Ford’s 2.0/2.3/2.5 litre engine family guide

Kinda OT but here's a pic of my gas sipper. Has the 2.0 and a 4 speed in it currently. Gets right around 31mpg!

Planning on building a hot N/A 2.3 for it soon and strapping the T5 to the back of it.

 

I tell them I need one for a 1977 Mustang II with a 2.3L engine.

 

Kenneth S

Thanks for the help with the 77 reference. Amazingly, Bumper to Bumper had everything but the rebuilt distributer on the shelf! While looking for an ignition harness, I fell into a 79 mustang with enough parts for a good start on my second retro motor.

I'm planning, at some point, to go back to 8-plug heads. To that end I've picked up a megajolt spark box and pieces for EDIS. The megajolt has provisions for hard and soft rev limiters... Which brings up the question: What is a realistic redline for a motor set up with Ranger roller and stock rods?

Lenny

 

With the stock Ranger roller cam, and stock valve springs the valves will float around 6000-6500 rpm's. With prepped rods, good rod bolts, and stronger valve springs 8000-8500.

 

Uhhh, is the early Capri and the early Pinto 2.0 the same engine, and are they the 2.0 EAO?

 

Yes, the only difference in the one used in the Capri it that it had a rear sump oil pan, Pinto had a front sump.

 

Can the 2.0 head be shaved to raise compression and/or are there relatively inexpensive aftermarket pistons? I'm thinking about 10.5.

 

I had a head milled .070" to get a 10.5 compression ratio on a 2.0 EAO, but with the cam I was running it was no longer a non-interference engine (I used to change the timing belts frequently). Any time you deck the block, or mill the head on any of these engines a you also need an adjustable cam pulley to get the cam degreed back in correctly. There are no inexpensive aftermarket high compression pistons for the 2.0 EAO.

 

Thanks for the info, quick replies, etc., Kenneth S.

 

Not high compression, but rockauto.com has Sealed Power pistons for ~$40 each. They don't seem to have pistons for the Toyota 3T/2T, which is another engine I'm considering. They do for the Geo 3-banger. So, that's good to know.

I can't see forking out the big bucks for aftermarket high-zoot pistons for my project.

An adjustable cam on a 2.0 EAO might be good for the goal of high-MPG.

 

Please help ID. A guy has a Pinto engine but doesn't know what year it came out of, or what size it is, can't take and email more pics, and this is a couple hours drive away.

Is it a 2.0? I'm looking at the front of the valve cover and it doesn't look like a 2.3, but I've got turbo 2.3 valve covers ...

Thanks,
Kurt

 

That is a 1.6L (98 cu in) "Kent" engine that came in 71-73 Pinto's, and Capri's (they were originally in cars like Cortina's in England). The cam is in the block so it's a totally different engine than the 2.0 EAO, and 2.0-2.5 Lima engines. Parts for those are really hard to find now days.

 

The main thing I'm concerned about is pistons, which I'm finding $400 sets of. That's pricey to me. Cheaper pistons? Any chance a re-ring of this thing would do? Any idea how much this engine weighs?

 

$400.00 for a set of pistons for a 1.6 Kent, or a 2.0 EAO is probably as cheap as you will find for those engines, a hone, and re-ring job doesn't really work too well. The problem is that the bores taper (the bore gets bigger around the more you get closer to the top of the block). You can get pistons, along with all the other parts alot cheaper for the 2.3 Lima which is why the 2.3 is so much more popular engine these days.

 

The 1.6 Kent is a desirable engine.

They are still being used in vintage Formula Fords, and countless UK racecars & Specials
( it was about as popular in the UK once as the SBC is here...)

If its out of a early Pinto, then the cylinder head is crap.
It has a small chamber in there to lower the compression, where the UK version is completely flat.

The 1600GT has the best ports, but a smaller version can be ported to get better flow.

The 1.6 was a taller deck version of the 1.3 and the 1.1.
But with a 5 bearing crank, the smaller versions were 3 bearing.
( there were 1 litre and 1340cc versions of the 1500GT as well but those had an earlyer non-crossflow head)

The cheapest way to bump up the compression ratio is to put a set of 1.3 pistons in a 1.6.
All dimensions are the same, except for the combustion chamber ( which is in the piston, since the head is flat )

I used to go to the junkyard and get a set of used pistons out of an engine that didnt look too abused, but those days are long gone.
( also, they probably didn't sell many 1.3 engines in the States.
If any...)

Lots of go faster stuff available.
Engine weighs about 200Lb ( quite a bit lighter than the Pinto, but fully cast iron so no ultra light weight )
Doesnt like to rev too high, because of the heavy pistons.

 

The 1.6 L Kent crossflow weighs ~200 lb?

Is there a good chance a .020" overbore (+.020" pistons) will be enough?

If yes, then I think I'm getting it.

 

Yeah, about 200Lb.

Enough? Are the bores bad?

 

Look at Burton Power for parts.

 

I have no idea how the bores will be. I've gotta line on some .020" over pistons. It's from a Pinto that somebody's kid wrecked. I'm planning to check it out this weekend.

What parts beside pistons might I need that are also hard to find?

 

Doers it come with a gearbox?

A good 1600GT head would be hard to find.


But everything is avalable through companies like Burton, and used on UK Ebay.

Here is a pic of one of mine.

Twin Webers, dry sump, finned valve cover, etc...

 

Yes, it comes with the transmission.

That's cool. What's that in, one of those Westfield jobs?

 

A mid '60s Mallock U2 Mk6.

 

It depends on how much he want's for the engine/transmission, I rebuilt 4 of those 1.6's, and they all had to go .030" over because they were worn so bad. If you can do a leakdown test on all 4 cylinders, or better yet pull the head off so you can measure the bores (make sure it isn't over bored already).

 

Welp, I got the 1.6 L (98 cubic inches), a transmission, and a watermelon for $120. Unfortunately, NO BELLHOUSING! So, I'm looking for a bellhousing. Does the 2.0 EAO have the same blhsg? There's a Capri in a local junkyard.

Answered- yes, the 2.0 is the same.

Pinto EAO I4 pattern

1.6L/2.0L EAO I4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_bellhousing_patterns#Pinto_EAO_I4_pattern

 

Get transmission from the 2.0 if it's there also, it's alot stronger trans than what was behind a 1.6 (trust me I know! ).

 

Welp, Wiki is wrong and/or I have a different transmission. I pulled a bellhousing from a '72 Crapi (had to pull the engine because the trans bolts are on the INSIDE, and it was flippin' HOT out there), brought it home and it was NOT a match made in heaven (trans side).

ID this trans (P/N 71BG7006 JA)? BTW, the Crapi trans had external shift linkages, and is more than I want to pay right now anyway.

http://s8.zetaboards.com/snowgroomingtalk/topic/8044027/1/

I could weld and re-drill the bell, and make a shim of sort for the different register diameters.

 

Does anyone know how much overbore an '84 2.3 can take?

 

Since the Lima is a thin wall casting like all the other Ford engines .030" over bore is as big as I'd go, if you have to go bigger have the cylinder walls sonic checked for thickness, if walls get too thin you'll have overheating problems.

P.S. Make an intro post in the intro section before someone really jumps your case about it(some people can be really vicious about that).

 

Thanks Kenneth!

Surprising to me they are "thin wall"- they sure are NOT lightweight!!! All that cast iron must be somewhere else...

 

The cylinder head on the 2.3 is pretty heavy.