Stay 2.3 or go V-8 (302/351) ?

Ryan has a pretty strong opinion that more than 450 and the 2.3 is not worth it, but Phil Marshall of PM Motorsports in Queens, NY is getting 500 and 600+ HP out of iron head 2.3s. He drove one to Carlisle that was making 571 HP on boost in the 20s.

John, my point is he isn't going to be making that on pump gas. Boost in the "20s" or not. Making "x HP @ x PSI" is a very invalid argument. The only way he could possibly make that much power on a 2.3 Lima with an IRON head is if he was revving SKY high with a HUGE turbo.

I'm not sure if Ed is still in business, I tried to contact him a few months back with no luck.

I used a windsor-fox harness on my first car. It was real simple and he included a step by step instruction manual.

If that doesn't work out, try a painless harness. I have no experience with it directly, but have heard good things about them.

Thanks for the information. How much did they charge for a wire harness?

I bought mine in 95 and it was somewhere around $400, but that was with me sending them a harness too.

I seem to remember Ford making the Sport model which was essentially the TC with a 5.0. It had all the same bells and whistles.

The Sport model didn't have rear discs and it had the standard door panels and a few other standard items. I don't think it had limited slip either. I don't know if any came with a manual trans either.. maybe someone could shed light on that.

Either way, the TC is a better candidate for the swap because all you need is mounts and a wiring harness, rather than mounts, wiring harness, rear axle/brakes, etc etc etc.

My understanding has been that TC were the only tbirds with manual trans of the 83-88 cars

Originally posted by Donstang86:
So has anyone on this board done a 302/351 swap or have any links regarding wire harness changes etc?

Here's 99.9% of the info you will need...

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/show...php?t=1218

Originally posted by Ryan H:
The Sport model didn't have rear discs and it had the standard door panels and a few other standard items. I don't think it had limited slip either. I don't know if any came with a manual trans either. maybe someone could shed light on that.

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The Sports did have Traction Lock std, but in a 7.5" drum brake rear with 2.73/3.08 gear... All had the 5.0/AOD combo...

Originally posted by Ryan H:

Either way, the TC is a better candidate for the swap because all you need is mounts and a wiring harness, rather than mounts, wiring harness, rear axle/brakes, etc etc etc.

Agreed... I killed a Sport for it's wiring, mounts, throttle cable and about a dozen other things when I did my swap... End result the morphed TC still lives and doing well almost 7 years later... I've probably had as much fun with this car as any I have ever owned...