Anybody know the history of the 2.8 v-6? Like who made it for ford, is it a copy of another automakers engine? My thoughts are: if it is a copy or was used in another companies cars, maybe that would lead to better choice of parts and peices. Camshaft selections arent the greatest, and I cant find any suppliers for flat tops or dome pistons.
The 2.8 is a ford of Germany designed engine. It started out as a v4 then progressed from a 2.6 v6 to the 2.8. They started in the mustang II in 74 and the pinto in 75. They were dropped in 79 because of importation problems. In 83 they were brought back for the ranger and were used until 86 (87 for a base-model aerostar van with factory headers) when they were upgraded to a 2.9.
All 2.8 pistons are flat-tops. the 74-79's had a slightly lower compression ratio than the 83-87's. Also 74-79 cams will not work in 83-87 blocks and vice-versa. the cam journals were larger in the later blocks.
You can buy 4 bbl intakes, headers, and performance cams (mainly for the later engines) still. You can also swap in a 2.9 crank with some machine work to up the stroke and compression. Its not uncommon for these engines to be built to produce 200+ HP.
-Harry
Quote from: bigh4th on April 25, 2005, 01:33:08 AM
All 2.8 pistons are flat-tops.Â
Must be some
really big chambered heads then. at 8.2 to 1 compression. Im not trying to be argumentative, its just that every picture I've seen of a 2.8 piston was a dish. If You're right, I'm happy.
THIS LINK SHOULD TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THIS ENGINE FAMILY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cologne_V6_engine
Hey, thank you. I've spent hours surfing and haven't really been able to find diddly squat on this motor. Haven't been inside one yet. Seen the insides of way way way too many 2.3's. though. Good looking out.
Ok. From what I was reading it might be safe to assume the americans got dished pistons and the german and european market got the flat tops. The only pistons I saw for sale were flat tops, but they were for a standard bore. I think we need some european pinto fans on here, that we can pick their brains a little. I did see some timing gears for sale, one gear was aluminum and the other was steel w/no nylon for $50. According to the one site, offenhauser makes a 2 bbl intake as well as a 4, it is a 2 piece design that can be torn apart for ease of porting. sounded pretty expensive though. I need to find a bad 2.8 so I can tear it apart and get familiar with its guts. If it really is a flat top motor, then it has to be an extremely large chambered head, or the pistons sit a half inch down in the block. hmmmm, here I go thinkin again, wonder if it would be feasible to spray weld some metal back into the cumbustion chamber to raise some compression. I need some numbers.
Just when I thought I was going to get a good nights sleep...............
Hey DTD,
The 2.8's were not that good of an engine.
What is your boggel????
They were seriously under done in the oiling and main bearing area. As I remember....
From Pintony
Welllll, I never really messed with one of these before. Iwas going to race the 4 cyl division, but I figured Id give the v-6 a shot since we have a class for it. And I just couldn't get over how good it ran. I still aint sure if I got a boggel or a booger yet. I cant find much of a selection of performance stuff for it, and what i have found is out of my price range :o
I was hoping that maybe it was a motor derived from saab or volvo or something along that line, that maybe I could ask for parts for one of those. But it seems to be just an odd ball. remember Pipe dreams are free ;D
the pistons I pulled out of a 76 2.8 (std. bore, ford PN) were flat-tops, as were the ones I pulled from an 85 2.8. the 2.9's have dished pistons. Maybe your refference has them mixed up with the 2.8 pistons?
-Harry
well, that's all the proof i need then. wonder why the compression is so low? I'd say its safe to assume that you've seen the inside of the heads too. Are they huge chamber's?
Oh yeah, how far down in the bore are the piston's at top dead center. It would be nice if just decking the block would put me in the 9's
If i remember correctly the pistons don't come up to the top of the block. So getting the block decked would help. However the best way to raise the compression is to swap in a 2.9 crank. it'll put you in the 9's, give a little more stroke, and no one will be able to tell you did it unless they pull your engine down.
The only thing you have to do to the crank is have the 2.9's crank machined to accept the 2.8s timing gear. After that its a bolt-in. Should be cheaper than getting the block decked.
-Harry
I'll have to keep that in mind. On a different note. Have you ever had one hold good oil pressure, and then all the sudden drop off to 18-20 pounds and idle rough for a few seconds. it does this once in a while but if i give it a little throttle it goes right back up to 40 and stays there for awhile. I have no engine rattles at all, it's got me puzzled. My oil pan is dented, but its only maybe 1/8" if that. My other thought was maybe the o ring on the distributor. Any ideas would be appreciated. I cant figure out why it idles rough when it does it, they are solid lifter motors. It just runs too good and revs too nice to be spinning a bearing.
The only thing I can think of is the EGR valve is screwing up and leaning the mixture, or theirs a problem in the ignition. The oiling system is pretty good on the 2.8s, so I think the drop in preassure is related to the drop in idle.
-Harry
We can rule out the egr. its in the scrap pile. the only vacuum lines are dist and tranny modulator. ................ Uhhhh brain flash. Could a defective modulator cause goofy goings on?
I have to ask, but uhhhhh, why are you a llama?