When is it time to call it quits?

[wildbill23c]

I want to get other peoples option on weather I should stay with the 5.8 or swap out to the smaller 302 ? What do you all think?

My Bronco 2 is my 2nd vehicle with a 2.8L V6. My first was an 84 Ford Ranger which I got from my grandparents my senior year of high school. I was stupid and sold it not knowing that this forum existed and would have solved my computer problems. That being said, my 84 Ford Ranger 2.8L V6 with automatic transmission pulled a 16' travel trailer all over the country for 6 years for my grandparents and it never failed them, they would walk off and leave some friends of theirs who had a 23' travel trailer and a full size dodge ram truck with a 360V8, people around here don't give the 2.8L V6 engine the credit it deserves. No its not a racing engine, no it wasn't built for speed, it was built for longevity which it will give you if you take care of it. The majority of issues I see and have seen now that I've got my bronco 2 is when you buy one from someone else you never know how it was cared for.

In actuality that 302 isn't that great of a swap you don't really gain anything except an empty wallet and dismal fuel economy. However, its your vehicle, your money do what you want. I for one wouldn't waste my time on an engine swap like that. My bronco 2 gives me pretty close to 17mpg in town not sure on the highway haven't had the time to drive through a tank of fuel on the highway yet, when I do I'll post mileage numbers. My full size truck gets me around 12-13mpg in town and 22mpg on the highway so the bronco 2 does great for me since I work 4 miles from town, the weather is warming up so I wont' be driving either I'll be riding my bicycle to work here soon. You need to think about the overall cost of swapping the engines, and possible problems you will have with the replacement engine, you may be lots of money a head by fixing the little problems you have currently IMO, that's what I realize now.

 

[70roadrunner]

if you need parts let me know.

 

[wild horse]

Thanks again to all. And to wilbill I have a block w/mains , oil pan , new fuel pump , exhaust manifolds and other little odds and ends and a crank shaft , and other odds and ends so let me know.

 

[PetesPonies]

My 302 swap nets me 17 mpg in average driving, as long as I am careful ( same as the lackluster 2.8 ). The V8 swap gives you a lot over the crappy 2.8 which is unsuited for this vehicle IMO. You just need to be smart and whether you want more power, more reliability or whatever, the V8 swap can get you that.

 

[wildbill23c]

Thanks again to all. And to wilbill I have a block w/mains , oil pan , new fuel pump , exhaust manifolds and other little odds and ends and a crank shaft , and other odds and ends so let me know.

Would be nice but I couldn't afford it. Thanks though.

 

[bobbywalter]

wow....


too shocked to comment.

 

[wild horse]

Too shocked to comment about what? And I get that some people think that I'm thinking about doing a v-8 swap, But understand that I already have a v-8 in it and was just woundering if I should downgrade on size? I'm running a 5.8 and was thinking of going to a 5.0 to save on weight and I can get more swap parts like headers and whatnot if I go to a 302 so what do ya all think?
The reason I like the 5.8 is that everybody and there momma runs 302's , But not many people run the 5.8 for whatever reason But over all I love it.

 

[wildbill23c]

The 302 swap would probably be a benefit for you, as there is more of an aftermarket for the 302's due to the huge popularity of them and all of the swaps that people do. If I had the 302 and the time to do a swap I would definitely consider and most likely do it. I've never seen a ranger or bronco 2 with a 351, I've seen dozens with the 302 conversion though. The 351's sounded like more of a pain to try and swap as they didn't bolt up as easily or something.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

It`s only been about 8 years and my ranger is pretty good right now. Drop the pan on the tranny and look for large metal shavings. Alot of metal flakes is pretty normal especially if it hasent been serviced. Pull the access cover and turn the crank until you can drain the torque converter. Get a can of cooler line cleaner and flush out the tranny cooler lines. If it was working there is no reason to assume otherwise. I just bought a C-3 tranny from a guy in Tacoma that had a truck fire I`m sure you can get the motor for cheap, when you said it has a cracked block how did you determine that? So far I have changed the motor, tranny, rear end and radiator. Did the duraspark conversion and shes running pretty good righ now (knock on wood). Sounds like your short on money and long on time actually a good combo. Keep an eye on craigs list I paid $250 for a good tranny he wanted $150 but I paid him $250 if he would pull it for me. I say focus on the most important first get the engine running good, change all the gear oils, go through the brakes. If you can find a donor vehicle for cheap would be ideal but not all that probable they go fast as soon as posted especially the B-II. The rangers all still seem to be running good. If you need help getting the motor running once you get all the duraspark components I live about 45 minutes away and will help you trash the computer crap and bring that engine to life.

 

[PetesPonies]

Wild, if you are considering it just for weight differences, I wouldn't say it is worth the swap. But that is determined by you and only you. As for parts . . same headers will fit a 351 as fit the 302. They will sit out wider, so I know that creates more problems. Then again, with the 50 extra cubes, great headers may not be needed to be at the same power level. If fuel mileage isn't a concern, I wouldn't make the change.

 

[wildbill23c]

Wild, if you are considering it just for weight differences, I wouldn't say it is worth the swap. But that is determined by you and only you. As for parts . . same headers will fit a 351 as fit the 302. They will sit out wider, so I know that creates more problems. Then again, with the 50 extra cubes, great headers may not be needed to be at the same power level. If fuel mileage isn't a concern, I wouldn't make the change.

What kind of mileage do people get out of the swap normally, would it be worth it for fuel economy to swap from the 2.8L to a 302? Or would I be worse for fuel economy doing so? I'm about at the point where the constant problems with engine work are annoying me to where I about want to rip out the engine and put something else in.

 

[wild horse]

Well as far as the motor goes I know it's cracked because you can see 2 cracks going up the cylinder wall , And when the last big freeze hit the area I only had water in the motor and could not get anybody to drain the block and well the rest is not hard to figure out. I am running the dura spark ignition and hate it and want to go to the MSD Off-Road ignition but it's about $300 for the box That I dont have at the moment. And as far as gas milage goes- Well lets just say that it got less (less) then 5 m.p.g on a good day but thats to be expected from a wore out motor But it's just mainly getting help doing the lift and wiring as The person that was helping me bailed out and moved to texas and left me with a mess to figure out that he was paid to fix. I have no problems helping that will help me and I have a couple of motors in my garage - A .40 over 302 and a .30 over 351 wich is just a block w/mains and a crank and dont know what route I should go? And thanks for all the great imput !

 

[PetesPonies]

I've certainly posted as much as I can that . . . . I get 17 mpg with my 302. But I built it for efficiency and I expected it to rival the 2.8 in mpg. And in my case, it does. This is with driving carefully. If I hot rod it around, I'm more like 15 mpg. This is with the stock 3.45s. I finally have the 3.08s I wanted and will be installing them when I find the time. I expect a tad more on the highway . . we'll see. If you search, you will find my 302 specs.

 

[wild horse]

Thanks Petes.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

No scrapping allowed - these things are just too perfect...at least to me.

Everytime I see one, I think man what a perfect vehicle...even the ugly ones.

I bought a hitch off a guy who scrapped his for @ $300...he could have made that in parts in a hurry. He said he didn't know.

Take a look at the pics of some of the great ones out there and stay the course.