Long story short my dad had a 84 black bird when i was growing up black on black loaded 5.0 with the sport package. He bought it new and i always loved the car, had it till i was about 14 (1996) we bonded over it for years.
He passed on the 11th of September and left me a little money, I took all the money and bought the cleanest bird i could find. It is an 86 TC.
The body and interior are MINT, no rust, leather, nice options clean, clean, clean. BUT it runs a bit rough, I has a ported head, big valves, ported manifold, and intakes, 3" exhaust and the more i drive into it the more I'm beginning to think i should have gone with a 5.0 (but i really wanted the 5 speed).
How much work is the swap? will i kill the value of the car (not a huge deal because i will never sell it)? What are the 5.0 motors going for? The guys on the TC forum are great and give some great advice i would hate to lose that resource, but I think the 5.0 will eventually out preform the 2.3 and be more up my ally if its an affordable swap.
Here is my car. :)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pOHt4he89wU/TpOUlDryUcI/AAAAAAAABs0/8w6Kn3Weq20/s640/2011-10-08%25252011.25.13.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BQNAoXLtuUI/TpOUxEjtaiI/AAAAAAAABs8/yZlXkPbdD4A/s640/2011-10-08%25252011.25.20.jpg)
is the 5.7 a common swap?
Well since it's a clean example of four eyed TC, I'd probably try to return to mostly stock... Still it could be up graded fairly easily with some of the pieces from a '87 - '88 TC plus maybe a aftermarket intercooler...
As far as the 5.0 swap, you'd just about need a parts car(I had two)... Think wrecked 5.0, 5-speed Stang which are scarce these days... Among the components needing swapped would be the wimpy 7.5" rear, T-5 trans(yes they are different), plus all the wiring, plumbing, mounts, brackets, etc to support the 5.0... Unless you are fairly good with wiring don't even consider it, as at least some repinning, splicing and reading wiring diagrams will be involved...
Yup, i wont be doing that then.
I have all the original parts, including head, cam, vam, and intakes, the ones that are on there are 87/88 but i hope to get it running using the preformance stuff that is on there. I have a ford motorsport intercooler in the trunk. Not going to even consider installing it until i have the car running 100 percent.
a 5.0 swap is relatively easy if you're a carb kind of guy. doing an efi swap is a lot more complicated because of the harness and all that nonsense, as stated above. it's not as bad as some people make it out to be, with some online research and some good tech info along the way will make everything go smooth.. it's just a bit time consuming if you hit a dead end and need someone to shed some light on your issue. or grab a couple phone numbers for people who have experience with such beast. it's definitely not something you want to rush into totally blind, research is the key
I was considering it for a winter project. But i think it would be best to get this setup working well and go from there. maybe consider it down the road. Like i said this car isn't going any where I have time.
I would definitely want a carbureted car. I hate overly complicate things. All my race bikes have carbs.
same here.. carbs are easier to tinker with, no laptop or tuner required lol.. the most complicated part of a carb'd 5.0/5.8 swap would be keeping your factory gauges working. for an ignition, you can either go with an MSD box and have a wide variety of distributors to choose from (including an OEM 3 wire duraspark type distributor) or just run an HEI distributor (which is super simple, 1 hot lead for ignition-on). and the fuel systen could be set up a few different ways.. a carb allows different options on how you can set things up
Braapppp, wrong answer... The TC gauges are operated by dedicated senders, don't care if they are in a 2.3T or carbed 460, operation will be same... As py as the factory gauges are, aftermarket is really the only way to go on a modified car...
tthey didn't work in my blue tc.. then again, i don't ever remember if they worked with the 2.3
Considering the car is EFI right now, an EFI swap would be the easiest. It always bugs me when folks "caveman" a car, just because they don't want to take the time to learn something. This stuff isn't rocket science.
Seeing as the current 2.3T is most likely running stock electronics, swapping to a stock electronically controlled 5.0 would be the easiest route, instead of cobbling up the car. Seeing as the car is so nice, either leaving it 2.3T or doing a proper EFI 5.0 swap is a good way to go in this case.
However, this all depends more on your mechanical aptitude. A carb swap doesn't make anything easier, seeing as to do THAT properly, you need to trace what you're pulling out to make sure you don't screw something else up in a ham-fisted attempt to make things "easier".
I'd say you take the time to sort out the current issues with the 2.3T. In the process of that, you can familiarize yourself with the system in the car (EEC4) and things will make a bit more understandable should you decide to go with a swap.
I had a built 2.3t and went to 5.0 in my bird. If you want it to daily drive and gas milage is a factor I say keep the 2.3t, with a little work and some later tc parts it runs as good if not better than a stock 5.0.
I would vote to keep it stock 2.3T and just do a good tune-up on it.
I agree keep it 2.3T, it's a nice car and there's plenty you can do with the 2.3T to get more power.
Looks nice! I had a few 5.0 swapped TC's and I prefered the v8. Everyone has opinions, so do what you think is best.
Car
a carb isn't 'NUTS'.. they're simple to work with and much less involved if you break it down. is EFI more efficient? of course, everything is controlled by a computer.. but carbs aren't exactly exempt just yet.. there are still tons of cars out there pushing big power with a carb strapped on top of the intake. it all comes down to personal preference. i greatly dislike stock injection.. i prefer carbs or a complete aftermarket injection system. my capri is making no more power with it's FAST system (which is professionally tuned) than it had with an 850 edelbrock, at the same amount of boost. now the big upside and reason i switched is, i don't have to jet it for weather conditions or boost changes.. 2 clicks on a laptop and it's retuned for more/less boost
Carb
all of my mud trucks have and always will have carbs, but that's for a completely different reason. the only reason i swapped my carb for the FAST system is for the simple fact i practically stole an almost complete setup for $400, otherwise i'd still have the edlebrock sitting on top
Sor
injection is TRASH when it gets wet.. you'll spend hours on the side of a trail, trying to dry your pos fuel pump relay out, along with god knows what else that can't take on a little water.. i've had all my carb'd truck motors up to the valve covers in water and not a single problem.. my buddy with his injected 5.8 F250 can't even take a little splashing from the fan or else it'll shut down instantly and be a sitting duck for at least an hour.. needless to say, he's seeing the advantages to my carb'd motors and is following my lead ;)
No
for 1, i HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE NASCAR with an un-dying passion.. but they're swapping to efi to make the cars more equal.. same with a class i used to run in my micro sprint, 250cc stock.. everyone has to run the same carb, same year motor, same ignition and absolutely no mods at all.. it makes for an even playing field and that's what NASCAR wants
Shado
i read an article on it, it's so nascar can set a pre-tune in everyone's car that can't be messed with too much. it's more to level the playing field than cut their emissions down. but as you stated, to each his own, same goes for nascar.. i believe real circle track racing is done on dirt in open wheel cars ;)
This is some good stuff. Shadow, you like carbs and hate nascar. Tom you like nascar and hate carbs. I'm getting to know people already, haha. 6 fingered man, as for the 2.3 or 5.0, i'd keep the 4 banger turbo and the efi. I used to hate fuel injection, but I have seen the light.. especially with a boosted car and computer management. It is entirely up to you though, it's your car. Thanks guys.
Tom hit the nail right on the head with this.