How much do those things that hold engines so you can work on them cost and where can i get one? Also does anyone know how much it would cost to ship an engine from IL to MD

some guy on here is giving away a free 2.8L and i thought i might take it and just work on it for fun but i dont wanna drop a shiet load of cash on something to throw the engine on, and im sure as he!! not gonna just drop it on the ground. By the way, what can be done with a 2.8 while the engine is out that someone who doesnt know a lot about could do to make it faster or run more like new? i think having an engine sitting in your garage that u really dont nessesarily need could be GREAT in learning about it, since the 2.8 is a 3.1 with minor differnces. What do you guys think? I might email the guy about it and give em the low down

 

Redbird I believe (sorry if I'm wrong on that) has a recipe for a 14 second 2.8/3.1 You can do EVERYTHING while you have it on a stand. Heads/Cam/Valves/Springs/Cam/Piston Just like with any car it depends on how much money you wanna spend.

 

You can buy an engine stand at any Auto parts store like Napa or Autozone. I bought mine cheap for $50 but I imagine I didn't get it too much cheaper than everyone else.

Get as much reading material as you can and build it up using that as a guide. You will be putting some cash into if you're gonna make it fast. My guess is if this guy is just giving this engine away, it may need to be sent to a machine shop. That will cost at least $300 and if they bore it, you will need new pistons, and you might as well drop a new cam in while you've it apart, then it will nickel and dime you to death. I'm doing the same thing with a 305.

Chris

 

Nothing much can be done to the 2.8 that requires "little work" while on an engine stand. The easy things I can think of are a camshaft & lifters, Cloyes true dual roller chain, a home-made port job on the heads & intake manifold, 1.52 roller rockers, new valvesprings, new pushrods, and a higher-pressure oil pump. If you're getting a fuel rail with the engine, you could send the injectors out to Rich J at http://www.cruzinperformance.com for a flow-testing & cleaning.

The rest will need a machine shop's help. The crank should be ground if you're replacing the main bearings. The connecting rods & crank should be checked for cracks. A re-ring job is "just" giving the pistons new rings; but that's risky, and you're better off having the block bored (as a cleanup operation) as honed, with new oversize pistons & rings fitted. If you don't have micrometers & telescoping gauges & dial gauges, then either the machine shop would determine clearances for you, or you'd use Plastigauge (cheap).

But yeah, you'd learn a lot; you'd at least see how the engine's put together. I learned a ton on the 2.8/2.8 swap/"top end rebuild" I just did.. it's one thing to read about something, doing it gives you that much more insight.

[edit] Oh, I forgot to mention, if you're going to go through all that, you should probably check the block for cracks, too. Like Chris said, you'll get nickle'd & dime'd left & right. It doesn't make sense to do a ton of work, but not get the block magnafluxed (checked for cracks)... etc...

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited April 30, 2001).]

 

I hate to say this, especially in this forum, but after all the money you would end up putting into that motor, you wouldn't be able keep up with a V8 that had all that done to it for only$100-$200 more. Although you would learn alot, and have a unique engine, the performance would not be in line with cost.

Chris

 

You can get an engine stand from most parts stores or summit, jegs, and I think JC Whitney. I got mine from a local harbor freight store and bent it on the first use (1000lb capacity and bent from the weight of my BBC). For what the extra is buy the 1000lb model. You might want to put a big block on it in the future. The best ones I have ever seen have been custom made at local welding shops, however they want a bit more for theirs.

 

I thought about getting that engine on my way down to NC from CT but I thought it was to far out of the way. I am going to do the same thing to my engine. Does anybody know where I can get that recipe for the 14 second motor?

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82 Firebird with a 2.8

87 Chevy K20 4x4 TBI pickup

71 Olds Cutlass S My ongoing project. Olds
350 with a th350

 

From what I remember in his email that guy said it was off of an 82 which means it has the 2bbl carb. No fuel injection here.