Yea untill the the heads crack and the valve seat falls out like I had happen with the 2.9l in the 88 I used to have
That's probably the third time I've heard of that happening (valve seats).. Makes me a little uneasy...
I already been though the cracked heads on my '88 as well, replaced with aftermarket and haven't had any troubles with them. This was 4 years ago.
2.9L is quick off the line.
I put a more 3.0L minded cam (plus more lift and duration) in it for the upper RPMs since I very rarely use it as a truck. I've actually taken a '95 4.6L (odd ball) T-Bird in it.
Every fall/winter I get a beater car. Ever single one breaks on me and I depend on my Ranger again. '93 Taurus (tranny failure, but was a gift), '87 Marquis ($400 - tranny - replaced w/ junk yard AOD, failed again 2 years later), '85 Grand Prix (engine failure 262 SBC - took it too high of RPM - installed 327 - then sold), now I have a '93 Tempo I bought for $150, runs decent, shifts good, but has a laundy list of little stupid problems. There's tons of little Tempos around, so I'll take that as a good sign. Once I get my student loans paid off, I am more than likely going to get something newer than 2000 =/.
Pete
Edit:
Oh, the 262 was pushed to the limit trying to beat the same T-Bird that I took out with my Ranger. It topped out @ 98mph in 3rd.