2.3 SVO Mustang engine
 

Does anyone know of anyone who has swapped a 2.3 svo mustang engine into the miata chassis. the motors are easily available around me and performance parts are cheap.

Probably not, be the first to do it.

Yes, it has been done. That's a very tall, heavy, cast iron engine with an 8v head that lacks flow to the point that the tbird/svo/merkur guys went to the trouble to modify a volvo dohc head to fit and improve performance. That engine in it's stock configuration has similar power potential as the 1.8 BP Miata engine in boosted form.

They're sturdy but heavy as hell and REALLY thrashy.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Why not a 22RE?

Put a Volvo 240 DL engine block, those things are bullet proof.
Cheap, reliable and dime a dozen in junkyards.
Megasquirt with it...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1314649024

On these things about turbos and engine modding, and if you are on a budget is good to jump in to a platform that is easy to replace by goin to your nearest jy, and does not cost an arm and a leg.

I have thought many times to get a DSM or a SRT4, but no junkyard has them, especially the u pick/ u pull ones. Finding a BP engine block is a breeze, if a Mazda does not have it, its a matter of checking the Escort GTs, Tracers or a Kia.

Duramax is a nice engine, try to find one...

duramax LLM 6.6
turbo 6.6L v8 with 16.8:1 compression.

What year did that engine come in the Volvo, are the electronics reliable, are they RWD, and can I get one in a wagon? What chassis codes am I looking for...and then off to Wiki. I'm toying with the idea of a bigger daily driver that offers turbo fun/mpg.

Ha.

They made them for a long ass time.

I sold a really clean one(with good tires, working A/C and a CD player) for $900 recently:

Attachment 187092

They run literally forever, and are stupid easy to turbocharge.

That's why I got rid of mine...didn't want another turbo project at the time.


Now the twin cam head I think didn't start until '89.

Check the turbobricks forum for info galore.

Yeah, I'm on it. I'm getting the van in the next couple of weeks, but I've been thinking about doing something just like this for a while. I'm getting bored and need a project. Old, wagon, RWD = win. This would probably be an ARTech job too. Ramhorn, 2871, 3", Bilstein shocks, modern leather interior...with cruise control. I want a car that pulls how my turbo car pull on the highway, with the trailer, at 3200rpm in 6th.

I warn you...it's a slippery slope...

I had 4 parts catalogs and 3 forum subscriptions before I finally stopped myself and realized it's a slow as 25yr old wagon that should just be used to cart kids and groceries.

I learned it the hardway, one day line up against a 240DL, with my H22 vtec, and got my fair share of humiliation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JNzv...yer_embedded#!

Swiss cheese 4 CYLINDERS!

Exactly the same engine block, let me know when you see a BP on those times...

Bonus:

Volvo turbo

the 1.6 in my car is boosted already. my buddy and i were walking through the junkyard looking for a part for his fox body and we came a crossed 3 merkur's with the same motor as the svo mustangs. just a thought, but if i was going to go through the trouble of a motor swap it would either be a 5L or a 1.8

Search for a M20. Shoe horn that bitch in and you are golden. Easy 350whp and 400+wtq.

Only an extra 80~ish pounds on the front of the car :laugh:

On a serious note.....I almost did that swap

Might as well go FE or YBT.

Fuck that. If you want a stout BMW 6 cyl: M30

Stout is relative. The M20 can EASILY give more than you can handle on the street and save you 60lbs off the nose of the car versus the M30.

well i guess if i wanted stout i would wedge the new ford 5.0 into it. would need to widen the body about 4 inchs to mount that monster.

2.3's are stout, and the one we measured on the stand was no taller then an LS. It'd give a 5.0 a run for its money.... They are just ugly looking engines.

When I was working at race related we put a 2.3 swaped miata on the dyno, it had the volvo head on it and a gt35r seemed pretty sweet but it threw a rod at 400hp, supposedly due to detonation cause by a bad batch of pump gas. Though i think thats just about the limit of those rods because detonation that sends parts flyin can usually be heard from across the shop.
Either way it will cost more to do the swap then it would to get the 1.6 sturdy enough for 400hp. If you did a 1.8 swap you could prolly get 400whp out of it before it sent a rod flying, it wouldn't last more then a few passes though.

It's retarded to consider a swap because a motor is cheap. In the grand scheme, the motor cost is probably 1/4 of the cost of a swap or less, depending on your ability to weld shit together or use a sawzall (faeflora).

I mean, hell, you can pick up an LS 5.3 truck motor for $500, flip the manifolds and throw a turbo on it if you're creative enough and make 500whp on a stock bottom end with a T70.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=423624

I dunno, those 2.3's with an Esslinger head seem to make a lot of power.

I think this engine would be great for the right kind of swap. Last night on my run I saw a Ford Tempo coupe with a stick... :D Just need to work out that transverse/longitudinal driveline thing.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1314793818

I can honestly say I've never seen a Tempo coupe....

There was a Fetiva for sale down the street in decent physical condition for $1k a few weeks ago...I really would love a BP-t swapped Festiva to fuck with people.

Thread hijack with volvo. Including cost of vehicle about 3-4k into it. When tuned should have no problem hitting 300+ hp and gets 25-28 mpg on the highway:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=225888

Also +1 for volvo swap.

I vote turbo Audi 20v 5-cylinder. XD

A buddy of mine had a 200 20v with a chip/exhaust/filter. The torque output was incredible.

You mean like... a miata engine? All these mills are cool and all, but till you start talking north of 400whp, none of them are a good idea to swap.

Why OEM MAF with megasquirt?

It's just kind of there not doing anything. Haven't gotten around to making a new intake.

My car came with the OEM maf still installed. Even though it's a Hydra car.

Apparently the PO thought it would let him pass smog? Yeah. That didn't work out so well.

Also keeps it CA stealthy for the smog police ;)

Quite true, I saw a street driven Fox Body Mustang with a built 2.3 turbo running high 9s at one of the NMRA events a few summers ago. Not bad for a 2,800lb car with an obsolete 8v head.

I have a turbo miata (FM2), and a Merkur xr4ti. I would consider putting a BP into the merkur, but NEVER a 2.3 into a miata. Not that the 2.3 is bad... it's just very heavy, and the head is poor. I don't think much over 300hp is possible before spending big bucks on the head. If you make the motor strong enough, and get a head that flows (Esslinger), of course you can crank the boost to the moon and run 9's. At that point it doesn't matter one bit what motor you started with.. you've replaced every part of it except the actual block.
BP=strong block, good head, much ligher.

LOL, local has one. It's red--ish with rust, dents and grey-ish bumpers. But it's quick.

A B230FK from a 97 or so is a plentiful and nice engine (if you an make it fit).
Those engines are used here in almost any form of racing (even fully built as N/A it's significantly cheaper to manage than BMW or Porsches, with similar efficiciency).
The 16V head flows really well so there is no need to shop Evo heads from Motor Design

It's a shame that the local Miata scene is too conservative, since where else would you guess to see a Volvo swap...