hi there, im new here, and while i dont have a ford truck, i'd love to. what i do have is a 1976 Mustang II Cobra II with a 2.8L V6. now i know this is a truck forum, but this is the ONLY place i could find with any info relating to my motor.

well first i'd like to extablish that... the 2.8L in my II... it is the same as the one used in rangers and bronco IIs right?

based on the title of this section, i am inclined to beleive so..

so heres my real Q (assuming we all have the same motor here lol)

whats the best way to get some more uumph from this motor? i've looked all over and im hard pressed to find any parts for it.

see my situation is a bit odd. i bought the II planning a V8 conversion, so i got myself a 302/AOD combo out of a 90 lincoln in the wrecking yard for $200, got V8 motor mounts (does anyone have any idea how hard it is to find these for a mustang II? ridiculus) for the same as the motor and trans, an edelbrock intake and some other goodies. the thing is, i still need to modify the crossmember and get a whole new wiring system and a bunch of other lil things that are going to kill me, financially and mentally that is. plus my uncle, whose shop i intended to do the work in, just ignores all my please to bring my car down there

so i was wondering, if i sold all the stuff i bought, and took my car to a real good motor shop and got a rebuild (its got 130K on the clock) and maye some go fast goodies put on (bigger carb, better cam, and anything else i can find out about) i could have a car just as nice as a V8, plus still have my original motor and i can keep my 4speed trans to practice on

so.. what is there in the realm of 2.8L bolt ons? and also, are there any stroker kits to maybe bump it up to 4.0 and get all the torque that comes with more cubes? what should i be looking to get and where do i look?

i'd be happy with a good 275hp at the crank and a roughly equal amount of torque to go with it. its a real light car (2800lbs) so i dont need a heavy 500hp V8 anyhow. plus.. V6 looks better for a 16 year olds insurance than a V8.

i think thats everythin i wanted to ask. i REALLY appreciate all your help. im 16 and i just bought the car (i saved up my cash since i was 12 years old) and i bleed blue just as much as the next guy here. i really want to have a career relating to cars and i want to learn as much as i can

thanks a bunch!

 

Hi and welcome to FTE! Please take a moment to check out the guidelines, they contain important info you'll need when posting here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html

You are correct in your assumption the at the 2.8 you have is the same as the one used in the Ranger. It's German-built and was also offered in the Mercury Capri.

There are some ways to get more power out of them, although not a lot of parts available. For a while, Offenhouser offered a 4-bbl. intake for them, headers can still be found and cams as well. Some machining including balancing and porting of the heads with the addition of oversize valves can all pump the power up to the 200+ range. I've also seen them turboed.

As for stroking with 4.0 parts, that may be possible but I think you may be on your own there. I don't think there are any kits available and I haven't heard of anyone doing that. It bears further research...

 

thank you tigerDan!i really apprecaite it. i do remember seeing cams for it on another site, and im definately going to look into finding headers and that offenhauser intake.

if anyone else has any useful tidbits to add, please, feel free to! im always ready to learn about anything automotive