ok guys heres your chance to realy sound off i am in the process of doing a rebuild of the 2.8( ranger block) or ( i should say my engine builder is) , as well as head build seems each tip about horse power building brings about a number of questions. want to port and polish , OK have the pruit info on this. now comes the grey area reguarding instal of 2.9 valves( intake and exaust) ..... have been told the 2.9 valve stems are a little shorter than the 2.8 valve stems ... if this is corected in any way?? what rocker shafts , arms, valve springs, and retainers are used , 2.8 or 2.9????or a combination of both ???? guess what we newbes need ..is a complete list of what parts we need (a part number or even the year and model would be great) and where did you get them?? thanks earl ( bluoval )
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2. head build 2.8
- Thread starter bluoval
- Start date
Jim E
Donation Time
The 2.9 valve is different in two ways, first it is a little shorter, I think the numebr is .050, but am not sure that is right. Anyway the shorter bit does not matter. the other diff is it is bigger around and will require you to throat cut the head and blend the port to let it flow [port the head]
Everything else is the same you use the 2.8 stuff, rockers, springs, retainers, keepers, guides, seals the whole nine yards. you just have to open the heads up for the bigger valves. I actually installed new seats but you can flame harden the seats if you have someone who knows how to do that. Oh and I used both the 2.9 intake and exahust valves.
Now I also used Isky springs and retainers with stock keepers. isky does not make the right keeper for either the int or exh cannot recall which was the problem. I also installed bronze guides that was a non stock item just my machinest knew what to use and had the right hone for the stem size of the valve.
basically other than the over size of the valves and what goes with fitting an over size valve it is very straight forward... everything else works.
One thing I do sugest is to contact Delta Camshaft and buy a set of thier reworked rocker units. these come on new shafts with modified adjusters and for $75 bucks plus your cores it is hard too go wrong.
hope that make sense I am a bit tipsey...
I know the power is in the heads tipsey or not
Everything else is the same you use the 2.8 stuff, rockers, springs, retainers, keepers, guides, seals the whole nine yards. you just have to open the heads up for the bigger valves. I actually installed new seats but you can flame harden the seats if you have someone who knows how to do that. Oh and I used both the 2.9 intake and exahust valves.
Now I also used Isky springs and retainers with stock keepers. isky does not make the right keeper for either the int or exh cannot recall which was the problem. I also installed bronze guides that was a non stock item just my machinest knew what to use and had the right hone for the stem size of the valve.
basically other than the over size of the valves and what goes with fitting an over size valve it is very straight forward... everything else works.
One thing I do sugest is to contact Delta Camshaft and buy a set of thier reworked rocker units. these come on new shafts with modified adjusters and for $75 bucks plus your cores it is hard too go wrong.
hope that make sense I am a bit tipsey...
I know the power is in the heads tipsey or not
Sorry Earl,
I didn't see this post. You told me you had posted, but I didn't see it.
I believe the 2.9 valve is .030 shorter than the 2.8 valve, but it won't hurt anything. The hardest thing to do, is blend the bowl to match the larger diameter valve seat. Jim has done a bang up job with his heads, and the amount of power his engine is producing, shows that. Jim will also tell you that it is a bunch of work to port a set of iron heads. I have never had the patience to sit for hours wielding a hand grinder to do the job correctly, so I have a professional do mine. You can get away with just blending in the bowl and not open up the ports, but you won't get the full benefit of the larger valves. When you assemble the engine, be sure to blend the ports with no gaskets hanging into the ports, to disturb the air flow.
The rest of Jim's advice is good too,, so send your parts to Delta Engineering to have them rebuild the rockers, and don't forget to send them your lifters and cam, so they can reface the lifters and regrind the cam. I would suggest having them grind the cam to the following specs: 290 deg. on the intake, and 280 deg. on the exhaust, (these are advertised numbers, not at .050 lift) with as close to .500 lift as your cam core will allow. Install the cam straight up.
Don't let anyone tell you that this cam profile won't work, because I have been using it in all my engines since 1975, with great success. You might want to ask Jim E. what he thinks of it.
If you do all these things, you are in for a piece of work, but I can gaurantee you will be happy with the way your 2.8 performs. Another thing, have the heads milled no more than .030, but have them milled, to gain a half point of compression. The stock compression is 8.0, so can use a bit of help. You might also have the block deck trued, but would be careful to not take more than .020 off of that surface. You should check the clearances of the valves with clay, before final assembly, to assure yourself that you are not going to have a problem. Of course, this should be done anytime you use a high lift cam.
Jose
I didn't see this post. You told me you had posted, but I didn't see it.
I believe the 2.9 valve is .030 shorter than the 2.8 valve, but it won't hurt anything. The hardest thing to do, is blend the bowl to match the larger diameter valve seat. Jim has done a bang up job with his heads, and the amount of power his engine is producing, shows that. Jim will also tell you that it is a bunch of work to port a set of iron heads. I have never had the patience to sit for hours wielding a hand grinder to do the job correctly, so I have a professional do mine. You can get away with just blending in the bowl and not open up the ports, but you won't get the full benefit of the larger valves. When you assemble the engine, be sure to blend the ports with no gaskets hanging into the ports, to disturb the air flow.
The rest of Jim's advice is good too,, so send your parts to Delta Engineering to have them rebuild the rockers, and don't forget to send them your lifters and cam, so they can reface the lifters and regrind the cam. I would suggest having them grind the cam to the following specs: 290 deg. on the intake, and 280 deg. on the exhaust, (these are advertised numbers, not at .050 lift) with as close to .500 lift as your cam core will allow. Install the cam straight up.
Don't let anyone tell you that this cam profile won't work, because I have been using it in all my engines since 1975, with great success. You might want to ask Jim E. what he thinks of it.
If you do all these things, you are in for a piece of work, but I can gaurantee you will be happy with the way your 2.8 performs. Another thing, have the heads milled no more than .030, but have them milled, to gain a half point of compression. The stock compression is 8.0, so can use a bit of help. You might also have the block deck trued, but would be careful to not take more than .020 off of that surface. You should check the clearances of the valves with clay, before final assembly, to assure yourself that you are not going to have a problem. Of course, this should be done anytime you use a high lift cam.
Jose
2.8 heads
thanks jim and jose i started calling the suppilers suggested in the pruit book and asked about the parts and the tech sections seems a lot of the mfgs stoped building the parts couldnt get any useful tech info. i didn't know the difference in stem size. so i started to panic ,, have seen a few high dollar motors go boom becouse of poor rocker to valve alignment. i think this is the way i will go sence its been shown to be reliable.... thanks again earl blu oval p.s would like to hear from some of you other v6 guys as to your build doesn't have to be to tech. the beauty of hot rodding an engine is the number of ways to gain power..it is not one set way.. but we are very limited in off the shelf hi performance parts...
thanks jim and jose i started calling the suppilers suggested in the pruit book and asked about the parts and the tech sections seems a lot of the mfgs stoped building the parts couldnt get any useful tech info. i didn't know the difference in stem size. so i started to panic ,, have seen a few high dollar motors go boom becouse of poor rocker to valve alignment. i think this is the way i will go sence its been shown to be reliable.... thanks again earl blu oval p.s would like to hear from some of you other v6 guys as to your build doesn't have to be to tech. the beauty of hot rodding an engine is the number of ways to gain power..it is not one set way.. but we are very limited in off the shelf hi performance parts...
Earl,
The fact that there really isn't any hot rod parts for this engine, was the reason in the past, several guys decided not to do the conversion. Since I grew up in the era when not many engines had an after market to supply hot rod parts for them, I learned to get around that, by asking lots of questions from professional racers and other guys that raced their cars regularly. With basic hot rod tips that were used way back when, the little 2.8 V6 will produce reliably, over 200 hp. Don't let the scarcity of after market parts scare you off.
The fact that the suppliers mentioned in Pruitts book aren't making any parts for the 2.8, is just one of the reasons I don't recommend buying it.
Jose
The fact that there really isn't any hot rod parts for this engine, was the reason in the past, several guys decided not to do the conversion. Since I grew up in the era when not many engines had an after market to supply hot rod parts for them, I learned to get around that, by asking lots of questions from professional racers and other guys that raced their cars regularly. With basic hot rod tips that were used way back when, the little 2.8 V6 will produce reliably, over 200 hp. Don't let the scarcity of after market parts scare you off.
The fact that the suppliers mentioned in Pruitts book aren't making any parts for the 2.8, is just one of the reasons I don't recommend buying it.
Jose