Chevy 2.8

[jimoshel]

Can someone please tell me what was the first year the 2.8 came out with the improved oiling system?

[GirsMJ86]

From what I've gathered, it would be the Gen 2 blocks from '87-'89. It was only made for transverse mounted, FWD vehicles though. In '89 the displacement was bumped up to 3.1L and the 2.8 was officially dropped for '90. The 2.8L that was used in RWD vehicles beyond these years still used the Gen 1 block and heads.

[jimoshel]

Would you know if the gen 2 blocks were drilled and tapped for the longitudinal motor mounts? In other words, can they be used in a RWD set up? So the '90 up still used the poor oiling system?

[GirsMJ86]

Not sure if they had the longitudinal motor mount locations or not. If I had to guess I'd doubt it, but I'll see what I can find out. When I was talking about grabbing a newer 90's 2.8L from a friends rolled Sonoma for my last '86 MJ, a mechanic pal of mine said that it wouldn't really net me much since it was the same block design. Only thing I would have gained was the TBI fuel injection if I swapped it all over which added about 10-20hp. He said the Sonoma/S-10 never received the updated Gen 2 with aluminum heads and such.