I've always been intrigued by the XR4TI, myself...gotta love a semi-practical sedan that's fun to drive and has potential. Too bad Ford didn't have the cajones necessary to actually sell it as a Ford, maybe they would have sold more and wouldn't be so rare now.

 

i never cared too much for the Sierra/XR4TI, myself. i think they would have appealed to me if they were smaller. i liked the general shape and the lines, it's just the car looked so bloated - but i guess it followed suit with most of it's contemporaries. aside from a few generations of the Mustang, the Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts, the Mk2 Cortina and the RS200, Fords do nothing for me.

 

If the XR4Ti wasn't so rare, I might have bought one of those instead of doing a 2.3T swap on an FC. I not a big fan of the styling of the XR4Ti, however it does come with a good suspension(something my mustang lacks). Lots of room for tools and parts for track days.

A lot of people say "if you want x engine than you should buy x car". that would be much easier. In my case I started to build up my 93 mustang for track days. it started as a 4 cyl, 5 spd. I did a 2.3T swap for less than $500(200whp @ 21 psi). It handles much better than it did when it was stock ($2k later) but to finish the suspension will cost me another $4-$5k and it still won't handle as good as an FC does with a decent set of coilovers, cc plates and sway bars.

Now some people might ask "why the 2.3T ford?". My answer is "the cheapest engine swap is with an engine you already have". In my case I have 3 of these engines in my garage, plus spare turbo's, trans, harness, ecu, etc. and I probably haven't spent more than $1000 on all of it.

As for my cost to put the 2.3T into an FC;
clean shell from FLA $500
engine and trans mounts $115 shipped
drive shaft $200-$350
Mod or build new UIM $100
Fab Alt bracket $50
DIY Downpipe $50
Misc $300
Total ~$1500

 

any ideas of where to look for one of these diesel engines? I'm converting my convertible to diesel power for better mileage but never thought about a ford diesel

thanks

lewis

 

Oops, sorrry. looking for 2.3 diesel not gas motor

 

it's funny that you ask this becaue i was thinking the same thing with a 2.3 turbo my father has sitting around. i don't like the idea at all of swapping in a piston engine into my 7 but i understand that i would be farther ahead in the relability depatment. that being said, if i did swap for a piston motor i'd do something just plain ridiculous, like a tubo thunderbird motor! hell, S5's have cheap knock off's of their tail lights anyway.

 

I'm looking for fuel economy. I've been pulled in several directions, ford diesel being one but I think I'm going to use the 1.9 td VW and mate it to a Toyota 22r tranny. Acme adapters make the adapter for it so It should keep cost and construction time down

lewis

 

k. i have a 84 mustang gt donor car. motor and tranny are pulled. stuffing them into a 2nd gen. im wondering what to do about the harness. this will b my first swap that involves harness swapping also. idk what to take. just looking for any advice i can get. also did u use stock gauges? i would like too. any info would be great. thanks. i would have pm'd u 7t9rex but i dont have 3 post yet.

 

god i'm so sick of hearing that the rotary is unreliable...

 

Great motor. A guy local to me has a mustang that's been running over 500whp bone stock for several years and hundreds of pulls. He has a built motor with a volvo head he was planning on throwing in the car when this motor blew. He was trying to find the limits of the stock 2.3 but it's gone far beyond his expectations.

 

2.3 is the way to go huh? Sheesh and I bought a 7 for my swap. How much do the 2.3's weigh? The conversion pl8's are allot cheaper for the ford swaps too.