2.3l ford motor swap

Looking for a engine for my 3b and wondered if anyone has thought or done a Ford 2.3l turbo engine in a flatty/ early 5. Sounds like it was common to swap in a pinto engine which would be similar? Keep wanting a 225 but everyone has one of those it seems R)

I really want the 4bt but it is not in the budget

 

My first Jeep (46 2a) I installed a 2000cc pinto motor with a turbo and c4 auto. It was a large improvement in performance and smooth power. Anything you need to know in particular?

 

Looking for info on fit and what bell housing/ adapters.

I have a line on a Ford T18 and know of a CJ T18 I could get for the t case adapter.

 

Don't know of any easy way to adapt the Ford 2.0/2.3 to a T-18; it's a different pattern from the big car engines. You also need to find the shallow Ford bellhousing for the 2.0/2.3 to adapt it to the T-90.

There's some info and pictures on the CJ-3B page. Novak sells an adapter for the 2.0/2.3 Ford, and has some discussion. The 2.5L AMC (150 cid) is another possible inline 4, as is either the 2.5L Chevy (153 cid), the 2.5L Pontiac/GM (151 cid, "Iron Duke"), and the 3.0L GM/Mercruiser (181 cid, overbored 153). Any of those ring your chimes?

The 150 uses a 60 degree Chevy bell, and the rest all use the 90 degree bell like the SBC. These will bolt up to the SM420 or SM465, and the 90 degree bell can be mated to the T-18 with some basic machining.

 

Thanks I went and checked out the 3b article, sounds pretty simple. I was hoping to use a trans with a low gear to get up in the power band on the turbo when doing technical stuff.

Really torn on what to do.

Like the 2.3 turbo idea but don't know if I can find one and really would like a low first trans.
I am getting a sm465 with the dana18/20 adapter installed,
and also could get a 225 on a trade.

Decisions decisions :?

 

I found this doing some more research, looks like it might make mating the 2.3 to a T18 possible?

http://cididit.com/products.htm

 

I think Advance Adapters made the first Pinto / Jeep stuff back in the late 70's but hasn't been used in ages.

There was a VW diesel on Craigslist locally

 

Novak is making the kit again, seems like a really good swap for someone wanting to keep it close to stock.

Will have to look for that

 

I like the sound of the Ford engine but something about a turbo and the dust and dirt of wheeling makes me cringe. I know construction vehicles do it. Need some serious filtering.

 

I expect that will work. Looks to me like it's just a plate, so you could make it if your machining skills and resources are up to the task. According to the site, it needs a flywheel too. This makes sense, since the plate/bellhousing determines the starter position. The neutral balance can be done by any shop, but I expect you'd need a flywheel blank in order to match the 2.3L crank holes ... maybe not. Custom flywheels are billet, not cast like factory flywheels. Check the price.

Another possibility is to use the Pinto bell and clutch, and make a plate adapter to go between the trans and bell. You'd have to measure the input shaft stickout of the Pinto and the T-18, and the T-18 has to be longer to use this approach. There are a bunch of different T-18 input shaft lengths, so you might be able to find one that will work. You could have trouble finding a small enough clutch disk with the right splines, and you'd have to match the pilot diameter somehow.

<edit> Looking at the pics on the Canfield site, it appears that the V8 flywheel is redrilled to fit the end of the crank. A shop could do this for you. You could maybe use an inline 6 Ford flywheel (240, 250, 300) instead of the V8 flywheel - I6s are always neutral balance AFAIK. These are the same bell as the Ford V8s IIRC.

 

I have a 1990 Ford Ranger with a non-turbo 2.3 powerplant with348,000 miles and the factory clutch just gave out! It is an AWESOME Engine!!! It has the coil packs rather than a distributor to fire all 8 plugs.Yes, I did say 8 plugs,2 per cylinder! I don't know what would have to be done computer wise to use one of these engines in an early Jeep but I think it would be a great engine! Especially hooked in front of a T18.

 

When I did mine I used the pinto bell housing and clutch. I made an adaptor plate for the t-90 trans to bell. Used the pinto pressure plate and t-90 clutch.

 

Here is one how-to writeup I know about ;-)
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/pinto.htm

Now, the T18 or NP435 idea sounds cool. I believe that during the mid-eighties (real precise, folks, I know) that Ford made a bellhousing to marry some RUG/RAT/RAN/T&C whatever tranny against the 2.3L as found in cars and trucks. This bellhousing would have the same bolt pattern as the NP435 or T18. I wish I knew my Ford details better. Some their stuff is pretty cryptic.

 

The 2.3 in the '90 ranger is a Mazda engine. Not the same as the one in the Pinto. I have the pinto to T-90 adapter if you need pics. No its not for sale.

RSN

 

IIRC there was a 2.5L engine in this family that was used in the Ranger though.

Found some tech: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/4cylinders.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto_engine

There were 2.3 and 2.5 Limas (Pinto) in Rangers, and there was a 2.3L Mazda-derived Duratec introduced in 2001. From the above RangerStation link, the 8-plug version seems to indeed be a 2.3L Lima engine, not the Duratec/Mazda engine.

 

I had an '89 Ranger with the eight plug engine mentioned above, and regret getting rid of it now. Had to replace several sensors and other electronic problems at first, but after that I never had a lick of trouble and I always got ~26MPG+. I would think that if one could sort out all the wiring to make the EFI work properly, one of these engines in an early Jeep would be one of the most trouble-free setups you could have.

On the flip side of the coin, I also had a '79 Mercury Bobcat with the older 2.3, and it was a TERRIBLE engine. Installing one of these into an old CJ would be a complete waste of time and money IMHO.

 

I did the 2.3L Turbo to T-98 on my 3A. I had to adapt the bellhousing myself though. A very dated writeup is here. I'm really happy with the swap.

 

Do you have any info on the vw diesel on Craigslist? Are you talking about a vw diesel in a Jeep? Any chance that it could still be for sale?

 

That was a neat write up! Cool Jeep.

 

After some more research and using this great info I came up with a plan to pull this off.

Using the pinto bell, a Scout T18 uses a smaller bolt pattern for the bell housing which I think would fit in the area on the bell the best. The Ford input looks a little short but a Jeep T18 uses the same spline but is a hair longer and if I recall correctly the earlier model Jeep T18 uses a smaller pilot tip? Which should fit into the crank. And the Scout T18 uses the same adapter as the jeep. I don't have any parts to play with yet but plan on trying to get this to work without to many custom parts.

So;
Pinto bell modded to match the Scout T18 pattern.
Jeep input shaft
Most likely a custom pilot bushing

Tell me what you think