1984 Bronco II rebuild the 2.8 or swap in a 302

[ranger1911]

Yup, one piece deal. 97-03 (and 04 Heritage) 4.2 F-150 fits the best. You do have to enlarge the metric bellhousing bolt holes to fit the standard bolts in a SBF.





Mine was $150, if you like to tinker they are a fun trans to take apart.



Pack a lunch because they are a PITA to pull, at least the 4wd variant is because there is suspension stuff behind the t-case you have to remove. Also grabbing the separator plate from a SBF truck with the M5OD is advised (by me)

SBF Engine Seperator Plates

The whole thing came about when I tried to reuse the 4.2 seperator plate I got with my M5ODR2 with a '96 302 starter. The starter hole was just barely too small. The plate from my C5 was identical but didn't have a neat little foam seal around the crank. Faced with the rather terrifying...

www.therangerstation.com

Drilling out the bolt holes shouldn't be an issue. As for them being a PITA to pull... I wouldn't expect anything less. Nothing I ever do is easy

 

[Broncomeat]

I bought my Bronco II sometime around 2010 and it's been a great 2nd vehicle. I live in the desert and it's a great little offroader too...

On the way home from work last summer it stalled out on me (happens frequently when coming up to a stop sign) and I pop started it and something happened, loss of power and a rattle. I was less than a mile from the house and made it home ok.

Working on getting the engine pulled since it's not really possible to pull the oil pan and poke around. Already peeked under the valve covers and nothing obviously wrong. I figure the problem is probably something like a bad rod bearing, but it's all speculation until I can pull the 2.8.

I was reading about engine swaps and happened to find a 1974 302 on craigslist for 75 bucks (no intake manifold or carb). The guy said the engine would only rotate about a 1/4 turn and then it stopped. I bought it anyways and pulled the heads, the cylinders were pretty damn dirty (carbon buildup) but one had some rust on the valves and valve was stuck. Crankshaft rotated nicely with no heads on it... Squirted some oil on it and a couple of light taps with a mallet got it moving again, put the heads back on and now it all rotates like it should.

I'm not going to do much more than some cleaning on the 302 until I get the 2.8 pulled and opened up and find the problem. If it's gonna be a pricey rebuild I will most likely condemn that engine and put my money into the 302 instead and track down the parts I need to make it work with what I have. Based on the list of stuff on the 302 swap page it's not an overwhelming amount of stuff to find but I could be wrong! If the 2.8 looks like it's not too bad I will try to do a quick and dirty rebuild to give myself a little time to work on the 302 so I can drive it in the meantime. It's just a bit cheaper to drive around than a 3/4 ton diesel.

I was curious if anyone has been in a similar situation where their 2.8 crapped out on them and what they did (rebuild or swap in a different engine) and had some thoughts about pitfalls or things they wish they had known beforehand.

Thanks

One thing I found out is 2.8l parts are hard to find (Driver side exhaust manifold and uncracked heads are like finding unicorns). If I had it to do over again I'd go with a 4.0 (easy, parts much more available) or a 5.0 (harder).

 

[Broncomeat]

One thing I found out is 2.8l parts are hard to find (Driver side exhaust manifold and uncracked heads are like finding unicorns). If I had it to do over again I'd go with a 4.0 (easy, parts much more available) or a 5.0 (harder).

Be advised, do not try to install the timing cover without the alignment tool!!

 

[Broncomeat]

Be advised, do not try to install the timing cover without the alignment tool!!

I bought my Bronco II sometime around 2010 and it's been a great 2nd vehicle. I live in the desert and it's a great little offroader too...

On the way home from work last summer it stalled out on me (happens frequently when coming up to a stop sign) and I pop started it and something happened, loss of power and a rattle. I was less than a mile from the house and made it home ok.

Working on getting the engine pulled since it's not really possible to pull the oil pan and poke around. Already peeked under the valve covers and nothing obviously wrong. I figure the problem is probably something like a bad rod bearing, but it's all speculation until I can pull the 2.8.

I was reading about engine swaps and happened to find a 1974 302 on craigslist for 75 bucks (no intake manifold or carb). The guy said the engine would only rotate about a 1/4 turn and then it stopped. I bought it anyways and pulled the heads, the cylinders were pretty damn dirty (carbon buildup) but one had some rust on the valves and valve was stuck. Crankshaft rotated nicely with no heads on it... Squirted some oil on it and a couple of light taps with a mallet got it moving again, put the heads back on and now it all rotates like it should.

I'm not going to do much more than some cleaning on the 302 until I get the 2.8 pulled and opened up and find the problem. If it's gonna be a pricey rebuild I will most likely condemn that engine and put my money into the 302 instead and track down the parts I need to make it work with what I have. Based on the list of stuff on the 302 swap page it's not an overwhelming amount of stuff to find but I could be wrong! If the 2.8 looks like it's not too bad I will try to do a quick and dirty rebuild to give myself a little time to work on the 302 so I can drive it in the meantime. It's just a bit cheaper to drive around than a 3/4 ton diesel.

I was curious if anyone has been in a similar situation where their 2.8 crapped out on them and what they did (rebuild or swap in a different engine) and had some thoughts about pitfalls or things they wish they had known beforehand.

Thanks

If you do decide to rebuild the 2.8l get this NOW!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/114203229811