The legendary 2.9 Free Floating Rockers

[Mightyfordranger]

LOL! With my luck I'd get there to find somebody else pulling them off first!

Yeah no doubt!! Day late and a dollar short. As usual ha ha my like I'd be Like one 10mm bolt short of pulling the whole engine. Come back the next day and its gone lol

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So I gave a machine shop the pages from the tech pages on the free floating rockers and two sets of rocker arms, one for a 2.9 and one for a 4.0. They didn’t do exactly what I wanted, but I got something. The 4.0 set is currently on my choptop, but I’m not sure if there’s no significant change, if there’s a problem, or if it’s just that the rest of the motor is so worn that it’s no help. Truck runs an drives right now so I’ll chase the problem later since the rear main seal in my Ranger is leaking and since that’s a DD....

 

[Dsetz]

Well, the 2.8 needs all the help it can get in this department too.
I think I didn't get a couple valves adjusted quite right last time.
When I get around to re-adjusting them ill pull specs on the rockers to contribute/compare.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Well, the 2.8 needs all the help it can get in this department too.
I think I didn't get a couple valves adjusted quite right last time.
When I get around to re-adjusting them ill pull specs on the rockers to contribute/compare.

I was amazed when I ripped a valve cover off my 2.8 and saw the valvetrain. It is literally 1930's tractor tech... done stupider

It is amazing, there is more 2.9 development now than the previous 17.5 years I have been on this site.

 

[8thTon]

I was amazed when I ripped a valve cover off my 2.8 and saw the valvetrain. It is literally 1930's tractor tech... done stupider

It is amazing, there is more 2.9 development now than the previous 17.5 years I have been on this site.

Why be so uncharitable to 1930' tractors?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Why be so uncharitable to 1930' tractors?

No no, they did it better back then than Ford did whenever the Colone crawled out of whatever it crawled out of.

Lookie here, Engine was designed for the late 30's Allis Chalmers WC. With some tweaks for more power this one is in a 1950 WD. Straight levers for even load, huge bearing surfaces to keep things stable. It is almost 70 years old and is in the #2 horse on my acreage... and still runs like a swiss sewing machine. All four of my tractors ranging from 1946 to 1953 use this setup.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I was amazed when I ripped a valve cover off my 2.8 and saw the valvetrain. It is literally 1930's tractor tech... done stupider

It is amazing, there is more 2.9 development now than the previous 17.5 years I have been on this site.

I've been pushing the 2.8/2.9/4.0 R and D hard because of how cheap the engines are. If I detonate a 2.9, who cares? They're $100. Same for the most part with the 2.8 and 4.0.

Junkyard performance adders are at an all time price low as well. Probably on the peak of junked Eaton blowers right now, and every other car in the boneyard has a turbo on it. I'm also learning all of this as I go. Never been much of a mechanic, so if I eff up a Cologne, they're cheap and plentiful to replace one. I really want to learn a lot of this so I can apply it to other engines I have here, like adding an Eaton blower to my 241 hemi.

The other dream is building a vehicle that's modular engines. The ability to rapid fire through different engine and suspension combos in a day is so tempting. Run a BMW V12 one week, a Ford 300 the next. A properly set up RBV is the best candidate. Cheap, small, and nobody steals them.

Helps having a lot of support and encouragement from here as well. Some of ya'll are automotive gods, most are better techs than I am. Plus, all the ball busting with the 2.9 just makes me work harder.

So. Yeah. Still slogging towards a lightweight, cheap, forgotten V6 that is accessible and easy to build as long as the info is out there. Just doing my best to put the info out there.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Back to the topic....
How much friction loss is there on the stock setup you're trying to improve?

 

[Mightyfordranger]

I am not sure that the friction loss is the main concern though it is a part I think. From what I have read in this thread the goal is to, improve longevity, improve power (slightly), and lose the tick.
At least that's what I gather here.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Back to the topic....
How much friction loss is there on the stock setup you're trying to improve?

Not sure. Reason I'm chasing this is to eliminate oiling issues without going completely over to roller rockers and having to jury rig a dropper system like the Morana kit requires (look closely at the Morana photos - there's a dripper rigged up over top of the roller rockers).

Also doing it after reading it improves how quickly the 2.9 / 4.0 "comes on / spins up."

Also want to see if it works with all the hype and legend around the modification. No way we'll ever know till we try.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I am not sure that the friction loss is the main concern though it is a part I think. From what I have read in this thread the goal is to, improve longevity, improve power (slightly), and lose the tick.
At least that's what I gather here.

Bingo. Pruitt and Kunz both mentioned it improved output. Want to see if they were right or put this one to bed forever.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Just out of curiosity, will this work for a stock material?

1968T92 - High-Strength 2024 Aluminum Tube, 0.049" Wall Thickness, 1" OD

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Another random thought... Seems that the FE engine guys have a ton of parts available for stuff like this.

I may actually take the plunge and buy a single 427/428 rocker arm and take some measurements. There are TONS of shaft mount roller rocker kits out there for them. If they're "close enough," I'm guessing we could have them modified for 2.8/2.9/4.0 purposes.

Alternatively, anyone out there with a few FE rocker arms laying around they can spec?

 

[farmer]

First of all, kudos to you for going down the rabbit hole on 2.9 performance. I abused the hell out of my 2.9, and it screamed along at 5,500 RPM for a very long time before I swapped it out. They're a better motor than most think.

Second, 2024 Al would work. BUT get me REAL dimensions of what you want, I'll whip something up, don't worry about the stock. They'll be one off parts, but I'd worry about proving the their of free floating rockers before I worried about a modular kit.

Third, let me see if I can scrounge up an FE rocker from a buddy of mine.

 

[Mightyfordranger]

We need dyno numbers of the before and after. If Petroleum junkie uses his truck then the dyno time might be helpful to sharpen the tune on the MS. Also even if the tune isn't perfect it shouldnt matter as long as it remains unchanged. So the only variable is the rocker change.