was wondering if these heads/blocks are any different from the efi ,2.3's
are the blocks/internals stronger? my buddy is giving me the car free ,his brother passed away wants nothing to do with it,,I was planning on converting it to efi,,,the car hasn't been started since 88,,its a pretty large car for a 2.3,anyone ever drive these ,,its funny how they share the same fox body as the mustang,

 

My neighbor had a Fairmont Futura coupe, (Twin to the Zepher) with the 2.3L and manual 4 speed. It was not any slower than a fox mustang with the same engine and would do 30-33mpg at 55mph.
Dan

 

The engines come off the same line, using the same parts. You could make a sleeper and put a turbo from a T-bird turbo coupe in there...
tom

 

thanks for the info,have to get it running,they tell me after they put a timing belt in it it started knocking,probably they were off a tooth on the timing,,i really want to keep it 2.3,has an auto in it probably three speed?c4? ,,some say these cars were lightweight sure don't look it,but it still a good looking car,no rust,if it turns out to a bad rod,which i really doubt unless they ran it with no oil,those 2.3s rarely die,,,i really don't know much on turbos other than they are great for power and generated quite of bit of heat,,,thanks again

 

The lima (bean) is a non-interference engine, so mistiming the belt would not damage the valves, but would make it run poorly if at all. What kind of knock? The lifters will knock if they have bled down over time, until they get filled back up w/oil.
tom

 

i have done 2.3 timing belts before and onetime i was off by one tooth and the valvetrain was ticking pretty bad,i still haven't had the time to work on the engine,have never heard it run, ,thats what i have been told,the guy who gave it to me doesn't work on cars so it could be anything,,,i know the carb will have to be rebuilt from sitting so long,if it is a rod knock i have an extra 2.3 efi i'll drop in ,I just love the 2.3,in its base form its not fast but thats ok for me,they are darn reliable

 

I have a '78 Merc Zephyr Z7. (whoop-de-doo) Anyway, it's got the 302 with the C4 that I would like to convert to a manual someday. The car is lightweight and can easily made to run like a scalded dog. Best of all, most Mustang parts interchange and insurance is cheap.
The turbo was an option on some of the earlier 2.3 Fairmont/Zephyrs, but they weren't too reliable at that time. The 2.3 could easily be made into a sleeper.

 

Way back when, my Dad and a few of my brothers and myself went to SanFrancisco to look at a '78 Zephyr. It had the manual 4 and the 2.3. It handled the hills OK on a test drive filled with bodies. Took it on the Embarcadero raised freeway, now deleted, and it was fine. I always thought they were pretty good cars, given that they were designed 30 years ago or so.
tom