Charles Johns
Donation Time
I am making motor mounts to install a 2.3 out of a 1985 Mustang and have heard horror stories about the little engine's weight. Because I need to install / remove it several times to get things right, I decided to weigh it with the carb, dizzy, plugs, alternator, starter, exhaust materials (tubing-flange) and check for myself. My very new scale says 314.8 pounds with NO OIL. I weighed myself to see how close it is to my doctors scale and it is accurate. Doc says I weigh 218 lbs. and my scale says 221 lbs. with my clothes on. Stripping down to my skivvies in my shop seems a little weird and ridiculous, so use your own judgement about accuracy. 314.8 plus oil/coolant should be around 320 pounds. My A4LD weighs 150 pounds with fluid. So 470 lbs. ready to go seems about right. I am guessing my total gain over the 1725 factory motor and 4-speed will be around 200 pounds but the 4th gear will be Overdrive and automatic. The 2.3 makes much more torque and at 1,500 rpm lower with a wider power band. Horse Power is similar coming in with about 8 to 10 HP more but also at much lower rpm. The 1725 made 92.5 HP but at 5,500 rpm, while the 2.3 after mods will make about 110 HP at 4,800 rpm (Auto Engineering Formulas). The extra HP starts around 4,000 and keeps gaining up to 4,800 where it flattens out up to 5,000 rpm. That is where I stopped using the Auto Engineering Formula. TORQUE is where the 2.3 really shines on the street, and that is how I chose my parts for the rebuild. The 1725 made only 103 lbs. per ft. TQ at 3,700 rpm if memory serves. The Ford makes 122 lbs. per ft. at 2,200 rpm factory advertised, and I am sure I have added 20 lbs. per ft. that should be fairly flat from 2,200 to 3,200 rpm. Though TQ is only a SWAG (Scientific Wild A_ _ Guess) using my knowledge of the cam, carb, and other specs. I am an ASE certified engine mechanic though, and 140 lbs. per ft. Torque seems close. Most charts I have seen weigh the motor minus power steering parts and some minus many other pieces. So the next time you hear the 2.3 weighs 400 pounds, they are only about 80 pounds off.