I'm new to the mustang comunity. I have always been a mustang fanatic since I was little. I just sold my 2004 ford focus ZTS and got a 04 Explorer Eddie Bauer and a 93 Mustang 2.3 cyl. I'm looking into moding and was wondering if I could get your insight on modding the 2.3. I really do apprecitate it.
Posts: 858
Joined: 1/5/2007 From: Indianapolis Status: online
Welcome to Mustang Forums. I have a 93 as well. There aren't really a lot of easy mods for quick horsepower. You can get about 3 hp from a cold air intake (which is harder on 90-93 because of the MAF). You can also get maybe 10-12 horsepower from porting and polishing the intake and exhaust. You can get underdrive pullies to free up maybe 2 hp and an a/c delete (not recommended if your ac works) for a few. A cam with higher lift and duration can add more horsepower than any of the previous mods, but I think your gas mileage will get worse due to the valves being open more or longer. If you really want to get into it, you can turbo it or swap for a turbo motor, but if you turbo an n/a, don't run boost over 5psi without getting forged internals. If you have the means, a v8 swap isn't out of the question either. You can get your horsepower up from 105 to about 160 without going turbo or doing major mods. Turbo or v8 can go as far as you can afford.
Me, I have kind of a cold air intake (I got rid of restriction in the air silencer), and I have my a/c disconnected because it didn't work anyway. Just doing that made my car have much better acceleration. A little goes a long way with these four cylinders. Just tell us what kind of ideas you have, and we can help you out.
Well I have thought about the basics intake, exhaust (don't know which one), maybe tb, wheels and tires nonWinter=true&partNum=A695734P&autoMake=Ford&autoModel=Mustang&autoYear=1993&autoModClar=Base+2.3L+4cyl&wIndex=0&grid=true&sw=1280 tell me what you think of the wheels. They are the 15"s and they only weigh 17 lbs each. wrapped around by the Kumho ECSTAs. Some restoration of course, short throw shiffter, playing with the idea of adding a turbo, I don't if I want to go with a body kit. I'm going to paint either white with blue stripes down the middle or blue with white stripes down the middle. I'm open to suggestions.
Personally, I would just do some odds and ends to make it look better, and handle better. There isnt much power to be found in one of the 2.3L's without the turbo.
Make a cold air intake, with a little creativity, you can make one from another car work, and you can get them cheap off of ebay. I've bought 5.0 ones, cut em up, and made them fit my turbo car. You might be able to work with one for a 3.8L, since I do believe they are a bit longer.
With exhaust, you can make these things sound decent, but I'm not too sure of how much power you can pick up. Some years rangers have a header that bolts up to the engine. If you're planning full exhaust, the header is the perfect time. Do a single 2.5" through a high flow cat, then you can either have a y-pipe made, split to two mufflers and use LX tails to get the pretty tips, or go single. Some Hooker Maxflow mufflers seem to sound good on these cars with a cat on em.
Throttle body isn't worth much on these cars. It's not really a problem area.
Something I would do, in your situation, is hunt down some GT parts. Get the front spindles and brakes, so you have the larger brakes up front, both front and rear swaybars, some quality shocks and struts, and some other little odds and ends. Doesn't sound like much, but it'll surprise you in a 2.3L car.
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What are some good mods for the 2.3 Mustang? - 
