1984 Mustang SVO Build

[78Fairmont]

Last April (2016) I bought my first SVO. A 1984 Dark Charcoal Grey car. I got it fairly cheap, as it had 2 major problems with it. The engine had what sounded like a rod knock, and the title is "rebuilt."

I was told the title is rebuilt due to a theft recovery when the original owner had it. And the car has the wrong nose and hood (85-86 LX), presumably due to the theft recovery. I ran a CarFax when I bought the car, and it looks like I am the 3rd owner. The guy I got it from added a lot of aftermarket goodies. Precision 5831 turbo, Gnari manifold, Precision wastegate, Stinger front mount intercooler, Aeromotive regulator, Aeromotive in-tank fuel pump and a Spec clutch.

Here are some pictures of the car the day I brought it home (April 17th, 2016):








Shortly after I got the car home, I pulled the engine and trans. Here are the pictures of the engine removal (April 30th, 2016)













Unfortunately, the previous owner wasn't much of a mechanic, and more than a few things we're "hacked' together. For one thing, he didn't know that you could clock the turbo, so he beat the passenger shock tower in order to make room for the turbo outlet.




The shock towers are fairly clean for a 33 year old Mustang from the Midwest. I need to do some clean up work to keep the rust at bay, but it shouldn't be too difficult.




And here she sits, with the engine out. Patiently awaiting a donor 2.3t and T5.

[78Fairmont]

The Donor

Fast forward 9 months to present day. I bought a donor car for the SVO. A 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. The Thunderbird has some severe shock tower rust, and had already started to come apart before I got it. I bought the Thunderbird with no rear end under it. The rear end you see here is an empty housing with axles in it, to allow me to get it up on a trailer (hence why the rear wheels are sunk in).

Here are some pictures of the Turbo Coupe the day I bought it (January 15th, 2017):














After I got the Thunderbird home, I began the engine and transmission removal. Here are some pictures from when the engine came out (January 21st, 2017):








Here is a shot of the shock tower rust that I was referring to. I have been contacted by a previous owner of the car (3 previous owners ago) who is interested in buying it back as a rolling shell. I am hopeful that he comes through with his offer on the car, and that the shell can go to a good home.






And here is the group of parts, patiently waiting for me to get the engine bay of the SVO prepped to accept its new power plant. I need to do some rust clean up before the engine and transmission can go in, but hopefully I will be getting at that here in the near future.

[78Fairmont]

Performance Parts

When it comes to performance parts for the 2.3 turbo, I have been collecting for quite awhile. Even before I bought the SVO, I had more than a few 2.3t engines and performance parts. Here is a quick list of some of the parts that I hope will eventually make its way onto this car.

Boport tubular turbo manifold. Long story short, I got this in a large lot of parts. The wastegate flange has been modified to accept a v-band style wastegate. I have a Turbosmart Hypergate 45 that I intend to use in conjunction with this header. Forgive the poor picture with the pulleys in the same box. I was moving parts around that day.



A mockup of the Boport header and Precision Turbo:






I also have an opened up square lower intake. It has not been ported all the way through, just opened up where the upper and lower meet.




My plan is to take a stock 2.3 upper, and rotate/gut it to work with the lower. Here are some in progress pictures of the upper.








Another thing that I really enjoy about putting cars together is the hunt for "rare" or "special" parts that were not originally equipped on the vehicle you intend to use them on. One such part is this D9 bellhousing. I was told these were only used on the 1979-1980 carb'd turbo 2.3 cobras. I happened to find a good deal on one in a facebook group that I frequent. What makes this special is that it is a "direct pull" style that doesnt require the mini cable and bell crank of the stock SVO bellhousing.

Here it is after being degreased and ready for paint:







And after a coat of primer:



After 3 coats of "aluminum" silver:



And after 3 coats of clear (to tone down the silver and give it more of a grey/aluminum look):




Another item I find interesting is the aluminum oil pan that Ford used on the early 90's Mustangs and 90's thru 2000 Rangers. Ford had to have a reason to go from a stamped steel oil pan to an aluminum oil pan. It wouldn't be cost effective to do so without a reason. Regardless of why Ford did it, I plan to use one for the simple fact that it can't rust. There may be some other benefits to the effect of better oil cooling properties, or perhaps that its marginally more structurally rigid. But for me, I just like aluminum, and it wont rust out on me.

Here it is after being degreased and ready for paint:







And after a coat of primer:



After 3 coats of "aluminum" silver:



And after 3 coats of clear (to tone down the silver and give it more of a grey/aluminum look):




And here are some shots of the Stinger Front Mount Intercooler that were removed from the car. I do not intend on running this kit, so I took it off of the SVO:

[78Fairmont]

Along with all these parts shown in the previous post, I also have a Spec clutch, Centerforce clutch, Chuck motor mounts, Escort flywheel (that will be re-drilled for the Turbo clutch), Siemens Deka 80# injectors, SN95 front spindles, SN95 8.8 rear axle, Maxiumum Motorsports rear lower control arms, 03/04 Cobra brakes, aluminum driveshaft, Volvo 740 intercooler, Ranger 4.0L radiator, SN95 5.0L throttle 60mm body, Melling M127 oil pump with pickup tube and drive shaft, Holset 341, 3" Flowmaster turbo back exhaust, Eibach rear springs, and the list goes on.....

My intent is to get the car cleaned up, and get the engine and transmission installed in the car. From there I am torn on which direction to go with the ECU. I have a TE, LA3, LA2 and 8UA computer laying around. As well as 3 or 4 large VAM's. But I really cant bring myself to using that outdated of an ECU on the car. I have an '05+ Slot Style MAF, and I am fairly well versed in the OBD2 CDAN4 (1996-1997) Mustang ECU's. I have a Moates Quarterhorse as well as a license for Binary Editor (tuning software). I think I will try and make the car run on the OBD2 ECU. It will take a lot of work, and I will basically have to make my own harness from scratch, but I believe it is doable. With a 36-1 crank wheel and a VR crank sensor, I am confident I can at least get the car to run.

Updating to the newer ECU does 2 main things for me. It converts the car from batch fire (all 2.3t ecus only have 2 injector outputs). And it will allow me to run the car with a coil pack, eliminating the need to replace a cap and rotor, as well as giving more precise timing control than the distributor with worn out gears can provide.

This doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of chewing up auxiliary shaft and distributor gears, but it will at least update the car to a newer standard. If I really wanted to get rid of aux/dizzy gear problem, I would jump into a 1995+ Ranger block, as they are already setup for OBD2 and the aux shaft is gone completely, with the oil pump driven by the timing belt directly. (I also have a brand new OBD2 block laying around, waiting for the right project).

[78Fairmont]

reserved for future posts. I will be moving the car from my buddies shop, to my 2 car garage soon. This post will reflect that update

[RFranklin]

Wow! Awesome pictures !