rebuiling a 2.3

Topic: rebuiling a 2.3 (Read 2355 times) previous topic - next topic

rebuiling a 2.3

March 05, 2006, 01:01:43 AM

i want to get an aggressive camshaft for my new 2.3 project, what's the best camshaft for the buck ?!

i'm more into a new camshaft, than a rebuild, cause i want to switch to a roller setup,

keepin in mind i've got EFI, with a VANE meter,

1989 mustang 2.3 with LA3 comp. big vam, 35 # injectors, ADJ. fuel press. wiesco pistons .30 over, 5.7 rods, 1.89 intake 1.59 exhaust valves, dual springs, CNC ported head,and new oil pump (so what's the deal with the high volume pump being a bad idea?)

what's the fel-pro gasket with the wire ring i need?

help me make this thing move !!

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #1 – March 05, 2006, 01:10:55 AM

If you wanna switch to a roller cam, one good cam to run is the Motorsport A237. I just picked one up over the winter and I'm putting it into my car here before too long. You can pick them up cheap, too...I got mine for $100, and you can use basically any roller followers with it (I'm using the ones from my ranger roller that's in the car now)

Are your pistons dished or flat top? just curious.

Also I believe the head gasket you're referring to is the 1035?

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #2 – March 05, 2006, 10:00:00 AM

RR w/ adj cam gear would be my pick.

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #3 – March 05, 2006, 10:08:21 AM

ummm....flat top with valve relief's in em' ...kinda like the pistons that are in there now,

it's kinda weird cause there is no damage to the block at all,

FORD A237 R 0.420" 226° 234° 110° not good for street, can be fast for drag racing if retarded alot, may increase turbo lag ( is there any thruth to that ?! ) the lobe seperation seems a bit to small to me,

I have used the .585 roller cam on every turbo motor I have built since, and it works well. is this guy nuts ???

i want to make some freakin power, but pass emissions, i odn't really care about real " streat able " i'm still a kid, every thing i own has a flowmaster, or no exhaust, and most of them run like , so it's no biggie to me

i found all this here .. http://www.merkurencyclopedia.com/Motor/camshaft.html

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #4 – March 05, 2006, 10:08:47 AM

who's RR ?!

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #5 – March 05, 2006, 01:24:06 PM

Uhh, you sure your CR isn't gonna be too high with flat tops? The dished pistons bring it down around 8:1, flat tops will probably make it more around 9:1. You'll have to be careful of detonation.

Anyway, about the A237- I don't know. I've heard from some people who love it, and others who said they lost all their bottom end with it. I'll just have to see what I think of it. I have an adjustable sprocket so I plan to play with the timing a bit if I don't like it straight up. The nice thing about it is that you can run it with all stock valvetrain geometry though.

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #6 – March 06, 2006, 01:35:49 AM

pistons : i pln on running about 9:1 if not a little less becuase of the wildly ported head, the comp will be more like 8.5:1 ish, if not, i'll ask em' cause i want to run about 20 lbs of boost,

i'm also curious about your blow thru VAM setup..i've heard it's all a matter of changing it....and i've heard you have to tune it ? what did you have to do ?!

ALSO,

PCV question.....i'm not sure, but i think my turbo is drawing in oil from the PCV system, the intake's all oily, and the exhaust blows smoke like a bandit, on start up at least, i haven't had the time to let it warm up, due to the no exhaust and all, and new next door neighbors,

p.s any bet's on how much boost my N/A motor will take until it blows up !?

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #7 – March 06, 2006, 02:13:21 AM

there's details on how to do the blow-thru over on turboford...I really just did it because of my BOV leaking a little vacuum. It's not hard to do, you have to pop the cover off and move the little wheel thing inside it and stuff...

dunno about the other stuff though.

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #8 – March 06, 2006, 05:51:10 AM

RR is short for ranger roller cam. :)

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #9 – March 06, 2006, 09:24:03 AM

Quote from: 460 turbo truck

i odn't really care about real " streat able " i'm still a kid, every thing i own has a flowmaster, or no exhaust, and most of them run like , so it's no biggie to me

:bowdown: ...AAHHH to be young again.... :flip:

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #10 – March 06, 2006, 12:29:37 PM

i spent at least 30 mins looking and thinking about what RR meant...

aren't the ranger cams the same grind thought, and the N/A 2.3's ?!

maybe that's why my car runs like ..

and i'm not like....just got my licence young, i'm turning 20 this year,
which is ....still a kid really..

ALSO, which is better, the intake setup off an 85 thunderbird turbo coupe motor, OR the N/A intake from my 89 mustang, ? or to hell with them both and go spend the money for 40bob's stuff ?!
you wouldn't happen to have the link around for the details on how to do the blow-thru over on turboford would you ?

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #11 – March 06, 2006, 02:41:04 PM

Yes, the ranger roller is the same as every other 2.3L n/a cam. I think people like it because it still has decent bottom end, and you can retard it 4 degrees so it doesn't totally suck on the top end. I've heard some good things about the A237 though so I want to give it a shot.

Here's the thing about blow-through.
http://www.turboford.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000229
It makes more sense once you pop the cover off the VAM and actually look at it.

and about the intake, is the '85 intake square, or inline?

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #12 – March 07, 2006, 01:58:25 AM

the intake is a square, and seems taller, and no righting on it...

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #13 – March 07, 2006, 08:47:23 PM

The A237 is basically DOA until around 3K. After that it comes on like an after burner. Exactly where it comes on depeds on your other mods and turbo sizing. Idle is slightly lumpy. Expect to give up 3-5" of vacuum. It can be run 2-4* advanced to bring the power curve down some. Some people run it 2*- for a bigger top end

The ranger roller is a truck cam and as such has a good low and middle. It's actually smaller than a stock slider - .355" vs .390-.400"
It can be run on the minus side for more top end,

High volume pumps put additional strain on the shaft that drives the pump. It can cause the shafts to break or worse, strip out the teeth on the dizzy gear and aux shaft. A stock pump is all you need.

Hope those pistons are forged.

Good luck with the project

rebuiling a 2.3

Reply #14 – March 07, 2006, 10:20:07 PM

If it has the square intake then keep it! That's the "tall" square intake, the one from the '89 mustang would be the "short" one and it doesn't work with the earlier valve cover. I have a "tall" intake. If you wanted to, you could send it to bob and he could gut it and do all that for you but I don't know how much he would charge to do it. I smoothed out and polished the inside of mine and opened it up a bit. I've heard the gutted intakes give up some low end but there's debate over that.