what interesting thing could be done with a 1990 ford Tempo?

[thirdman]

What interesting thing could be done with a 1990 ford Tempo that is mechanically sound?

[Damkid]

i know they are rare but there is an AWD version of the tempo, that would be fun

[thirdman]

Unfortunately, this one is just 2wd. Auto, ac, clean. Possibly cheap to free...

[JoDan]

I've heard of SHO swaps in Tempos

[perucho]

It could probably be crushed into a small cube and used as a lawn ornament.

[92festie]

lol^^

[Nerd Racing]

I was gonna say demo derby

[blkfordsedan]

There was a V6 Tempo that was available for a short time. I've seen 2 or 3 in person before. If I remember, the V6 was the 3.8L like in the T-Bird/Cougar and briefly available in the Taurus. They were dubbed the "baby SHO" and supposedly could out run a SHO and give a Mustang a run for the money in the 1/4 mile. If you knew what trans they used (maybe same as a 3.8L Taurus/Sable) and what other components were needed, you could do a junkyard 3.8L V6 swap. With the aftermarket parts available for the 3.8L, you could have a 13 second Tempo..........that would be interesting (especially in a 4-door).

[blkfordsedan]

^^^ Sorry, looks like I was wrong.......they were the 3.0L Vulcan V6 (same as the majority of the Taurus' had). Still a pretty good engine and can be modded. Not sure what it would take to do the swap, but couldn't be much harder than a Festy/BP/G25 swap! All you need to do is add a turbo! here's a link to one on Cardomain:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/428461

[muscle_Car1]

Or the 3.0l vulcan ford probes

[FB71]

nope. 3.0L Vulcan pushrod engine. 155 hp. Used to be common around here. Hardly ever had to work on them. I saw one with an M90 supercharger from a SC T-bird cobbled onto it. Ran pretty good, just couldn't a trans in it (old ATX 3spd). The stock 3.0 Tempos were pretty quick and handled respectably.

I've been hunting for a free Tempo/Topaz myself, for the engine. The 2.3L HSC (pushrod, no relation to the 2.3L OHC Lima in the Mustang) is essentially an old 200 ci inline 6 with two cylinders lopped off. They share major dimensions (bore, bore spacing). I have had an urge, for years now, to build a 4cyl T-bucket. I don't want to use an original 'RedHead' 4, because the cranks are horrible, and they breathe like an asthmatic old man. The HSC resembles a RedHead with an Ansen OHV conversion, so it wouldn't look out of place. Plus, add a turbo...

[JPT]

I've been hunting for a free Tempo/Topaz myself, for the engine. The 2.3L HSC (pushrod, no relation to the 2.3L OHC Lima in the Mustang) is essentially an old 200 ci inline 6 with two cylinders lopped off. They share major dimensions (bore, bore spacing). I have had an urge, for years now, to build a 4cyl T-bucket. I don't want to use an original 'RedHead' 4, because the cranks are horrible, and they breathe like an asthmatic old man. The HSC resembles a RedHead with an Ansen OHV conversion, so it wouldn't look out of place. Plus, add a turbo...

It's possible to take one of those out to 2.7 L. Somewhere around here I have an old Hot Rod magazine that describes doing this. The engine was put into an Escort and it ran low 14 second quarters.

[FB71]

yup, i had that issue , too. You can start with a 2.5 from a Taurus too.

[bhazard]

I bet those 5sp v6 cars are pretty rare and surprisingly peppy.

[Tim]

I'd keep it as a backup/winter beater.

A friend of mine bought a ragged out, high mileage Tempo on Craigslist for $300. He got it as a winter beater, and figured if it lasted the season, he got his money's worth out of it.

Surprisingly enough, the car ran (and still runs) exceedingly well. He was so impressed with it he invested in a new clutch and it's been a daily driver for the last couple years. Aside from the basic stuff, the car has needed zero maintenance.

Ford really knew what it was doing back in the '80s.


-Tim