more 2.8 stuff if anyone is interested: the ranger/ aerostar 2.8 is almost exactly the same as the capri / mustang ii, except the crank bearings in the truck block are bigger and the truck block is a little thicker and heavier. the 2.6, 2.8, 2.9, and 4.0 are the same block bored out more, u can tell if u look at a 4.0 short block because the cylinders are very close together. the 2.9 heads will not fit the 2.8 but u could put 2.9 valves in the 2.8 head and a 2.9 crank can be put in a 2.8 block. it doesn't make it a stroker but it adds compression, the 2.9 crank turns 8.2 : 1 into 9.2:1 with the same pistons and rods. if u do this, the snout of the 2.9 has to be machined to take the timing gears, the 2.9 timing is chain driven and the crank turns the opposite way of the 2.8. there's also alot of performance parts still available for the 2.8, see here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_8L_Performance.html the bearings in the truck block are the same size as the 2.9 crank bearings, he he i've talked to some of the european chaps who use this engine and they say it can be tuned to 200 hp also the 4.0 has no distributor the FWD 3.0 has it's water p***ages in a bad place for a RWD car, otherwise it's a great engine
They are not the same block. If you bore out a 2.6 beyond .040 over, you will get cylinder wall distortion. Its defiantely not the same block. The 3.0 was in two forms. One for FWD and one for RWD. Motor mounts are different. "How to Modify Your 60 degree Ford V6" - Sven Pruitt is the best source on these. "V6 Performance" is another book that has a section about the 2.6/2.8 motors.
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