2.8 Rebuild

[Starlord]

I have an 85 Bronco II with the 2.8 that I used to drive in high school (10 years ago) until one of my heads cracked, I parked it and finally have the time and funds to resurrect him. Got the engine pulled and everything going smooth, down to the bare block. Read the tech info on here for the duraspark conversion and all that seems to make sense. Where I'm hung up is the Carb. The way I understand it you bolt a non feedback carb on top of the factory spacer with the opening coming out the front, held on by those bolts with allen wrench heads, and then seal off that front opening with a piece of metal. Would that seal? Does air flow correctly with an empty space up there? Another option I think I understand is bolting a carb on top of an aftermarket spacer (a felpro, don't remember the number) with the carb bolts not going through the spacer. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around that. Does the spacer just float there and pinched down by the carb? also there's that rectangle hole in front of the circular carb openings normally covered by the factory spacer, what plugs that? Ideally I would like an intake with just a regular two barrel carb hole for me and I could put spacers to get it the height for my throttle cable. Does anyone know if there is an intake like that, off a pinto or something. I know there is the 4 barrel, but 500 bucks seems like a lot, and its 171 cubes, how thirsty can it get. My second choice would be an adaptor that covers the rectangle hole and gets me to the right height. Any help would be great.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You put the EGR adaptor bac on as it came apart and put a block off plate for the EGR. Then get a standard non feedback carb autolite 2150 with the 1.08 venturi and get the felpro spacer #60529 for the bottom of the carb.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fel-Pro-605...Parts_Accessories&hash=item25647b39b6&vxp=mtr
Be sure and put a new gasket between the carb and spacer. When you rebuild the carb put #42 jets in it.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I got the carb I am running from a friend with a repair shop. I got lucky and found it on the shelf.

 

[Starlord]

Thank Kim, after more research I understand it better. Do they make a 2150 with a manual choke? If so what vehicle would it have come in

 

[Starlord]

Looks like no, that never happened. Will my original choke wire still function? I'm not sure where the choke sensor would be, but my air pump and all my smog rubbish is off and not going back on.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

The original electric choke was controlled by the computer. The relay was mounted next to the start solenoid and provides a pulsing 12 volts to the choke thermostat on the carb. On the back of the alternator is three terminals the one with the white/black stripe puts out about 8 volts when the engine is running. That wire is terminated at the grey 8 wire connector by the ignition coil. You may be able to hook that wire to the choke to get it to open.

 

[Starlord]

Thanks, I'll give that a go when I get that far. When I was pulling the engine I broke off a sensor. It was on the drivers side bolted into the block right above the oil pan, had a yellow wire attached that went up to the drivers side fender. Anyone know what that's a sensor for? Also, in the duraspark conversion tech write up, it says to use the female round duraspark plugs on the drivers side fender. On the drivers side fender I have two Male plugs, their female counter parts originate from the passenger side fender and cross on the engine block. It looks like the Duraspark box has female plugs, so am I correct in assuming that the tech write up meant to say Male plugs or should I run the wiring from the passenger side?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Basically you are going to remove the computer harness completely. If you read deeper the 1985 conversion is a bit more for wiring you dont have the two wire connector. You would use the second colored wiring diagram to wire up the module and coil. What I did was strip the computer harness sheathing from the grey 8 wire connector by the coil back to the alternator keeping all the wires connected. The from the computer behind the kick panel in front of the passenger side door unplug the computer and cut the harness where it goes through the firewall and pull it through on the engine side and caulk the hole. then just start disconnecting the components for the computer and remove them. The water temp, oil pressure and alternator stay connected as well as the coil hot you should only have to cut a couple wires at the 8 wire connector to completely remove the computer harness. The senser on the side of the motor by the starter was the knock senser and goes away also. Remove the coffe can and all the components on the passenger skirt as well. I just used the stock coil and works just fine. Any wires you cut cut them long for possible future use or if you cut the wrong wire it can be easily spliced back.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_8Duraspark.shtml
I found a distributor harness off of a 1984 2.0 ranger for the distributor to make it plug and play. Just splice the wires as it shows in the second color diagram. Mine ran really good with the stock carb but it ran real rich at high speeds. That was before I found out if you put in smaller jets you will gain performance on the upper end. pull the top off the carb and put #42 jets in and run it that way until you can find the right carb. I mounted the module on the drivers fenderwell and only had to splice the coil neg wire from the module to the coil. Once you have it all wired back up use some of the sheathing to put the wires being used in to make it look purdy. The computer water temp has the two wire connector and goes away just keep the 1 wire sender and the oil pressure sender connected as well as the two alternator wires in the loop. If you wire the choke to key on hot it will probably burn it up try using the post on the alternator. With the engine running test the two small terminals for voltage tthe one is key on hot and the other only shows voltage when the engine is running 8v. run a wire from there to the choke and see if it opens when the engine is running. If you need to replace the choke thermostat it is just like the old style but they used the break away screws. Just use a small chizzle and a hammer and spin the screws out and replace them with normal screws.

 

[Starlord]

I do have the Duraspark connecters, one two wire and one 4 wire, some of those wires need to be spliced together, I understand that, what I'm wondering is where is the juice coming from on the duraspark plugs? The drivers side fender or over by the battery? The tech write up says to use the female plug on the drivers side fender, I have male plugs on the drivers side fender, the female plug originated from over by the passenger side. Also do I leave the four wire round Duraspark plug plugged in after I take the red/blue wire off of it for the other plug? It says it runs the backup lights so I would like those

 

[Starlord]

Kim, I got my spacer 60529, just wondering if there are supposed to be gaskets for it, or if it is the gasket. I have a carb gasket but nothing to go between the spacer and the manifold.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Put a new gasket between the spacer and carb but just clean the manifold good and just put the spacer on. The spacer has hard gaskets on both sides but the carb will flex a little when you tighten it down. Just get the carb snug not too tight. I surface the base of the carb on my tablesaw with some 220 grit paper. Just pull the carb in one direction until the base all shines the same.

 

[Starlord]

Sounds good. Thanks

 

[Starlord]

So I'm getting into my rebuild. I got a Fel-Pro Gasket set, and I can't figure out where some of them go. A few O-rings that I can't find a home for, but I figure they will sort themselves out as I'm putting things on, two for the oil filter adaptor, one for distributer. Where I'm lost is I got thick rubber ring the same size as the front main seal. Anyone have an idea where this belongs?

 

[Starlord]

Just figured it out. Thermostat seal.