Looking for a shop in my area. Thinking I’m going to take the drivetrain out of an 1985 mustang SVO 2.3 L turbo + T5 trans for a transplant into a 1969 TVR Vixon. I have the original straight 6 Triumph engine and transmission that have just (years ago but 0 miles) been rebuilt. Tell me if this is a stupid idea to not keep the car original and drop some weight for more hp, efi, 5sp trans. Not sure the current irs diff would be very happy with the increase in hp. This is still very much in my planning stage. Thanks for any input.
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Engine machine shops in Tempe/Phx? Or Not?
- Thread starter no704
- Start date
Rusted Nut
Well-known member
Hmmm, didn’t know TVR’s had Triumph engines, knew some had MG’s. If you have a fresh OEM engine I’d keep it. Not sure much of the drivetrain would like the power of your Ford. TVR’s did come with Ford engines, but probably less HP than what you’ll have.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Sounds like a bunch of work for a 175-200hp setup. how modified is the 2.3?
RoninB4
Well-known member
-Short reading shows that the Triumph motor wasn't introduced until a year after the OP's 1969 model. This suggests that the motor is not part of the original OEM build, not that this is important to anybody except the period-correct crowd.
-Will be a lot of work involved with this to get the balance of power, weight, suspension, braking, and room in the engine bay to work on things. Hope you've got a 3D CAD program to model the plates/brackets needed because retrofitting can/will get expensive unless someone in the owners club has already done the work and shares it with you.
-It's a great looking car I've admired for decades. If you do move forward some photos of the project would be nice.
-Will be a lot of work involved with this to get the balance of power, weight, suspension, braking, and room in the engine bay to work on things. Hope you've got a 3D CAD program to model the plates/brackets needed because retrofitting can/will get expensive unless someone in the owners club has already done the work and shares it with you.
-It's a great looking car I've admired for decades. If you do move forward some photos of the project would be nice.
CapriMikeC
Well-known member
Keep in mind the Ford 2.3 Lima is completely unrelated to the Ford Kent engine. Some measuring would be good to confirm it would fit in the bay designed for the Kent.
S&S Machine Shop in Mesa is good to deal with although it's been a while. For crankshafts, there are few places in the valley anymore. I just had my tractor's crankshaft re-done by 5 Star Engines in Glendale.
S&S Machine Shop in Mesa is good to deal with although it's been a while. For crankshafts, there are few places in the valley anymore. I just had my tractor's crankshaft re-done by 5 Star Engines in Glendale.
txvwnut
Well-known member
The 2.3 Ford will fit but the heater box will probably have to get removed in the process. The other issue will probably be the shifter location.
rattle_snake
Well-known member
I've used 5-star for a rebuild. They are more of a high volume/low cost shop. If you need basic things, they can do it, but you need to check everything yourself.
I had S&S polish a cam, seemed ok.
There are high end machine shops in phx, they are very expensive and have long lead times.
What machine work does the engine need? why?
I had S&S polish a cam, seemed ok.
There are high end machine shops in phx, they are very expensive and have long lead times.
What machine work does the engine need? why?
Thanks for all the input. Not sure it’s worth doing, just thinking while I wait for my shop to be built. Not sure about HP but that little 2.3 moved that Mustang pretty good with 15psi boost! Not sure what if any machine work it might need, over 100k miles on it. I have Cad, mills, lathes, etc all manual. It’s a tube frame chassis, I don’t think it would be too difficult to move some mounts around. Pretty sure the Triumph engine is original, my stepfather has owned this car forever.