I know they used to be somewhat popular
What are the pro's and cons
Are they alum or cast (1997)

lbb..I'm sure he'll chime in as soon as he see's the thread, but jhitesma can probably give you quite a bit of info on this motor.

Yep, I run one and love it. Dirt cheap, reliable, smooth and a lot more fun than any VW that dosn't cost two arms and a leg.

They are cast iron but really aren't all that heavy - I can move the longblocks around by myself in the garage and have even pulled and reinstalled a motor by myself with no hoist. It wasn't easy but then again I've never found doing a VW motor that way to be "easy" either.

The factory FI works fine on a stock motor and you're good for right aroudn 100hp on the NA models. The Turbo motors are the hot ticket and I'm converting mine over to turbo but it's not done yet. I'll be switching to a MegaSquirt for the FI with the turbo because the stock comptuer is less than optimal when you start making changes and the turbo computers are all MAF which I'm not a fan of - plus then you need the exact setup that matches that particular computer and putting all the pieces together is a PITA. The guys who mix and match comptuers are just asking for trouble - do it right and put a programable comptuer on or just leave it stock.

1997 I'm pretty sure all you would find are the Ranger motors with the dual spark plugs. Either that or the Taurus and other lower end 2.3 which is a totally different motor and not worth the time. The newer Ford 2.3's are the zetecs which are also a different beast but do have potential.