The Ford Barn

jkeesey · 03-13-2013, 02:15 PM

First of all no one have a heart attack Im working on a Model A Shay. The car has the bone stock 2.3L Ford engine. What I was wondering was does anyone have any experience with these? This car seems very low on power for such a light weight car. It barely wants to push 45-50mph! Im planning on removing the muffler and making some form of one of these new fangled cold air intake tubes but other than that im not definite on anything.

Lanny · 03-13-2013, 09:36 PM

My brother in law had a Ranger with a 2.3, sluggesh as all heck.
He had the timing set (it was way off) and then it ran like a thief in the night.

.

JeffB2 · 03-14-2013, 01:35 AM

This is one way Ford put some pep in them:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-RAcaOves To the right you will see even more examples of 2.3 horsepower,they made a fair amount of these so parts may not be to crazy and several other cars used similar turbos.

raceron1120 · 03-14-2013, 04:19 AM

First experience I had with one was a driver (dealer-owned) '74 Mustang II when they debuted. What a sad disappointment, having gone from the '73s to that POS!

I've owned 3 different vehicles with 2.3s in them. I bought all of them brand new. What a range in setup & power! First one was in late '74, I bought a Pinto mostly for the economy - remember it was during that gas scare, and much like most 2.3s from the 70s was pretty-much gutless. Second is a '87 TBird Turbo Coupe; my son in-law now has it and it and with only about 60K miles, still has lots of 'go'. Third was a '88 Ranger 4x4. I put well over 200K miles on it and it had plenty of power for what it was when I sold it.

Ole Don · 03-14-2013, 03:37 PM

The 2.3 design was very good. Much of its technology is in use today. The early carbureted 2.3 engines we not known for power or acceleration. Consider a newer EFI version. It will all bolt in the Shay, and require some wiring changes. That will make a happy Shay driver.

jkeesey · 03-14-2013, 04:28 PM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Except for the price tag. Although hes probably going to spend the same amount for me to fiddle with everything in the long run.

JeffB2 · 03-14-2013, 05:32 PM

You could start here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Offy-Offenha...8fa05e&vxp=mtr then here:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40 and http://www.summitracing.com/search?k...camshaft&dds=1 The 2.3 is used in NASCAR mini stocks and some road race classes so there are lots of goodies out there,

03-13-2013, 02:15 PM	#1
jkeesey Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Glenmoore Pa Posts: 1,644	Not v8 but a late Ford question First of all no one have a heart attack Im working on a Model A Shay. The car has the bone stock 2.3L Ford engine. What I was wondering was does anyone have any experience with these? This car seems very low on power for such a light weight car. It barely wants to push 45-50mph! Im planning on removing the muffler and making some form of one of these new fangled cold air intake tubes but other than that im not definite on anything.

03-13-2013, 09:36 PM	#2
Lanny Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mn Posts: 2,411	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question My brother in law had a Ranger with a 2.3, sluggesh as all heck. He had the timing set (it was way off) and then it ran like a thief in the night. . __________________ If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. But if daddy ain't happy...RUN

03-14-2013, 01:35 AM	#3
JeffB2 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Phoenix,AZ Posts: 1,417	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question This is one way Ford put some pep in them:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-RAcaOves To the right you will see even more examples of 2.3 horsepower,they made a fair amount of these so parts may not be to crazy and several other cars used similar turbos.

03-14-2013, 04:19 AM	#4
raceron1120 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Ellsworth Michigan Posts: 1,807	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question First experience I had with one was a driver (dealer-owned) '74 Mustang II when they debuted. What a sad disappointment, having gone from the '73s to that POS! I've owned 3 different vehicles with 2.3s in them. I bought all of them brand new. What a range in setup & power! First one was in late '74, I bought a Pinto mostly for the economy - remember it was during that gas scare, and much like most 2.3s from the 70s was pretty-much gutless. Second is a '87 TBird Turbo Coupe; my son in-law now has it and it and with only about 60K miles, still has lots of 'go'. Third was a '88 Ranger 4x4. I put well over 200K miles on it and it had plenty of power for what it was when I sold it. Last edited by raceron1120; 03-14-2013 at 06:09 PM.

03-14-2013, 03:37 PM	#5
Ole Don Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: St. Michael, Minnesota Posts: 1,713	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question The 2.3 design was very good. Much of its technology is in use today. The early carbureted 2.3 engines we not known for power or acceleration. Consider a newer EFI version. It will all bolt in the Shay, and require some wiring changes. That will make a happy Shay driver.

03-14-2013, 04:28 PM	#6
jkeesey Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Glenmoore Pa Posts: 1,644	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Except for the price tag. Although hes probably going to spend the same amount for me to fiddle with everything in the long run.

03-14-2013, 05:32 PM	#7
JeffB2 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Phoenix,AZ Posts: 1,417	Re: Not v8 but a late Ford question You could start here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Offy-Offenha...8fa05e&vxp=mtr then here:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40 and http://www.summitracing.com/search?k...camshaft&dds=1 The 2.3 is used in NASCAR mini stocks and some road race classes so there are lots of goodies out there,