The turbo 2.3 Ford is a heavy engine, in fact, it's almost as heavy as the 5.0 once you factor in the turbo and intercooler plumbing (both of them are right around 400 lbs). Neither one will upset the balance of the chassis, however, as they fit far enough back in the chassis to add weight evenly front to rear. In fact, with the driver in the car, a V8 (or 2.3 turbo) swapped first gen can be slightly rearward biased for weight (as in 48-49% front, 51-52% rear) which is ideal for handling. Especially if you also move the battery to the rear of the car and use an aluminum intake for the V8.

For the Challenge, the V8 RX7 is a hard car to beat, though the fastest have been 2nd gens, mostly due to the better suspension and brakes... Love to see a first gen come out on top!

 

you could get away with a fuel injected second gen n/a s5 motor for prety cheap. Work out the wiring mess, put a nice exhaust and you will easily have 160-170hp. Then just gut the crap out of the car, and put decent suspension on it. The First gens are pretty light cars, 170hp will make them well.

 

i dont want to get in a fight with you, but have you worked on both motors befor.

there is no way the statement about the 2.3 is true i can pick up the block by my self, and the 5.0 i thought i was going to bust a nut. the turbo were useing is half the weight of one of the 5.0 heads and the inter cooling piping is not stainless. if you use the stock 2.3 inter cooler its much lighter then a front mount.

me and my buddy put both motors and tranny's fully dressed up on a scale, cause we wanted to see how much we were saveing ect and the 5.0 was def alot more. i forget the numbers. me and my buddy where able to lift the 2.3 and tranny and where both small guys. the 5.0 we had to use a lift just to move it.


yes it was raining the day we took the 5.0 out the guy who owned the rs turbo befor us gave up on the swap and we decied to put the stock block back in.

 

Sounds like the running and driving '83 Rx-7 with the Olds aluminum V8 backed with a T-5 that I bought for $600 might be perfect for this .....hehe. Bit of a pull from Washington to Florida though.

 

pwned, Healing, pwned...


'there is no way the statement about the 2.3 is true i can pick up the block by my self, and the 5.0 i thought i was going to bust a nut.'

Picking up that motor was that pleasurable for you? j/k...

I was actually thinking of getting a 91 13b and doing some work on it in-house. I was hoping I could get it up to 400hp with some porting and a junkyard turbo off of a bigger car. Not sure how much work that would take, though... Not to mention how much money. I wanted to have about $1000 left for suspension (tires and wheels included) after the motor.

The V8 might be sexy, if the 50-50 would be possible. Have you actually corner-weighted a 1st gen with a v8 swap into it?

And yes, WA to FL is a long drive. Road trip! w00t!

 

Oh, and I don't think 170 whp will be enough. 1/3 of the points are from the drags.

 

And if anyone knows where to get a cheap motor, let me know.

 

craigslist.com under auto parts (or even under autos for sale if you can find a cheap camaro/mustang).

 

As to your weight question, this is an all aluminum Olds 215. It was professionally built and dyno'd at a nice long lasting 220 hp and weighs almost exactly the same as a stock 12a with all of the stock crap on it. Light car, good horsepower, great torque. Only problem is it would have to get something like a Grannies rear end conversion, becasuse even the tallest stock Rx-7 gears run the motor out of revs at relatively low speeds, and probaby are not going to be long lasting with a motor that actually makes some grunt. I can start from a dead stop smoothly in any gear with all the torque though .....

 

I have a running 13b and 5 speed. I am also doing the challenge but I will be removing the engine for something a little more powerful.... I am in Jacksonville fl.

 

We were thinking about entering in this as well with a small block Chevy swapped 1st Gen. Some competitors have done very well with that combination in the past.

Good luck! Looks like fun!

 

Sooooo...

I finally got the pics sized down. Here they be, yo.

I'm not sure there's very much on this car that anyone would want to pay money for. Sad day for me. Anyway, the first step is to gut this interior and get the 12A that's currently in the car running. I can work on the 13b / rb26 / LS7 that I decide to put in while I work on getting the chassis tuned w/ the running stock motor. I need bigger wheels and tires, stiffer springs, and whatever else. Anyone autocross 1st gens? How do they handle? Would it be worth my while to take out the suspension completely and fabricate a dual A-arm flexure joint suspension (lololol XD)? Then this car would be wicked-sick! Then after the suspension I'll build a carbon fiber aerodynamics kit for it...

w00t

 

Where is this event held at? Sounds like a fun challenge. Good luck!!!

 

It's in Florida, which means I have a road trip ahead of me. Anyone else wanna come?