We first got a look at Marty Ochs’ 2.3-liter, EcoBoost-swapped 1987 Mustang at Foxtoberfest last October. Admittedly in the just-finished stage at that time, we were still impressed by this coupe. In fact, it made our Top 10 list in the number four spot in a field of over 500 foxes. The car recently took the trip to Gear Head Tuning in Bryan, Texas, for a turn on the dyno to get the EcoBoost powerplant dialed in.
Once there and tuned, the Mo’s Speed Shop-built machine put down an impressive 392 horsepower and 367 lb-ft of torque at 5,700 RPM. That’s an impressive number for a little EcoBoost engine, and what you might expect from a robust small-block.
With the turbocharged engine, this car has to be a rocketship on the street, and Marty has plans to take the car to the track to see what it will do on the quarter mile when spring and warmer weather arrives. Hopefully we can catch it in our camera at an event and on track in 2018.
The EcoBoost platform was an overnight success since its introduction. Most popularly known in the US markets for the 3.5-liter in the Ford F-150 and the 2.3-liter found in our beloved Mustang. It is cool to see some of these high-tech engines finding their way into older applications. With the large number of them in production, we cannot help but think and hope that more EcoBoost swaps will show up in the next few years.
We are told that Marty’s next planned modification for the EcoBoost Fox is a set of paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. If he can pull that off, it will definitely be unique and should take this Fox to an even higher level of cool.