TC swap?

[67 evil eleanor]

Newbie here, at least to the Fox's. My son has a 93 that I bought as his first car. Its a 4 cylinder and is in excellent shape except the paint. Being his first car he wants to keep it. He is currently deployed and has been away for about 9 months. Before he left he descussed several things that he wished he could do to the car. A nice stereo has been already installed but the interior needs to be freshened. Anyway this is my plan.... I have found a 87-88 Turbo coupe that has suffered severe rust damage that I am thinking about buying for a doner car. I know that the turbo 4 swap has been beat to death and have read several articles about it. I do have a few questions that I haven't seen the answer or at least one that is clear to me that I will run by. SO..... here we go. 1. Fuel pump, is there a bolt in like a WB255 or what exactly do I need? 2. Radiator, is a larger one necessary or will the stock one be OK? 3. Muffler(s) and sound, need advice on those. 4. The turbo coupe has 220k on it. What needs to be rebuilt and estimated cost. 5. Is the rear a direct bolt in? 6. Switching from a auto to clutch, issues and parts? 7. Tranny, with the high number of miles, are there any treatment that is needed? 8. Any other suggestions/recommendations that can prevent me from making a mistake. I hope to have everything done by the middle of December before he comes in on leave, that is if his unit is sent in eariler than expected. Thanks for your help.

This ad is not displayed to registered or logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on Mustang Forums!

[TRBOPWR]

I am by no means an expert, and have not actually done the swap, but I will give my input anyways lol. I know sleeper did a huge write-up, I believe it's in the Stickies at the top of the page, you may want to read through that one too. Reading alot is always a good start for a swap like this. Anyways,

Walbro makes a 255lph pump that goes in, if any sort of modding is planned you may as well get that now.

In my opinion, the 2.3T cars run pretty much on the cool side and the stock radiator could probably be used, but it never hurts to upgrade a bit. Plus, if any kind of FMIC went in that would steal some of the cooling from a small radiator.

As far as mufflers/exhaust, go 3" from the turbo all the way out the back if you can. You typically want to avoid mufflers with lots of baffling in it, that just impedes the flow of the air and slows down spool and decreases the power a bit.

It can't hurt to do a refresher or entire rebuild on the motor with that kind of mileage, but there are plenty of motors out there that run just fine with super high mileage. I suppose this would depend mostly on the condition of your motor and your time constraints.

The 8.8 from a TC swapped straight into my SVO, I would ASSume it would do the same for your Fox. Not sure though.

No ideas on the tranny, lots of racers use the C4 auto, but I don't think that's nearly as much fun as bangin through the gears yourself. If you would swap to a T5, unless it's making all kinds of funny noises or not working right I wouldn't worry about it. They are cheap/easy enough to find that if it would break you could get another. Complete rebuilds aren't terribly expensive either.

I'm sure you have read, but I think it's probably easiest to swap over the motor, harness, TC computer and everything. Some simple early mods would be exhaust, K&N, a T3 turbo instead of the IHI, any kind of basic porting on the intake and manifold is good too. The cars love the big FMIC systems too, pick up alot there.

And in concluding my above book, i'm sure a couple other people that have done the swap will chime in. I believe evintho has done the swap, and he is an absolute fountain of good info, not to mention his car/motor looks pretty much awesome. You might check out turboford.net too, they have lots of good tech over there.

[mg man 75]

1.Can reuse the stock fuel pump but I would go ahead and get the 255hp/hv pump.
2.Stock radiator is fine. Now if like me get a large fmic [front mount intercooler] may want a v-8. Ps the turbocoupe radiator fan will fit upper mounts of the Mustang and lower mount just need bolt and spacer. Near can remember the turbocoupe radiator will fit also.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...5/100_5931.jpg
I just plugged original fan motor plug into the turbocoupe one. Then added a extra relay pulled in by the original motor to power the second one.
3.You want a flow thu motor. I am using a Dynamax Ultraflow. I cutr the 90 off the turbo and put a 3" 90. 3"pipe and 2 1/2" over the rearend. Some pictures are here.
http://s403.photobucket.com/albums/pp115/mustanglady89/
4.Cost can go from resonable to extrememe. Forged pistons if get replaced. If nothing else. Have head redone and head gasket. These motors last a long time.
5.Rearend is direct bolt in. I am using a 86 turbocoupe rearend. Even the sway bar will fit. As far as the 87-88 it has rear disc. Will need to change some brake parts from donar because disc use more fluid. Near as can remember change the master cylinder and portion valve. Can do search and help if get into it.
6.Auto to standard. Sleep-inc has done it and it is in the tech. It is all a direct bolt it. Is the turbocoupe 5speed. If remember from reading it is hydralic instead of cable. From what I read that can be swapped also instead of using the Mustang cable type.
7.Can't answer. I assume 5speed what we are talking about. The automatic turbocoupe has not so good auto. I am using a C-4 auto.
8. The wiring for the 93 is fairly complicated. Alot of tech from wiring, trans swap etc is here. http://www.stinger-performance.com/TechMain.html
I have pictures of my swap is here. Check on side I have video's of the fmic. Also has good pictures of underhood. If helps. Maurice.
http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n75/?start=160
If any questions or can help. Just ask. Wife has been driving here for about 3 years now as daily driven. Unless I am modifing it.

[evintho]

TRBOPWR and mg man 75 pretty much nailed it! I assume you just want to get it in and running. If so.............

1) Fuel pump......255 lph..........purchase here...............
http://www.jdsperformance.com/shopcartgrid.asp

2) Radiator.............stock one will work for now.

3) Mufflers...............Dynomax Ultraflow, either single or dual exhaust, it's up to you.

4) 220K is about it however, you really have 2 choices. As stated, have the head done and you can either give the bottom end a seal-n-shine (read cheap) or go with a complete rebuild, including forged pistons ($400) which will get you into the $1000-$1200 range. You're call.

5) '88 TC rear is pretty much a direct bolt in. Use the '88 rear and swap in the '93 axles and brakes. Yes, they fit!

6) Auto to clutch..............Is the TC a 5-speed? Use it's tranny. It's a hydraulic clutch setup so for ease of installation, I would find a cable bellhousing in the junkyard and go with that. The TC pedal assembly will work but I'm not sure if you can bolt on a quadrant to the clutch pedal, or not. You might have to go with a cable pedal assembly, not sure.

7) Tranny...............if it shifts smoothly and goes into gear easily, the synchros are good. In that case replace the front and rear seals and install a steel bearing retainer available from http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ for $50.

When stripping the TC you'll need the motor, trans, rearend, computer (LA3), VAM, VAM connector and 6" of accompaning wire. Make sure to grab the front spindles and brakes. The spindles can be bolted onto your front suspension. The rotors can be turned (they're 11" brakes) and you can purchase 73mm calipers to give you much better braking power up front. The power seats can also be adapted into your Mustang. Grab the power window motors too. They're the same as your Mustangs. Check the 'wanted' section of www.turbotbird.com also. You can probably sell a bunch of stuff over there. Good luck!

[TRBOPWR]

I always forget about you mg man, I don't know why lol

[mg man 75]

I just got the easy to forget personality. Just joking. Maurice

[67 evil eleanor]

Well guys, I hooked the trailer up Monday to go down and pick up the TC. I called him about 9am to see what time we could meet. He informed me that the car had been stolden over the weekend and he had the police on the way to give a report. My guess is he didn't have insurance on the car since it had been off the road for about a year. On the flip, I have found 3 engines and one tranny. I'm still thinking that it would be better to buy a complete car, but may have to resort to buying a piece at a time. I'm in need of advice. Also it seems these cars are getting harder to find.

[mustang2.3]

ouch were do you live? I can help find you one if need be I am doing the swap as well with a 212K mile engine from an 86.

[67 evil eleanor]

I'm about 40 minutes from Bristol. The car "was" in Bean Station near Kingsport. I hear thats a well known area for "Chop Shops". Looking for a 87 or 88 manual tranny car. Thanks.

[mustang2.3]

you can do the swap with a late 85 or 86 you just need to get the computer and vam from an 87-88 only spent an extra $60 plus it doesn't have a hydraulic clutch so you wouldn't have to worry about the conversion.