Ford Repair: few things, dual plug head, aftermarket cam

Question
Hi there,

         I am the owner of a 1989 wrecked stang 4 banger lx. Thats aside from the point, im going to be going fox 4 cylinder again, but this time with an 89 tbird 2.3 engine and a holset turbo. my goal is to hit about 500 or so horse and ive got a pretty detailed plan as to how to get there, but theres one thing thats been plaguing me. Ive read around and asked around but cant seem to get a straight answer on it, i would like to use a ported dual plug head out of later model fox stangs or a ranger, but im not sure if A, it will increase spark enough to make any hp difference, and B, if it will work in conjunction with any ol' aftermarket cam or if i need a specific one for that application. Not only that, but im concerned with the whole coil packs vs. distributer thing. Any advice would be more than appreciated. this is a winter complete teardown and rebuild on a stand process so time isnt really a factor in response. again, thank you very much for any advice you could give.

                                            - kyle

Answer
Kyle-

  The twin plug heads aren't exactly ideal for performance applications.  You're much better off just sticking with a regular 2.3L head and boosting spark energy with an aftermarket ignition module.  I think 500hp out of a street driven turbo 2.3L might be a little out of reach, but for that kind of power I would just pick up a full SVO engine and start with that.  They're relatively cheap these days (less than $2000 with turbo), bolt on an Esslinger head, switch to a front mounted intercooler, and swap in a Ranger 2.3L cam.  I built an engine like just like this for a friend and, while it didn't make 500hp with a T3/T4 hybrid turbo, it was still a massive improvement over the already impressive SVO engine.  Hope this helps.

Steve