mods for an 88 tc

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mods for an 88 tc

July 02, 2006, 08:49:37 PM

i wzs wondering what stock mods will work on an 88 tc
i was told 2.5 motors parts will work on my stock block i.e. crank, connecting rods, cam, valves, spring, rockers ect.
also i was wondering if an la3 will work on an la2 car.

also do the valve sizes differ in other 2.3l motorsand if the parts do work in the engine i would just use 2.3 bearings and such, or would i use 2.5 bearings

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #1 – July 02, 2006, 10:35:46 PM

You can't use a 2.5 crank unless you use spacers on the main bearings, I believe esslinger and racer walsh both sell them. Is it worth the extra work & cost to get the extra .2 liters? No. Why are you wanting to use 2.5 stuff anyway? If you're looking for 500 hp like you said in that other thread, you'll need a bunch of aftermarket stuff as it is. Turbo heads have larger valves than naturally aspirated ones, as well as the heads flowing better. Stick with the original displacement, it'll make things a lot easier.

You might want to look into joining over at turboford.net as you can learn lots of good info there. BTW I think you put this in the wrong section also.

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #2 – July 02, 2006, 11:04:53 PM

wll the motor is gonna be fully built, its gettin ported out to the max, will an la3 ecu work in an la2 car tho that what im lookin to find out, im tryin to find the facts on stuff i was told,one i was gonna use a 2.5 crank to stroke the motor and i can use the connecting rods

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #3 – July 02, 2006, 11:52:30 PM

I am not a half-motor expert by any means, but if you use a 2.5 crank, rods and pistons in a 2.3 turbo you're very likely gonna be picking up parts of your engine off the ground. Your 2.3 has internals that were designed to be used in a turbocharged engine (forged, low compression). The cast 2.5 parts would fall apart in short order, especially if you crank up the horsepower. The thing about a turbocharged (or supercharged) engine is that the forced induction is in essence increasing the displacement of the engine (by stuffing 5.0 liter's worth of air into a 2.3, for example). Think of it as "virtual displacement". You can increase boost (and thus increase virtual displacement) and get far better gains than you would with an extra 0.2 liters of displacement. If you do the stroker not only can you not increase boost, you'd likely have to turn it down due to the higher compression. Of course, you could always get custom made, low compression forged pistons for the 2.5 stroker, but the cost would far exceed the benefits...

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #4 – July 03, 2006, 12:05:04 PM

Like I said, and he said, who cares about the extra .2 liters? If you REALLY wanna stroke it, you can stroke it to a 2.85 but that will cost you some big bucks (like 2G's for the whole kit). As it is, if you're wanting a 500 hp engine you're looking at some big bucks anyway, but I assume you know that already.

Trust me, there are guys running 9's and 10's on 2.3 liters, it's not that important to stroke the engine. The 2.5 rods are weaker, the pistons are worthless to you, and the crank is probably not as strong either.

Also I believe LA2 and LA3 are essentially one and the same. Again, go to turboford.org. I don't know much about the ecu's but I know people there do.

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #5 – July 03, 2006, 12:30:09 PM

Stroked and "ported to the max", and you plan on running it on a stock ECU? I don't think so.

As mentioned, don't spend the time with the stroker...spend that money elsewhere.

mods for an 88 tc

Reply #6 – July 03, 2006, 03:00:58 PM

Yes the LA3 will replace the 2 with no problem. But it is not really necessary, just use a adj valve on the waste gate to regulate boost. But as Chuck just mentioned a "ported to the max" engine is not going to run anywhere near its potential on stock electronics...

Go over and talk to these guys if you want to learn something about Turbo'd 2.3s...

http://natomessageboard.com/cgi-bin/Ultimatebb.cgi