Seem to be moving at snails pace, but did make some progress on the 2.3 engine swap. Went to the junkyard yesterday and pulled a 2.3 turbo motor from an 84 mercury cougar XR7. The same motor can be had from a Merkur XR4Ti, Thunderbird TurboCoupe, or Mustang SVO. The motor looks fantastic inside, with fresh hone marks on the cylinders and silky smooth rod journals. FYI, the clock in the vehicle was at 103,000 miles. After 6 hours in the HOT south florida sun, absolutely no shade to speak of, the motor was mine. I spent some extra time getting the drive accessories off of an 87 mustang, the advantage being serpentine belt drive. Left with motor, two turbo setups, all accessories and a spare exhaust manifold for 200 bux. Cleaned everything up and dropped the cylinder head on the block. Hmmm, the cam sprocket just touches the rear lip of the engine compartment opening. The 3/4 inch thick adapter plate used up just enough room to make things interesting. I checked the trans mount to see if it could be moved forward some. The trans mount is offset, and can be turned 180 degrees, giving an inch or two more room in the engine bay. Problem is, the bracket that bolts to the trans is too short now, and will not mate with the mount. The trans also has little room to move before hitting the firewall. I may try dropping the drivetrain down some, then back a little, gotta get creative to make this thing fit without cutting the van. I hope to update my page soon, maybe this weekend, will keep ya'll posted. |
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