I kinda dig my little Bronco II --- it gets decent gas milage, turns on a literal dime and has just enough umph to get me where I'm going as long as it's not in a big hurry.

Looks like I have to do some work to my engine according to some of the other fine folks on this board so let me pose a few questions...

First off it's a 2.9 with new heads.

If you were going to do some modest performance modifications to a 2.9 what would they be? Is there a cam that would make a diff, a chip that would help and/or what about an exhaust that isn't so restrictive ie: where I live, I could probably cut everything out of there except for a decent muffler - but would that hurt the engine any taking out the cat and other?

I really don't want to go with headers, as the noise is an issue with me. I want this to be a decent little daily driver, not the hotrod. I would like to see a couple hundred hp out of it if possible, is that asking too much of this engine since they are semi-notorious for popping their heads?

Thanks or the input, it is greatly appreciated. It appears I might be looking at crank and bearing work, new lifers, and as long as the price isn't too brutal, new pistons & rings etc... is there an after market company that makes higher compresion pistons for this? Cam? Chip? Air filter, Intake...etc... and what reasonable gains might I expect?

Mike

 

Any suggestions? Rebuild time is getting near...
MP

 

Hi, Mike.

I recently sold my '87 Ranger 4x4 2.9 to a family friend. Over 15 years since I bought it new and 170,000+ miles, still running great, perfect compression, few problems over 15 years. I'll attribute some of that to the Mobil 1 I ran it it since 500 miles were on the clock.

You're going to have a few difficulties tweaking the engine because of high performance parts for it being few and far between, but there are a few basics that you can do.

First, don't disregad the use of headers for the supposed noise increase. They're usually the single most beneficial bolt-on improvement you can make, buth torque and horsepower. You can install a quiet, low restriction muffler and not be any louder. For that matter, I fired mine up once without any muffler at all, only the catalytic and it wasn't all that outrageously loud!

Any machine shop can do the basics- Boring the engine to max oversize, probably .030 over will give you a few ponies and torque, mill a little metal off the mating surfaces of the heads to raise the compression a bit.

Advance the initial timing by turning the distributor as much as you can before pinging occurs.

I'd hesitate suggesting adding a custom-ground RV style cam since 1987 was the first year of the EFI speed density system on the 2.9 V6 and it might not like a cam change. There's no way of knowing for sure until you tried it.

You can find upgraded crack-proof heads for the 2.9 at www.worldcastings.com if you're interested. I have no idea what they might cost.

Or you can drop a 302 in your ride!

Best,

-Bill in Colorado

 

This or a portion of this note is posted in the 2.9 forum as well.

Well it's gotten bad. The engine was good for about 5 miles today when it started to buck/lurch and I put it in "N" and let it idle down to see what was up with the oil pressure and it dropped to "O". I put it back in gear and it has some pressure, but it's an illusion because the engine knows it's not getting what it needs.

With that said, I have to act fairly quickly as this is my daily driver.

It's a 2.9 and someone told me today that the cams burn up in these and cause the oil pressure to drop to zero or low at idle or near idle speeds. Hey, could be my problem exactly (sure sounds like it).

So where can I source a decent or even just inexpensive camshaft for this engine, even if it's an OEM replica?

Should new bearings be installed anywhere during the camshaft installation?

I'll be replacing the lifters, should anything else be done along the way when this is done other than new gaskets etc... ???

Any knowledge you can shed on this would be great as I have to have this done quickly and some of the mechanics in my area are notorious for ripping people off ie: the guy that put my new heads on never installed the new hyd lifters and some of the other companies in this area have terrible reps, so I want to be as knowledgable as possible when walking into the garage (on this little engine).

Thanks and please respond if you happen to see this, I want any and all responses. Basically I don't have much money to blow, so I can't afford to be taken on this...

Mike in N.Georgia

 

Check on Google for 2.9 engine long block.. or even short block. I think someone was selling them for about $750.
Tony

 

Okay here we go - I just purhcased a 2.9 complete engine but it needs rebuilt.

I plan on purchasing rods/pistons/rings and new camshaft. I also plan on having someone check the heads ie: magnaflux to make sure they are okay.

Anyone have any sources for the rods, piston and rings?

Are there any things I should definately watch for or check into while rebuilding this engine?

I guess I'll go ahead and put headers on it when I install it in my Bronco II, any suggestions on the brand I should use?

Basically I guess I'll be going with whatever stock replacement cam is available, having someone lap in the valves and then put in replacement pistons so that I have a fresh running engine. I was going to talk to the people that check the heads to see if they could mill 10,000ths or so off of them - basically whatever is safe to give me a little more engine (horsepower and torque).

Most of all at this point wondering where to find rods, pistons, rings and camshaft for this at a good price?

I guess I'm also wondering if there is anything I should check while I'm in there?

Mike