mpace6a

Looks good :thumbsup: Now go make some cool manche stuff with it!

Check for rods sticking out of the block-known 2.8 problem. look inside the crankcase as best you can, make sure it looks clean inside. Look for unhooked vacuum lines. The 2.8 has about 5 million different vacuum lines, and if its the original motor and some are undone it could be problematic Check the trans gravel plate for oil, back of the engine for oil

Its a tig/arc. Look in the first picture and you can see the tig torch

Kansas City Structural Steel. I work in the old shop, a rented space inside the old Chevrolet Leeds Plant. Definately has its perks. yeah yeah i know. not sure why i put roof rack in the title :dunno: It's okay brotha, I was trying to say it nicely with out sounding like a C#*@. You can editt the title when you click the edit button and then click full editior. haha but it does look nice! I want one!! Yea, I'll figure it out at some point. And thanks! I'm pretty happy with how it came together. Next up is a rear bumper and tool box to mount between the bed rails and bolt through the headache racks foot plate holes!

Test fit again, with top caps Added the cross bars And finally finished product, with kickers and foot plate

yeah yeah i know. not sure why i put roof rack in the title :dunno:

Hey hey now...one of those is full! You got a point, I think it might benefit the OP to keep some glads in the back, haha. Thanks! It should look better tomorrow once i sand down the welds, and add something to fill the gaps up

All of the vacuum, and the carb and emissions crap make them unreliable. Plus there was a casting problem and they have poor low end oil circulation, causing burnt up bearings and thrown rods. Better design later on with the tbi intake and better castings, but still low powered and ineffecient. Though not entirely bad if you have a lead foot. Cuts down on my speeding big time. In hindsight,I would NEVER put one in anything because they really don't have anything good about them. No power, no torque, and ineffecient.

Started building a roof rack today. Initial fitting of the exterior frame fitting the verticals obligatory weld shot where its at when i left work today All welded, ends capped to keep out water and mud. Now i just need to decide if i want to cover it with expanded metal, or use 1/2" sq bar to make louvers, spaced 1.5" apart. and obviously clean up all the welds, blend the corners and edges together. Opinions?

Will any 6 cyl tach (2.8 or 4.0) work right with my 2.8? I want a full cluster, but am unsure of tach

Pretty much on your own there. I have 2 different manuals, plus some pics i found across the internet, and the sticker in the engine bay, and mines still not right. I'll see what pics i can find though. Your best bet is to go get a haynes or a chilton manual, and take pics of what your not sure of. If you kept all the old stuff, that will help since they should be mostly formed in the right bends to at least guess where it all goes Feeling lazy, but here's a link to my photobucket library. some of the pics may help you, any questions feel free to ask. if you need one i can take a pic of the engine bay vacuum routing sticker too

$6000 plus and your getting into cummins diesel swap price range. for that much i wanna know what all they did!

No problem. I'm just gonna go a step furthar and put a 5.2 in my 86. Similar amount of work that yields better results!

http://comancheclub.com/topic/31039-big-swap-help/page-2 About halfway down the page shows the difference

I'm using an in-line electric pump, that maxes at 7psi. Its grounded to the frame. Is there any way to check the filter in the tank?

Truck is an 86 2.8/ax5/4x4 My truck has an electric fuel pump, and every so often, the pump would stop pulling fuel. Figured there was crap in the tank that was clogging the line, so i pulled the tank, pulled the sending unit, and this is what i've found Inside the tank. The black "x" is where the in tank filter sits The sending unit And bottom of the filter At this point, given the cleanliness and rust-free insides of the tank, I'm thinking it was a bad vent caused by rotten hoses that wasnt allowing the pump to pull more fuel from the tank, but since its off I want an opinion on the sending unit itself, if theres anything i can check, replace the filter, etc so i don't have to pull the tank again anytime soon

Can you take a pic and show which hose your talking about?

s10 pickup or blazer? i know i can get a lot off of a pickup with a 2.8 but what bout the s10 blazer? Redwolf Both. You can also look under the gmc s15/jimmy. Those had a 2.8 as well

Try searching under an s10 with the 2.8, i've had to do that with a few parts for mine.

Switch to chrome :)

Youd be suprised by the quality of the newer blocks. No, theyre still not great. But for a 17 year old kid still in highschool with no money it was my only option

the buick 3800 is not a bolt-on to the transmission nor the motor mounts, and the ax5, ax4, and auto trans cannot take the power. it's a 60 degree mounting pattern on the bell housing, but you have to notch and move the starter hump in order to ensure that you can mount the starter.I would NOT swap a 2.8 for a 2.8. And I sure as hell wouldn't leave the carb....even if you go TBI injection from an 80s s10 with a 2.8, you gain a TON. and it's only a 5 wire system if you just lay over the engine harness to make it run. the biggest issue with the 2.8 IS THE CARB and also the EMISSIONS HOSES. get rid of those, you improve it alot. put a 3.4 in it, out of an early 90's camaro or firebird, with the fuel injection off of it, and get similar power to the 4.0 little late for that, a 2.8 was all i could find that'd fit in my MJ, i'm keepin the carb cause i already have all the parts for it and brand new emissions tubes and check valves Redwolf well, i hope that you don't plan on using 5th gear, or getting better than 14mpg.I use 5th gear in my 2.8 quite often, and I'm getting 16ish city and highway mixed

ok, to the average state inspector if they see the back up light switch would they think it's the neutral safety switch as well? Redwolf I would hope not. I would be looking for a different inspector.

'86 does not have one. Back up/shift indicator is as fancy as they got

That may make it harder to do the swap. Start build thread and start taking pics as you go along, it will help if you have any problems re assembilling everything