Skip to main content
Topic: The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack) (Read 4072 times) previous topic - next topic

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #15
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;163264
Guess I'm just lucky, out of 14 T/Cs owned, I'm yet to pull a head... Biggest engine repairs were replacing a noisy cam and swapping out a puked turbo... Repl a couple clutches and a bunch of fuel pumps...


holy !  someone has actually owned more turbocoupes then me?!
91 ranger 2.3 turbo - nowhere near stock
87 thunderbird turbocoupe
06 pontiac g6 gt
:birdsmily:

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #16
I've owned 57 since 2000, so yes.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #17
 nice work there Chuck...hang in there. Despite all the issues with these cars it's still somehow more 'fun' to mess with them then to just jump in a new 2007 and drive (although I'm trying to figure out how to add a new Mustang to my fleet!)


Quote from: ipsd;163030
That is why I have 4 cracked heads sitting the the shop. All that in search of a good one.


Are they all cracked in the same place? Is it something you can only see after a magnaflux?
tbirdregistry.com
26480
27373

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #18
Of those 4 heads 3  only have small cracks that go up round the seats. It has been a while since I've looked at them. Also the 4th one is toast toast, toast. big crack in number one cylinder. Once I took it off the motor I was yes its toast. The same cylinder in the block is toast. I do have a good ranger round port, good 86 T/C head, and the Ranger BO round port I have on the car now. Yes I know plenty of people run a cracked head. But that isn't my style. Besides all the spares laying around are good for mock up and such.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #19
is there anyway to fixed a cracked head or just s it? i just had a head check out for my 2.t build up and it came back with crack in two places. can they be fixed in some magical way?
Brian J Larkin
1988 Tbird Turbo Coupe
1989 Cougar XR7
1995  Ranger Splash

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #20
there wouldnt have been any way for you to have known about a crack prior to all this unless you had it presure tested,, even at that, its still possible to miss a crack that needs operating temp ranges in order to locate it.
 
its garbage ,, sorry for all the bad luck.  Hope you get the carb'd one up and doing better.

someone shoud do a write up on the effects of crazy boost on these heads. might be useful for others,,ie- who's runnin what boost and the end results when problems occure.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #21
Yeah, I know it's junk.  It's seen ALOT of hard use.  It was originally used in a carb turbo set-up that had been worked.  It's seen a piston slam into it.  I beat the hell out it after that and all was fine until now. 
Now I just need the time and motivation to attack the "new" head with the die grinder :hick:
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #22
im in a totally similar situation myself,, i know what you mean though.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #23
Ok..today I was finally able to start the port work on the replacement head for this thing.  The ports/chambers are untouched.  I'm not going OS valves, but general clean-up and mild port work will still be beneficial.

Starting comb chamber....

After


My plans are this.  Clean up the pockets and smooth the valve guide transitions.  Work on the big-side radius of the port and leave the short-side radius alone.  Unshroud the valves a touch and polish the chambers.  I'm just going to clean up the intake port and on the exhaust I'm actually going to raise the roof of the big-side radius a bit to improve the flow.  Nothing meticulous and fancy, just general work that I feel I'm obligated to do.  I mean I can't just drop a "stock" head back on there... :p  I have about 1-1/2 hours in the one chamber/intake clean up.  I figure another 1/2 hour for the exhaust port work (I already have the pocket work done) and that cylinder will be done.  3 more to go after that.  Then it's the work for the oil control cam bearings and then off to the machine shop for a .010" cut and then reassembly.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #24
Looks good. If I ever get that TC that I want (one day when I have the cash) you can port the head for me;)
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #25
I had this same problem with my old 350  that's why I am not a chevy guy anymore lol  It sucks man, and I am sorry

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #26
you were doing good to get all that done in 1.5 hrs.  A lot of meat gone for sure.  Looks great though and you probably did that head more good than ford did.  Why would they choke off the valve stem area  like that anyway?
Its like they thought the intake valve needed more support or something,,??

got any pics of the cutting bits you use?  i only have a couple along with various stones.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #27
Quote from: jcassity;173036

got any pics of the cutting bits you use?  i only have a couple along with various stones.


I just have a std small oval-headed carbide bit.  I used that for the material removal and the general smoothing and then just followed up with a tapered sanding roll.

Does well enough for what I need to do.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #28
With those pics it makes me think I could do a good job myself. Never tried it but looking at your work Chuck I have some good pics to use a reference. Now get that thing back on the road.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #29
that looks great, chuck.  so you're not doing anything else to this head other then cleaning it up and mildly porting it?
91 ranger 2.3 turbo - nowhere near stock
87 thunderbird turbocoupe
06 pontiac g6 gt
:birdsmily: