1984 Ford 2.3L powered Bronco II

Moving right along on the Bronco, and I've come to the first major compromise.

The input shaft on the Toyo trans had some scoring where the pilot bearing spun. While researching bellhousing options, I noticed that the '85-up bells with integral slave cylinder mounting were much more common (and thus cheaper) than the '83-'84 external slave version. The transmission input shaft length changed between the two options also, the later version about an inch shorter. So by going to the later bellhousing, I could fix the issue with the galled input shaft, as it will need to be shortened about an inch. I bought an integral slave to make sure it would work with the older style Toyo 4 speed, then ordered a late bellhousing from a Utah wrecking yard ($60 shipped).

So, first picture is of the input shaft, which will have to be shortened...

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And the slave cylinder. Bad part of this is the trans has to come out to replace these, but the good is the quill and throwout bearing are part of it, and get replaced too...

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Speaking of the quill, the Toyo quill has to come off for this style of slave to fit. So off comes the front cover for a little cutting....

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Had to file the ears of the slave slightly, as it gets pinched between the transmission and the bellhousing, but it fits. Bolted it together, just have to shorten the input shaft once I get the correct measurement.

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This shows the excess length of the input...

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Last update is I've abandoned the baffle idea, because I stumbled across a windage tray from a Toyota V6 application that I can modify for the 2.3L.

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Needs some trimming, but the bore spacing is close enough.
 
Just checking in.. my local Craigslist told me I should.
[url=http://fargo.craigslist.org/pts/4986919043.html:2rva905r said:
Ford Pinto Motor & C4 Transmission - $700 (Lake Park)[/url]":2rva905r]For sale is a Ford Pinto motor & C4 Transmission. Do not know the exact year. It has an Edelbrock intake and two Holly carbs.

It appears it may have been rebuilt, but not sure. It has aluminum front timing cover and aluminum valve cover.
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And
[url=http://fargo.craigslist.org/pts/4964269056.html:2rva905r said:
ford 2300 racing parts - $100[/url]":2rva905r]I have ford 2300 racing eng parts 3 ram couler clutchs, tillton clutch, racing cylinder head, eng blocks, aluminum flywheel and pressure plate, exhaust manifolds steel and cast iron, stocker rods pistons (30 over) and crank, intake manifolds, headers, upper control arms, marine eng with crank rods piston,$100to500
-ron
 
From the oil filter location that is probably a 2.0L German Ford...neat intake.

I've got the tray modified to fit. Took a little cutting, grinding and welding. It's anchored in 4 places with .100" clearance to the rod bolts.

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Time to get into the head...
 
So, the Speed Pro pistons require me to make another compromise. The assembled short block has the pistons down in the hole about .023". This is not uncommon for stock pistons, but reduces quench, not a good thing for HP. I was going to run an oval port head with the big combustion chamber on this engine. I've already started hogging out the intake bowls for bigger valves (before the idea of the Bronco II took root). Problem is the compression will be low without a fancy (read expensive) MLS gasket or excessive milling (also costly).

I've built a few 2.3L engines with the D port head, and like the way they run. The D port comes in unshrouded (turbo) and shrouded (fast burn) designs. The shrouded chamber is similar to the EFI 4.9L chamber, and works well for economy/torque. It's also smaller, which will bump compression. The swirl characteristics of the chamber negate the need for quench, so no fancy gasket needed. So, off to the junk yard I went, looking for head and roller cam/followers.

I hit the jackpot.

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This was installed on a Courier pickup, with this intake...

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Now I have a roller-equipped D port head that I can clean up, port, do a valve job on and bolt to my short block.

I realized I didn't need big valves to make 130 HP (or even 115 HP). 1.74" intakes will get the job done, even with the heavy intake valve shrouding.

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The intake I stumbled on is a D9 prefix, known to mini-stockers as the Z intake, because of the channels in the plenum floor.

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It is an oval port intake, developed for production in 1979. The earlier intake was a D4 (1974, from start of 2.3L production), which is slightly more desirable for racing due to more plenum volume. There will be some port mismatch using an oval port intake with a D port head. Notice the oval port gasket on the D intake ports...

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I'll keep searching for the correct intake, prefix E1 (1981). That is a carb intake that matches the D port head. Ford was changing the intake and head design to reduce fuel puddling in the plenum and runners when cold. Early 2.3L's were cold-natured. There isn't really a power difference between the two head designs.

The nice thing about all of the intakes mentioned above, is that once you remove the Weber 32/36 or one-barrel adapter (not shown), a two-barrel Holley or Autolite/Motorcraft carb bolts right up.

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The Holley pictured will have to be reworked for four-cylinder use, namely PVCR restriction and accelerator pump pullover, but should work well...

I picked up another old Ford inliner over the weekend to play with...

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Going to restore it and move some dirt around my property.
 
:beer: Really nice Ford tractor! I picked up a little John Deere 420 to move dirt with too, have been hunting for parts and attachment's for. It looks also like you are making lots of progress on 4 Banger! Good luck :nod:
 
Anything new on the 2.3? I'm really enjoying the build. But I have to admit I don't understand all the T-5 stuff. If I wanted to do something like this, would the dual-plug head be okay? or should I really hold out for a single-plug head?
And as far as I'm concerned you can talk about the tractor too! thanks.
 
I've got the engine together and am starting to work on the engine mounts. Have a bunch of pics, once I get the engine location finalized this weekend I'll upload some more...

The tractor has been a joy to work on. So simple compared to modern cars. So far I've rewired it, changed oil, added some missing parts (sediment bowl and fuel line). It runs, but this weekend I will install a starter bendix and diagnose the hydraulics.
 
The last steps in assembling the engine was to cc the chambers to determine what the static compression ratio will be.

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Starting with 100 cc in the burette, the chamber consumed 56 cc. With the pistons down in the hole ~.023", the ratio will be 9.00:1.

The junkyard yielded mounts from a '94 Ranger. I figured since the Bronco and the '94 Ranger were both twin traction beam, the crossmembers would be the same. They were close, but I ended up over sizing the hole in the mount brackets, slid the engine around until it was happy, and tack-welding washers to the brackets. Removed everything, and final welded the washers.

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I'll paint the Bronco gray with a red stripe, so the engine ended up in similar colors. I had a long tube header left over from my Pinto project. I was hoping it would fit the Ranger, but #3 tube wanted to occupy the same space as the evaporator plenum. I went back to the wrecking yard and picked up a Ranger shorty to run for now.

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The Holley 7448 2 bbl is a V8 carb. It must be modified to work on the 4 cylinder. There are two problems. Vibration, and vacuum signal. Vibration can cause the accelerator pump circuit one way check valve to resonate and pump fuel, even when the throttle isn't moving. The fix is to spring load the ball or pintle under the squirters, or chose a carb that uses the steel check ball instead of the rubber flapper valve in the float bowl. Vacuum signal problems happen with big venturis at wide open throttle and low rpm. The 4 cylinder only has power pulses (and intake pulses) every 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation. At low engine speeds, the air flowing past the venturis can reverse and flow backwards through the carb. With multiple passes through the venturis, the air will pick up fuel each time, causing a rich condition.
 
One thing that must be done is the power valve channels must be restricted to lean out the carb and allow it to work with the smaller displacement engine. This is done by drilling and tapping the channels and installing brass restrictors. I buy 6-32 brass plugs (Fastenal is a good source) and drill them.

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Clutch and flywheel arrived this week, so installation will happen this weekend.
 
I don't run the plastic covers on any of the 2.3l's I build. The cam and crank timing marks are on the covers, so before I dropped the engine in, I took a few minutes to find TDC on both the cam and crankshaft. Cam centerline is found by leveling the head and standing a flat surface across the first two cam lobes.

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I punch a dimple on the front of the head aligned with the cam pulley mark.

Crankshaft TDC is a little more difficult. It involves a degree wheel, a piston stop, some math, and a fabricated pointer.

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This will make adjusting the ignition timing much easier.

Left and right mounts,

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And the engine in it's final resting place. I love the room around it.

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Bleeding hydraulic clutches in Fords is tough because of the downward angle of the clutch master cylinder.

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I find if you remove the master and it's reservoir from the firewall and tilt it level, the air bleeds out much easier.
 
Hey Mechrick, still following, great work! If you could educate us dumb people, I've heard that number 3 cylinder on these engines like to lean out, I guess due to fuel distribution in the intake. How do you deal with that on a budget build?
I thought your motor mount solution was a very good idea. Were you still going to show some porting pics or are they confidential? Either way thanks for sharing your knowledge. I hear you about the joy of working on simple things, I spent almost 10 years as a dealership mechanic for a Japanese import company. hmmmm, flat rate!
 
chessterd5":3a88tj53 said:
I've heard that number 3 cylinder on these engines like to lean out

The 2.3L has fuel distribution issues, but for a DD I can set the leanest cylinder at a safe fuel ratio and not worry about it. Most of the published distribution issues were on dynos searching for peak HP numbers.

Incidentally, a good tool for checking this is an infrared pyrometer aimed at each exhaust runner.

chessterd5":3a88tj53 said:
Were you still going to show some porting pics or are they confidential?

If they were, it would be a wasted gesture...seriously though, I ported the exhausts only in this head. With the wet intake runners I'm hoping the sharp edges in the intake ports will help fuel economy. I do have pictures of the exhaust port work somewhere. I'll post them when I find them. It's nothing special though. Just cleanup of the ports with a brake wheel cylinder hone and streamlining of the exhaust valve guide boss and the short side radius. That's it.

If the power is lacking, I can always pull the head back off and port/mill some more...

I should get it running this weekend. Then deal with the accessories, exhaust and driveshafts...
 
Got the fuel pump installed this weekend. I originally ordered one for a 2.3L Mustang, but the housing dropped down, interfering with the steering gear. Reordered one for a Ranger 2.3L, and scratched my head for a few minutes, because it interfered as well. For a minute, I thought I was going to have to run an electric, which would be a step backward in reliability. I've seen trail vehicles stranded when the electric pumps failed. I ran one on my Samurai, but kept a spare in the glovebox.

Then I realized the Ranger application flipped the pump upside down. Duh.

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It still may interfere with the power steering pump/bracket though.

Next problem. The fuel bowl points the fuel line at the valve cover. Had to swap fuel bowls to get the correct orientation.

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4x4's should use a center hung float bowl.

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Bent a fuel line and attached a new 5/16" hose to the pump inlet.

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Spent some time extricating the EEC computer and harness. Fords have always been fairly logical about harness layout. In an hour I had the wires identified and the EEC out of the car.

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I kept the gauge harness, which also has key power wires that I will use for other circuits. Not much to the simple carb harness...

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I won't be using the fender mounted voltage regulator, as the Ranger bracket uses an alternator with an internal regulator. The Bronco uses an ammeter that I will not use. Pity I can't change it for a volt meter.

I'm going to try to run a HEI module with the Duraspark distributor. I used an aluminum lowering block that has been collecting dust in my shed for the heatsink. The connections are crimped for now, if it runs well I'll go back and solder each one later. I tried this once before with less than spectacular results. Not sure if I have to run a resistor with the TFI coil. Last time I did this, I didn't use a condenser either, but supposedly it is only for RFI.



Battery and radiator should see it run next week.
 

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awesome!

this is a project i'd like to do as well. the old generation rangers and bronco 2's are destined to become classics, i've always thought they've got great lines and with the 2.3, you can't kill them.

there are lots of them popping up on craigslist near me with blown up 2.8's. wore out timing chains and blown head gaskets, nobody wants to fix them. you can buy them rust-free for scrap prices.
 
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