Icepac, thank you, good stuff. I did my homework on the 2.3s when I started monkey around with it. If you want any real hp, you go turbo hands down. I ve seen a couple of guys removing their 302s in favor of a 2.3 because of the weight saving/better car balance.
On an NA 2.3 not much you can do, usually offenhauser intake/ 4bb carb, hot cam and headman headers. The limiting factor is the head flow, some use the volvo heads. That bucket is a DD for my daughter. I want her to think she's going fast, thus the headers/super 44/hot cam but that's it hehehe. She still pulls 28ish mpg, which is perfect for her wallet. What killed me is not finding a used auxiliary shaft and having to buy a $280 one from esslinger.
Virg, what were the years of those 2.3s? Mine is a 78, and after alittle research, they don't offer 60 over for after 85. So I'm thinking that pre 85 where a bit thicker blocks? What do you think?
Anyway I already spent the money, plus my kid needs get bucket, can't really wait to get it sonic_ed. Dam machine shops are always closed on saturday, and I'm working 15h days during the week. I ll try to mike the cylinders this week end thru the water jackets to give me an idea, see how thin I am compared to 3/16 - 1/8.