Converting 2.9 to 3.8

[jglenn]

I have a 3.8 l out of 98 mustang donor will it fit in my 90 brbronco ii and what kind of mods will I have to do it has Manuel trans

 

[RonD]

3.8l in rear wheel drive(RWD) had the Windsor block/trans bolt pattern

2.9l had the Taunus pattern, which included 2.8l/2.9l and 4.0l RWD/4WD

So that part won't work, have to change transmissions, and if B2 is 4x4 then that adds another issue as far as what transmission can be used.

And if you are going that far then might as well, sell the 3.8l and go for the V8(5.0l), been done many times so well documented on what is needed.

 

[adsm08]

As I have said many many times before on this forum, the 3.8L Windsor engine is worthless, in all of it's RWD forms. It did make a somewhat not-sucky FWD engine, but all of it's various RWD setups are garbage.

The naturally aspirated engines have issues with warping heads, even when they weren't over heated. The super charged ones had fewer problems there, but the blower ate up almost all the power it produced in parasitic drag, so the net gain was less than 15 HP. And it was under-powered for its displacement compared to pretty much every other V6 Ford ever made.

Add to those issues all the problems in addition to the extra work needed to put it in an RBV, an application it was never offered in and that has no compatible parts, and it's less than worthless. And GFL finding a 4x4 trans for that thing.

All in all your time would be best spent selling the 3.8 and putting the money towards a more sensible engine swap, like a 4.0 or a 5.0, since you will get as much or more money tied up in that 3.8 you have just sitting there, it will take much more work to get it in and running, and the end result will be less than spectacular.

 

[SenorNoob]

I (mostly) agree with ADSM.

I would like to state that I never had a serious problem with the 3.8 that was in a '94 Mustang I drove (hard) for about a year. It was supposedly a low-mileage (about 60k) swap from a '96 though.

There is no reason to go through the effort of swapping it in to a Ranger.