2.3 to 302 swap

April 07, 2008, 12:47:33 PM

Hey guys I have an 86 XR7 and want to swap the turbo four to a 302 what do I need and what do I need to do? I'm pretty mechanically inclined so I figure it shouldn't be super hard.

Brett

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #1 – April 07, 2008, 07:07:05 PM

This should be all you should need, even though it was for my 87TC, it should be the same for 86.

Let's start with the obvious
5.0HO engine complete
Trans, your choice of auto or stick(i did the auto as my car was an auto).
87-88 5.0l tbird drive shaft, 7.5 or 8.8 rear does not matter either will fit
Mustang 5.0HO computer.
Now for the not so obvious.
87-88 tbird 5.0 fuel lines to the fuel filter.The rear lines from the tank to the filter are the same so you can keep those.
Dual hump trans cross member out of 5.0 bird or mustang.
Trans cross member bolts,unique tc dose not have these.
Motor mounts for 5.0 tbird,must be for a bird,mustang won't work.
5.0l evap canister for fuel tank vapors,tc ones are different.
You can use your TC rad as long as it's in good shape.
If your going to run A/C you'll need the reciever dryer at the firewall and the 2 lines that go from the dryer to the to the conderser in the front,your evap core in the dash and tc condensor out front can be reused.
Engine harness from the computer from an 87-88 5.0l tbird(the mustang harness is totally different and a nightmare,don't even bother with it,it must be bird or cougar)
Injector harness on engine(this can be bird or stang,doesn't matter)
5.0l fan and shroud
5.0l air box,mounting studs and air inlet tubes.
Tad and tab sensors from pass rea side of strut tower(these control egr and thermactor air opening/closing)
Vac balls and lines from inside pass fenderwell under splash shield.
your baro sensor will work as a map on the 5.0l(sensor #s are the same for 4 or 8 cyl, i checked).
Reuse the TC vac tree.
All rad/heater hoses for 5.0l mustang or bird.
coolant overflow tank for bird or stang
Ign coil is the same so it can be reused
Batt mount is also the same
Mustang or LSC exauste H-PIPE and intermediates(these have to be made to fit,for the rear exaste after the h-pipe it's best to go custom and get one built,there is no direct fit for this,not true duals anyways).
For the shifter it depends stick or auto,if auto you need a 5.0l bird or cougar floor shifter(impossible to find)I went with a mustang one and i had to modify it severly to fit,used the TC leather handle and bezel though.
If stick,well i'm not sure as i don't have one.
5.0l throttle and cruise cables,tc won't work.
Aod tv pressure cable if going auto.
Thermactor air pipe from a stang for the h-pipe.
Fuel pump wiring harness from the computer to the rear form an 87-88 bird or cougar,with relay(TC's don't have these wires as the relays for the fuel pump and fans are in a box on the pass strut tower and you will be removing them).
5.0l o2 sensors(the sensor wires may need to be extended,mine did)
Your abs and ride control will stay intact without any mods if you don't touch there harnesses.The eng harness and the abs/ ridecontrol harness run into the firewall together and must be seperated at this point,i cut the rubber groment and some factorry tape and that seperated the harnesses, you can now pull the eng harness out of the dash into the eng bay leaving the abs and ride control intact,forgot to mention there is a gray rectangle connector under the dash/carpet near the firewall pass side that must be disconnected before removal of the eng harness.It is not used for the 5.0l it's just a bunch of computer sense wires for the 4 banger.
The only loss you'll have is that the riude control will not sense hard accel and braking and automatically switch to firm,(irrelevant really as i like firm ride anyways,and the auto mode acts as soft like in the SC t-bird)
Wheh that's alot of writing,forgot how much work it was
Now comes the fun part,the wiring!
All the wiring from the computer to eng is plug and play
On the drs side there is 2 connectors that go to the dash,one gray and one black, both 8 pin connectors.
These control all the gauges a/c,ign switch,etc
The connectors are the same on the 5.0l bird/cougar harness but some wires are in the right spot and some are in the wrong spot.
This is preey easy just remove the red pin hold downs in the eng harness connectors and change the pins around to match color code for color code.
You will be left with 3 poss 4 wires that don't match the connector colors on the eng harness(don't worry about open pins in the connectors coming from the dash,they where for things such as turbo overboost and such)
The colors of the wires you'll be left with are

Black-A/C clutch ground(cut the pin off,install an eyelet and ground it tothe wiper ground bolt,without this the A/C clutch won't come on)worked for me.

GreenPuple-A/C low pressure cut out switch(this one's tricky,the original a/c compressor was on the pass side(5.0drs side) so stranglely enough you will find the car's greenpurple wire in a grey 4 pin connector near the pass headlamp assy.What i did here was cut the greenpurple at the switch and soldered in a new wire and ran it down the pass side to the grey 4 pin,then i stole the connector from my 4 banger harness and inserted the pin and soldered it.
GreyYellow-o2 sensor heaterwire,i have yet to really connect this wire.It's supposed to go to the greyyellow in the grey rectangular
connector i spoke of in the begining but any switched 12v source will do(mines connect to the hot in run wiper motor wire.

RedGreen i think,not necessary

trans will have extra wiring if you have an auto,as the A4LD was electronic and the Aod is hydraulic,But speed sensor and neautral safety switch plug right in.

Fuel pump wiring is a different story it must be cut and spliced at the rear color for color and the pinkblack must be looped(this is the only part i'm not 100% on,can't remember how we got mine to work)
Now if all was done according to plan iot should fire pretty quickly if not check for fuel,that was my first problem.
If it fires SWEET!
The next few months will be spent working out the bugs,believe me.
Once everything is rightthough you'll enjoy it alot more than the 4 banger,even with a setting of 18psi boost like i had.
The fastest guy on turbocoupe.org is the moderator glenn88tc and even he is only running a 12.5 quarter.
With all the money he spent (and it's alot) he could be going 11s with a 5.0l and it would be 100 times more reliable, (no blown head gasket etc).
Don't get me wrong i love ford's and i think the 2.3l turbo is an awsome engine for what it is( a 4 banger on steroids),but the 5.0l is much more reliable and way easier and cheaper to add performance to.
Anyway's i hope this helps anybody and everybody that wants to do this swap, i took me 3 days of 12 hour days to get it in and running and i'm a liscensed tech,with all the necessary tools+ i had an 88 5.0l doner t-bird that already had all the parts pulled(by me).
This swap is very time consuming and can have you cursing and swearing, but it's worth the pain.
There's nothing like mashing the gas and eating every little r

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #2 – April 07, 2008, 08:20:33 PM

i smell a sticky!:nannerbang:

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #3 – April 07, 2008, 09:33:41 PM

I thought that the first time i wrote it but it didn't happen.
As far as i know it's the most complete 2.3-5.0 swap write up i know of or have seen, that's why i put it together.

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #4 – April 08, 2008, 07:49:56 AM

Do you have any idea how rare turbo cougars are?

Youre about to make them more rare.

(I know guys, I had to be the one)

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #5 – April 08, 2008, 01:08:40 PM

I don't plan on making a hack job or ruining it so it can never be put back. Thanks for that list though!!! I'll be keeping the 2.3 turbo to rebuild for possible future restoration. I have a full 86 Cougar 5.0 for a parts car so I think I'm good.

Brett

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #6 – April 09, 2008, 08:06:09 AM

The '83-'86 is no where nearly as complex as the '87-'88, with a donor car it should be a fairly easy swap...

2.3 to 302 swap

Reply #7 – April 09, 2008, 04:42:10 PM

Quote from: 86XR7project;213110

I don't plan on making a hack job or ruining it so it can never be put back. Thanks for that list though!!! I'll be keeping the 2.3 turbo to rebuild for possible future restoration. I have a full 86 Cougar 5.0 for a parts car so I think I'm good.

Brett

So...if you have a "full" 86 Cougar 5.0, why don't you just drop an HO motor in there and keep your turbo cougar just the way it is...seems more reasonable and much less work.