2.9 rebuild Perfomance?

[colson1230]

Ok guys I have a 89 ranger with a 2.9 and something happend in the driverside head causing the valve to get stuck open and rubbing a hole in the piston. So now i am rebuilding. The truck seemed a little on the sluggish side before. (engine only had 60,000 miles) so i am looking to build it and hope to produce a bit more power. I know there is not much of a after market for this engine. But what piston, cam, rockers combinations have you guys had luck with? I am sure i will get some people say just put a v8 in it but with gas prices these days and this being a daily driver and work truck i would rather not put a v8 in. So anyone have any ideals??? please let me know.

 

[holyford86]

swap in a 4.0, or change the gears to lower ones. There really isn't much that you can do to get much more power that is usable on the street, in a 2.9.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Cam, 2.8 pistons, port\polish, headers, make it a good running little engine.

Keep in mind....the 2.9 makes more power per Cubic inch then a 351 lighting or a boss 302....so be strict defintion it is a high performance motor.

later,
Dustin

 

[88mudder]

you can get power out of any motor, period. Depends how u do it. Ive seen some pretty crazy Inline 6 motors all hopped up.

 

[Jspafford]

What are you using it for? I hear so many people complain about how weak the 2.9L is. I have no complaints on mine. Hell I even have 3.45 gearing. Maybe the automatic transmission versions suck, but I love the shit out of my 2.9L. I went 252 miles on 1/2 a tank of gas over the holiday weekend.

You can swap in the V6 4.0L, but your mileage will not be the same.. Unless you get crappy mileage now, and if that's the case there maybe an underlying problem with the engine causing it to feel so weak.

 

[88mudder]

same here, im running 3.45s on 33's with the 5 speed. Its not all that bad. Once u get going its fine. It would be nice to have 4:10's

 

[gaz]

Rebuilding Performance

Hello COLSON1230,

I agree with RUST OL RANGER with the following exceptoin: 2.8 pistons will increase your compression which the automatic doesn't make the most out of, so using 2.9L pistons is a better choice for you. Keith Black and a couple other companies make or will custom make you a set if you want to spend it.

For my BII I used Clevite 77 2.9L pistons .03 over, Sealed Power rings, I deburred/chamfered my rods and peened them, deburred/chamfered my crank had it polished, Dynacam camshaft, special grind for an automatic, all Clevite 77 bearings; had the whole thing balanced then added a Melling oil pump/pick up and a JET computer chip.

I had a stage 2 port and polish job performed on my intake manifolds and heads, I used reduced weight lifters, push rods and rockers (the rockers are increased lift 1.57's [deburred/chamfered and balanced} with free flow rocker spacers) and a custom K+N air intake. One thing I will do different on my next 2.9 is to use lighter race flow valves I reconditioned mine.

I used JBA headers, with jackets, a custom 2.5" stainless steel mandrel bent exhaust with a Borla XR1 muffler and a free flow cat.

To cool, I have an Auto Explorer radiator, oil cooler, lower temp. thermostat and switch, dual transmission coolers and use Lucas with synthetic oil; I also fabricated stainless steel coolant lines except to and from the radiator, which has Goodyear Hi Milers.

One of the trickiest evolutions in this rebuild is taking the time to properly adjust the rockers, then after breaking in the engine readjusting/checking them: take time and get help if you are not familiar with this process, it is the difference between a smooth as silk running Ford 2.9L and and noise machine.

Since you are deciding to rebuild, the most important choice will be your cam; Ford obviously didn't do too bad but there is more torque to be made . I could have had a H.O. V8 for less $ (and them some) than I spent but what I wanted I could buy, I had to build!

gaz

 

[gaz]

Error On Camshaft

Sorry I used a DELTACAM, what was I thinking?

gaz