advice for 86' SVO
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Head studs are nice, but they are not be needed at the HP level we're at. Plus, it makes pulling the head in the car a bitch since you have to pick the head straight up off the stucs.
65mm TB, it won't give you any HP improvement, but it will make the car feel much faster because its got a direct acting arm instead of the progressive setup like stock. I will hopefully be putting my 65 TB on once I get through this semester of school.
I agree the factory computer and head are the biggest restriction to these motors. A motor with nothing more than rods and pistons survived at 800whp for a long time. It finally broke on the dyno when an injector failed. But you'll never get anywhere near that with the stock electronics and head. The head can be ported and is good for over 400whp, but strongly consider an aftermarket EFI (even a $200 MegaSquirt) to take full advantage of this motor.
65mm TB, it won't give you any HP improvement, but it will make the car feel much faster because its got a direct acting arm instead of the progressive setup like stock. I will hopefully be putting my 65 TB on once I get through this semester of school.
I agree the factory computer and head are the biggest restriction to these motors. A motor with nothing more than rods and pistons survived at 800whp for a long time. It finally broke on the dyno when an injector failed. But you'll never get anywhere near that with the stock electronics and head. The head can be ported and is good for over 400whp, but strongly consider an aftermarket EFI (even a $200 MegaSquirt) to take full advantage of this motor.
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i just picked up the turbo from matt's g/f and ported the upper intake to match the 65mm throttle body. i will put on the t/b tomorrow afternoon. im gonna take the turbo by extreme motorsports and talk to rob and see what it needs to be rebuilt and converted to internal waste gate. might have some fun this weekend if everything comes together
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Originally Posted by SpeedDemon79
more and more SVO owners? only a hand full in tampa. maybe 7-10 on a good day. if someone pops up with an SVO more than likely one of the other owners sold out. i just put the chrome 17" cobra R's on it and dam did it change the total appearance of the car.
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Well, I think Dave can see where I'm coming from when I say I'm losing my enthusiasm about the SVO. I'll be a 2.3 turbo guy for life, but the SVO is kind of a pain to have sometimes. I wanted to have something that could be a real PROJECT car, and not worry about wrecking a car that was produced in a relatively small number. I want to be able to chop a hole in the hood if I need to or rip out the interior and gut the crap out of it to make it light. You just don't DO that to an SVO. So I bought a Merkur. 
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'93 Coupe
"Notches kick ass!"
'93 Coupe
"Notches kick ass!"
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The SVO does have its "problems". First of all, the learning curve is pretty steep. To make a stock SVO run WELL, you really need to fully understand the entire turbo and engine management system. To modify it and make it faster, well, there you are almost on your own. There are no "kits" no manuals, nothing.
The biggest hurdle is a new Engine management system. The stock eec/vam setup sucks for anything beyond stock power levels. That leaves us with the choice of various universal EMS systems.
The hardware is pretty good. You can get a stock iron head to flow quite well, if you can keep it from cracking. I am going with an Esslinger Aluminum head, so I'm not going to stress that issue anymore.
The SVO is like dating a supermodel, it needs quite a bit more attention than your average sorority girl (aka, a 5.0) They are more finicky, but damn, when it runs, you get everyone's attention.
A stock SVO in excellent shape can steal the show from 100 clean 5.0's
The biggest hurdle is a new Engine management system. The stock eec/vam setup sucks for anything beyond stock power levels. That leaves us with the choice of various universal EMS systems.
The hardware is pretty good. You can get a stock iron head to flow quite well, if you can keep it from cracking. I am going with an Esslinger Aluminum head, so I'm not going to stress that issue anymore.
The SVO is like dating a supermodel, it needs quite a bit more attention than your average sorority girl (aka, a 5.0) They are more finicky, but damn, when it runs, you get everyone's attention.
A stock SVO in excellent shape can steal the show from 100 clean 5.0's
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Originally Posted by SpyVO
Well, I think Dave can see where I'm coming from when I say I'm losing my enthusiasm about the SVO. I'll be a 2.3 turbo guy for life, but the SVO is kind of a pain to have sometimes. I wanted to have something that could be a real PROJECT car, and not worry about wrecking a car that was produced in a relatively small number. I want to be able to chop a hole in the hood if I need to or rip out the interior and gut the crap out of it to make it light. You just don't DO that to an SVO. So I bought a Merkur.
If the SVO isn't perfect, I really don't see the big deal about tearing into an SVO. As long as you don't swap the 2.3 for a V8 or sell the car for parts, I see no problem with modifying an SVO.
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my 86 is a driver, alittle rusty but means well rusty enough to where i had to replace the transmission cross member. barely worth 500$ on todays market. so i will enjoy every minute of the car till the time comes to pull the drive train and throw it in a 1993 LX hatch or coupe. but definitely takes a special person to own one. thats what mike told me when i bought it from him last april.
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as far as the exterior and interior is concerned, i'm a collector... but under the hood, i'm a driver all the way
