Engine swap

[Charles Johns]

I got the 2.3 w/auto sitting in the frame and have little room for exhaust...so header plate ordered. Will fab them when I design motor mounts. Ordered a 2 bbl intake/2 bbl carb and point single-vacuum dist. to modify into magnetic trigger type. That way I have points plate in trunk if electronics crap out. Anyone else put a 2.3 Ford in an Alpine? It looks like all will fit just close and no "kit" stuff. The hood will need a bubble or scoop. Where do I get a Tiger style scoop? Are shorter coils available or do I cut the stock ones? Lowering blocks out back are easy but I do not want to screw-up front geometry. Electric fan almost a certainty...anyone have a "best" pusher fan suggestion? I think I have room for a cool-air intake from in front of the radiator brace and electric fuel pump a must. Actually this is much like putting a 289 in my 32 Ford coupe before kits were available.

 

[SeanP]

Bashby,
Recently did a lot of experimentation with the front springs and there is a place that makes them for the front. So no need to cut the stock ones. Just PM him I'm sure he can give you the info

 

[Bill Blue]

Don't get into big of a hurry to change springs. The 2.3 is considerably heavier than the 1725.

Bill

 

[d.works66]

Hood Scoop

Hi Charles, As far as the hood scoop this will fit nicely and look a lot like the Tiger scoop when done W/O the exhaust vents of course. I hope it helps. It's a reasonable price.

Follow this link: http://cobranda.com/gthoscbonty1.html

 

[260Alpine]

Charles, I have that same GT350 scoop for mine. I cut the front back about 1/2" to remove the ridge. I also bought a set of louvers for each side from these guys. The pair of 11 angled.
http://rodlouvers.com/

 

[Bill Blue]

Speaking of hood scoops, I ran across this a few days ago. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fiberglass-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c86c63ba&vxp=mtr

They claim it is for Tigers and Alpines. I am totally untutored in the world of Tiger hood scoops. Anyone familiar with this product? I tend to like it because it is contoured as if someone at least TRIED to make it fit the Alpine hood.

Bill

 

[Series6]

Bill

Iike the fact that's it low profile but the measurements appear to be 17"x36". Seems big for the hood.

 

[260Alpine]

It looks like the LAT Tiger hood scoop. The curve of the hood gave me problems as the GT350 scoop is pretty flat. I made a template and bolted the middle down first,then alternating front to back. Half of the bending done by the hood, half by the scoop. Turned out ok after bonding the edge, but I would rather buy that one for half the price. You could cut a hole for the scoop and bond to the underside of hood.

 

[Charles Johns]

Hood scoop

Thanks for the info guys. I may fab my own out of sheet metal to get the proper curve/height I need. The 2.3 looks like it will be about 1" to 1 1/2" above the stock position. I know the Tiger had heat problems in the floor area and that is one reason I am going with a 4 cylinder. With a 2 row crank pulley and a pusher fan in front of the radiator it looks like I will NOT need to modify the steering!? The long process begins.

 

[Bill Blue]

Once again, don't get in too big of a hurry, making decisions to solve non existing problems. The stock hood clears the DOHC Duratec engine with ease. What causes me to need a hood scoop is the "over the top" intake manifold. The plenum, extends 5" above the camshaft cover, is about 1/4" too high.

The Pinto 2.0 engine with Weber carb and air filter did not have hood clearance issues. When I was using the turbo (once again, "over the top"), I needed the scoop to clear the turbo. But that was just for a fraction of an inch.

If you do encounter a need for more clearance, it will be for the air filter, not the engine. Here you can see the Pinto engine with the Turbo removed and the "U" shaped exhaust. All of the that stuff cleared the hood.


Bill

 

[Charles Johns]

Hood

I will NOT cut the hood unless needed. The motor mounts are next and I can't see them in the pix of the Pinto. How did you rout the top hose to the drivers side radiator inlet? What exhaust is that...a turbo modification? I ordered a header plate to build my own pipes. Thanks a bunch for the info. You guys seem to have solved many of my future problems.

 

[Charles Johns]

Bill, it looks like your 2.0 is about an inch farther back than my 2.3 is sitting. I plan to try and keep the steering cross-bar unaltered by making the mounts keep the pan just behind the front cross-member and as low as possible. Cutting the hood will be the last thing I do, if at all!? How did the 2.0 run? I am installing an aftermarket 2 bbl intake and a 2 bbl carb keeping all else mostly stock. Hotter ignition, electric fuel pump and headers should put it into about the 140 hp range. The pictures help a lot...any more? THANKS!

 

[Bill Blue]

Here is a photo of the engine mount. It worked okay, but as you can see, it was close to the steering arm. I was struggling to use the stock 2.0 motor mounts, which had to be modified to clear the arms. If I did it again, I would forget a about the stock mounts and raise the attachment point above the steering arms.


I did not have to touch the upper steering rod. The engine was set as far back as it would go. The intake/master clearance was the determining factor. The turbo'd 2.0 ran pretty good.

The water pump outlet was cut and rotated so that it pointed to the general direction of the radiator inlet, then welded.

The problems: Muffler monkey installed the exhaust with a tremendous restriction, so power was not as good as it could have been. I would guess that with the turbo, it was putting out about 150 hp. The 3.55 rear was a little too tall. The stock 3.89 would have been much better. The Fish carb float started leaking from the constant pressurazation. (my fault). I was never able to get a satisfactory tune on the stock Weber.

Anybody need a smoking deal on a 2.0?

When making the Duratec header, I ran into clearance issues with the usual collector, so went with a flat four type, purchased from cone engineering. Things get awfully cramped down there, what with the narrow frame rails, crossmember and motor mounts. Solved my problems - you might consider
one if you find things not working out.

Bill

 

[Bill Blue]

A follow up on the previous post. I suppose a person could say this is obvious, but it seems things are most obvious to me after the fact.

Anyway, a good strategy would be to place the motor mounts directly above the steering arms. That would allow decent space between the crossmember/ upper A arm and motor mount/steering arm for the exhaust. I ended up with little space for the exhaust, resulting in the botched exhaust installation. Can't be behind the steering arm as the starter needs that area.

Bill

 

[Charles Johns]

Thanks for the pictures. Mental ones are never as good as the real thing. I had forgotten about the "flat" collector box and your info gave me an idea. Drop the pipes down similar to a small block chevy rams horn into a collector then out of that into a 2" exhaust with a 24" glasspack. I'm thinking I will fab mounts off the factory blot holes with a parallel-to-the-ground plate and use the Alpine frame holes to fab a parallel-to-the-ground resting place. Then a simple rubber mount will sandwich in between. I did this in a 40 Ford coupe with 289 I drove as a daily driver for 12 years and I believe I used an industrial compressor rubber mount. It is obvious using the clutch firewall mount for the master cylinder opens up lots of room on the drivers side but exhaust will be tight! Any problems leaving off the belt cover? I think I will go with the the later type 2-stage weber 2 bbl carb mainly due to alcohol in gas these days and use a low profile bonnet with a cool-air hose to the front of the radiator. Some of the factory low mount breathers may work...off to the dead car yard!

 

[Bill Blue]

No problem running without the timing belt cover, but I put only about 13k on that installation. As to "off to the dead car yard", I think I predicted that is where you'd do most of your engineering!

Bill