the resistors from you. 10 of the 390 ohm and 20 of the 3.9Ks. PM me.
On my '93 engine I chopped off the EGR and had someone heliarc weld the hole closed.
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Your 4-post lift looks almost identical to mine. Triumph ? I installed many a 5.0 into a 4 cyl car so I know the crossmember essentially the same. You have the 7.5 diffy that you need in your parts car to have a usable gear ratio. Are they 3:73's. Right now a fuel mileage car is a good idea. Follow through with what you are doing!
EDITED: I posted after reading page 1 then I realized there was two more pages. What does the top of your aftermarket front crossmember look like? does it sitting forward throw off your transmission crossmember and make the drive shaft too short?
A 2 quart kit of catalyzed pick up truck bed liner sprayed on the inside floor board will weigh a lot less than the carpet and padding that you pulled out.
I like the fit of the Contour fan.
would a Contour radiator fit and solve the fan mounting issue ? Otherwise use those plastic zip tie type things that come with aftermarket fan and go through the radiator.
I'll purchase a few of the resistors from you. 10 of the 390 ohm and 20 of the 3.9Ks. PM me.
On my '93 engine I chopped off the EGR and had someone heliarc weld the hole closed.

Thanks.
I built my 8.8 back in the day. Auburn limited slip 31spline, disc brakes, and pretty sure 3.27 gears. I should try to confirm that though...
From what I can tell, the cross-member didn't move the engine forward. If it did, it wasn't much. I was able to get the driveline in just fine.
I finished the carpet install over the weekend. I'm not so desperate to remove weight that I'll go with bed liner inside the car, lol.
That box that had the 2 15" Solo-barics and both amps, was pretty damn heavy though!

I would like to avoid the through radiator style mounts for the fan. Haven't gotten that far into the cooling system yet though. I've been working on the Arduino fan controller, but don't have that sorted out just yet either...

Ya, drop me a pm with an address, and I'll send a few your way...
 
So, the interior is almost done. Had to replace the carpet. Since most of the old sound system came out, there were a ton of wires to pull. Replaced the 5.0 tach with a 2.3 tach. Broke a connector for the defogger switch. Once that replacement is here, the interior will be done.

Cleaned out the hatch and installed the amp. Not real happy with the way it’s sitting, but it will work just fine.
Just need tail light bulbs, and the hatch will be done.
Managed to find the right retainer clip for the hatch lock latch, and installed that…

The issue with the wheels not being centered in the wheel well should now be resolved. Apparently I didn’t have the right control arms. TeamZ built and sent a set of their auto cross control arms, and they arrived yesterday.

The clutch and throttle body cable issues should now be resolved, just waiting on parts in the next couple days…

Some pics for the record… 6640CB2F-7D17-4A60-A55D-4DF1BEA06251.jpeg E17F8D6C-2934-4A6F-88A1-235C764D4BCC.jpeg EFDB96A0-A7A8-4EE9-BE5F-D2C5D882BFE4.jpeg B4AFA967-5971-4722-ACF8-AB1429032718.jpeg
 
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Been a while since I've updated... progress has been slow, but still plugging along...

I was not able to sort out the wheel spacing issue with the aftermarket k-member/control arm/coil over, so the stock hardware went back on.
Details here... https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/team-z-setup-in-1990-mustang-gt.923414/

I swapped out the stock 5.0 TB cable for a 2.3 TB cable.
Need to install Heater Core hoses, fuel line connectors (braided AN, to stock rail), blah, blah, blah...
 
Well you gotta remember my work ethic.


Screw one bolt in, take some pics, come post a few posts on how fancy my bolt is, then not look at the car for another 2-3 days.


Sometimes I wish I could just bang :poo: out like others can on here.
 
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I get a kick out of reading thru this post as...
The first line from the OP said
"Doing this out of necessity... as I need a car to get to work Monday"
Sounds like the appointments that I spare for Democrats
Monday the 32nd of JuVember
 
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