okay, i saw what happened to the last guy who wanted to put a ch*&# engine in his truck, so im not even going to mention it. but i have a 79 courier, and i wanted to know what all your guys thoughts were on the engine i should put in. right now i have the 2.3 litre one. is that a good engine to rebuild? ive heard of people doing stuff to theirs, but i dont know whats good. also is the rearend good on these trucks? can it stand alot of power? on more thing, the tranny in mine keeps dying on me, ive gone through two. is there any way i can get a five speed for it?

 

Tyler, you have a Masda with Ford badging, and if it is like the one that we had, there just isn't much to work with. I'd look around for a used engine to go in it and save my bucks for a real Ford truck. ;-)
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John

jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page

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66F100s Rule
In the cool still quiet of night you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Pimp,
This is a site for ford trucks. Please refrain from embarrassing the rest of us with ford's bad management decision. American steel is what I love. Jap aluminum is for recycling, consider it.
Good Luck, Have Fun,
KingFisher

 

hey i know what my truck is so you dont need to point that out. sorry my "masda" truck is so pitiful, im sorry my maZda (note that the z is capitalized, because thats how you spell it) has emberrased you.(no offense jowilker) i think that its fords that should be recycled. so you can take your fords and shove em. im goin chevy.

 

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It must be close to Halloween

Dennis

78 F-150 429CJ 465,000 KM.(Original Owner)
68 Mustang 289 Sunlit Gold 80,000 Miles(second Owner)
64 1/2,260 Pre-World's Fair Mustang #8092
64 Fairlane 500 S/C,waiting for a 390 4-Spd

If The Girls Don't Find You Handsome,
They Should At Least Find You Handy!

 

A guy who I once lived next door to had a Courier with a 5.0 in it, man that truck would haul!! Told me he dusted many a Mustang in that thing. The 302 (or 351w) is lighter, dimensionally smaller and will prolly be easier to fit than the chevy. The stock rear might not like a really hot motor, but should be able to handle a mild 302 without any issues.

 

thanks for the help, your one of a few man, im gonna see what i can do about a 302, im kind of worried about all the front suspension, and motor mounts. do you remember what he did about that? thanks

tyler

 

A simpler swap would be to find a 2.3 turbo EFI from a T-bird or similar. Hot Rod magazine had some articles about swapping this engine into vehicles that came with the plain 2.3. There was even a guy drag racing successfully using the turbo 2.3.

Ludis

 

Those fairly big inch 4 cylinder engines are buildable. And a turbo rig (like the SVO mustang had) might actually outperform a v8 in power to weight. There are some sights I've seen devoted to the putting a 302 into a Ranger, and most things in that swap probably apply to the Courier as well. The biggie that I'm aware of is the need to have a remote oilfilter housing because of frame and steering clearances. I'd say putting a 302 in should be less hassle than a SBC. For one thing, think about the location of a big HEI distributor on the SBC and the proximity to the firewall. I'd say the most economical way to spice up the Courier would be to build up the 4 like the Pinto fans did.

BBT

 

Tyler, As long as you stick with Ford I don't really care what you put in your truck. I was thinking about the bottom side of the truck handling what you want to do. If you have the money to spend, go for it. Parts will be hard to come by and everything will have to be custom fitted to your favorite want to be. But if your pockets are deep enough, jump in the water is fine.
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John

jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page

[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group

66F100s Rule
In the cool still quiet of night you can hear chevies rusting away.