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14TR
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2023
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 14
- Points
- 3
- Location
- Pennsylvania
- Vehicle Year
- 1988
- Make / Model
- Bronco 2
- Transmission
- Manual
Hi all,
I made reference to it in my introduction thread but I’ll give some more details as I’m open to suggestions from all of you.
I’m starting off with a stock 87 B2 that is currently equipped with the 2.9 and FM145 (or possibly the 146, not certain from memory). The racing we do is EC4WDA racing which most events is obstacle, drags, and figure 8 or hill climb, depending on the track. If not familiar, picture the obstacle similar to tuff truck style racing but less brutal, as in not designed to beat the heck out of and break the vehicle. Usually a collection of twists and turns, straightaways for speed, perhaps a smallish few jumps.
anyway, the bronco was set up to race about 15 years ago which basically just consisted of the glass being removed, most of the interior, a cage welded in, etc. I believe the suspension is still all stock. The bronco has sat at least 12 or more years since it last raced. About that long ago I bought a rusted frame but mechanically sound 1988 turbocoupe. I pulled the engine and trans at the time and junked the rest. I intended on completing the swap years ago but changed careers and got married and had kids, plus have had a lot of other car projects in the years since. I’ve finally decided to get around to building the racer with the 2.3 swapped in.
Somewhere along the way, the rule book changed for points classes and the current version will put this setup likely in a class with moderately worked 6 cylinder Jeeps and other vehicles and possibly stock small displacement V8’s. I’m not too worried about tweaking the 2.3 to make more power than most in the class as getting 300-350hp should be easy. The rules give no restriction on turbo size, boost, etc. when you get into head work or larger cams you pay a points penalty but I don’t think we will need to go that far to be competitive.
I do however worry about suspension and stability. In the lower slower classes that it competed in with the 2.9, you weren’t exactly flying around the course. You more were just “driving” the track.
I plan on first and foremost completing the 2.3 swap, which will also mean installing the Megasquirt I intend to run. The tank will be drained if not just completely replaced. I imagine the fuel and pickup etc is junk at this point. I’ll run a 255 pump, and the new lines. Rip out the remaining interior which is just the stock front seats (which have vegetation growing on them, no joke), the stock dash (will replace with an aluminum plain dash, with some provisions for the necessary switches and likely a cheap tablet for the gauges bluetoothed to the megasquirt). Once it’s up and running I have some property available to test it out. I will probably take it to a race or two and see how it does, but I’m fairly certain I’ll need some suspension mods to improve the stability, travel, and ability to land jumps (relatively small, we’re not talking anything crazy) without destroying it or severing my spine. What’s a relatively cheap upgrade here? I’m thinking axle swaps to get wider track and different springs/shocks? I know the sky is the limit if I wanted it to land like a stadium truck, but I don’t plan on ever having more than a few grand in this thing. And by the way, Merry Christmas!
I made reference to it in my introduction thread but I’ll give some more details as I’m open to suggestions from all of you.
I’m starting off with a stock 87 B2 that is currently equipped with the 2.9 and FM145 (or possibly the 146, not certain from memory). The racing we do is EC4WDA racing which most events is obstacle, drags, and figure 8 or hill climb, depending on the track. If not familiar, picture the obstacle similar to tuff truck style racing but less brutal, as in not designed to beat the heck out of and break the vehicle. Usually a collection of twists and turns, straightaways for speed, perhaps a smallish few jumps.
anyway, the bronco was set up to race about 15 years ago which basically just consisted of the glass being removed, most of the interior, a cage welded in, etc. I believe the suspension is still all stock. The bronco has sat at least 12 or more years since it last raced. About that long ago I bought a rusted frame but mechanically sound 1988 turbocoupe. I pulled the engine and trans at the time and junked the rest. I intended on completing the swap years ago but changed careers and got married and had kids, plus have had a lot of other car projects in the years since. I’ve finally decided to get around to building the racer with the 2.3 swapped in.
Somewhere along the way, the rule book changed for points classes and the current version will put this setup likely in a class with moderately worked 6 cylinder Jeeps and other vehicles and possibly stock small displacement V8’s. I’m not too worried about tweaking the 2.3 to make more power than most in the class as getting 300-350hp should be easy. The rules give no restriction on turbo size, boost, etc. when you get into head work or larger cams you pay a points penalty but I don’t think we will need to go that far to be competitive.
I do however worry about suspension and stability. In the lower slower classes that it competed in with the 2.9, you weren’t exactly flying around the course. You more were just “driving” the track.
I plan on first and foremost completing the 2.3 swap, which will also mean installing the Megasquirt I intend to run. The tank will be drained if not just completely replaced. I imagine the fuel and pickup etc is junk at this point. I’ll run a 255 pump, and the new lines. Rip out the remaining interior which is just the stock front seats (which have vegetation growing on them, no joke), the stock dash (will replace with an aluminum plain dash, with some provisions for the necessary switches and likely a cheap tablet for the gauges bluetoothed to the megasquirt). Once it’s up and running I have some property available to test it out. I will probably take it to a race or two and see how it does, but I’m fairly certain I’ll need some suspension mods to improve the stability, travel, and ability to land jumps (relatively small, we’re not talking anything crazy) without destroying it or severing my spine. What’s a relatively cheap upgrade here? I’m thinking axle swaps to get wider track and different springs/shocks? I know the sky is the limit if I wanted it to land like a stadium truck, but I don’t plan on ever having more than a few grand in this thing. And by the way, Merry Christmas!
