I had a chance to hit up a few junkyards the other day. I noticed there were ALOT of 2.9 Rangers and Bronco 2s. Im gonna need a new engine for mine, was looking for a 2.8 to drop in it, but... with so many 2.9s available... how hard would it be to drop one of those in in place of the 2.8?
Also what are the major differences between the 2.8 and 2.9? Besides one being FI and the other carbed? I can only imagine that the 2.9 is more powerful, even if only by a little, and likely to be more effiecient as well right?
Any help is greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.

 

FI is easier to work on IMO.

 

if you are planning on doing an engine swap, do just go up .1 liter.....go to the 4.0.......i think you will be dissapointed with the 2.9.....

 

Engine swap? Go with a 5.0. If you're going to mess around with a completely different engine why not make it worth while? I'm guessing there are a lot more 5.0 Ford motors laying around than the 2.8 or 2.9. Who knows though. It'd be a fun truck.

 

a 5.0 swap would involve A LOT more work than just a 4.0 swap.....when doing a 5.0 you get into a lot of fab work....with a 4.0 he could just go get a wrecked '90-'92 Ranger with a 4.0 in it and swap everything....

 

Yeah but not ONE Ranger in any of the yards I went to had the 4.0. There were several with the 4.0 sticker under the hood, but the engine was long gone. I even asked at the office if they had it in storage or something, and they had all been sold already, very popular engine.

There are a few places here I could call that im sure would have a few 4.0's, but to buy the whole truck would be expensive from those places. I was gonna buy a police package chevy impala a few years back and drop the motor, suspension and a few other parts into my old caprice but they wanted close to a grand for the whole car. But given the fact that was an Impala and this is a Ranger, im sure it still wouldnt be within my price range. And I would deffinately need the WHOLE thing. Plus I just dont have anywhere to put a junk truck right now.
That is why I was thinking, if its easy enough, maybe I can go to the yard, grab a 2.9 and all the wiring/electronics and just drop that in in the 2.8s place.
Im concerned mostly with the reliability of the 2.9, is it as bad as the 2.8 when its gets old and start leaking oil at the valve stem seals? If it is I just gonna say screw it and buy this rebuilt 2.8 off a friend of mine and just throw it in there. If not, then I can probably pull a 2.9 with decent mileage out of a junker and get the whole setup for not much more than the 2.8 my boy has.

Plus, like I said before, I dont have the money for a 5.0 swap right now, because as far as I can see, the engine ITSELF is gonna cost me around 2 grand for the setup I want. Im looking for 350hp with what I have in mind.

 

Yeah, I read about those heads having issues with cracking. After doing some research I think a FI swap may be too big of a project for right now. I would have to find 2 in tank fuel pumps and find a way to link them together so I could still use both tanks. Plus I didnt see ANY other rangers in the yards with dual tanks, so I wouldnt have any template to go by on mine.

 

hes got a 84, he could stick a carbed 302 in it and call it day