2.8 owners... Any use to you ?

2.8 owners... Any use to you ?

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Blue 30

Original Poster:

519 posts

116 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
What you see is what you get ! This is a 85/86 engine from the early Granada Scorpio 2.8EFI... I am reliably lead to believe that this was the only UK 2.8 engine to be fitted with factory UNLEADED heads as standard ! The sump & timing covers are attached. There is no inlet manifold or assoc parts. The engine turns over. I have never had it apart, so I have no idea of mileage or internal condition. I will not dismantle or split the sale.Always stored indoors. The first offer of £60 will be accepted. Buyer collects by arrangement. Note I have my hols in Sept. Terry B.

greymrj

3,316 posts

203 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Might be interested, but where are you Terry?

Ali B

74 posts

260 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Blue 30 said:
What you see is what you get ! This is a 85/86 engine from the early Granada Scorpio 2.8EFI... I am reliably lead to believe that this was the only UK 2.8 engine to be fitted with factory UNLEADED heads as standard ! The sump & timing covers are attached. There is no inlet manifold or assoc parts. The engine turns over. I have never had it apart, so I have no idea of mileage or internal condition. I will not dismantle or split the sale.Always stored indoors. The first offer of £60 will be accepted. Buyer collects by arrangement. Note I have my hols in Sept. Terry B.
For reasons of curiosity, I'd like too see photos of the mythical D or E stamp on the exhaust flange. There aren't any good pics out there.

glenrobbo

35,069 posts

149 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Blue 30 said:
What you see is what you get ! This is a 85/86 engine from the early Granada Scorpio 2.8EFI... I am reliably lead to believe that this was the only UK 2.8 engine to be fitted with factory UNLEADED heads as standard !
Oh dear!
Where did you get this information? confused

Until now, I have been under the assumption that nearly all 2.8 S1's were fitted with the cyl. heads fitted with hardened valve seats for unleaded use.
I always thought that Ford started producing these around 1983 and by 1985 all their engines were built for unleaded use to comply with the new legislation.
Obviously, TVR might have had a supply of old stock engines that they would not have let go to waste wink but i would have thought that even they would have had to comply with the rules.

Should I now be panicking about valve seat regression? Austin seems to be still running quite well on Super Unleaded and has now covered over 84,000 miles*.

I'd better go looking for the D or E stamps.

  • In total, obviously. I don't mean just this week....... smile

Alan Whitaker

2,054 posts

181 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi All
Don't panic Captain Glen, As far as I know the last unleaded v6 engines were the Essex and all v6 after that with cast iron heads were fitted with inserts for unleaded fuel.


Alan

glenrobbo

35,069 posts

149 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Thanks Alan,

That's reassuring to hear.

I shall return from panic stations to normal mode.

If that's possible for me ? wink

Carry on folks, as you were..........

Ali B

74 posts

260 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Alan Whitaker said:
Hi All
Don't panic Captain Glen, As far as I know the last unleaded v6 engines were the Essex and all v6 after that with cast iron heads were fitted with inserts for unleaded fuel.


Alan

If only!
Earlier 2.8 cologne engines did not have unleaded heads, ask a capri driver!
take a look at this pdf from the wedge bible. Relevant part starts bottom of p28

Fortunately the lead memory effect has persisted far longer than imagined 10 years ago and may have protected all but the most enthusiastic drivers.
A google of combinations of the following may help: valve, seat, recession, 2.8, capri, cologne, unleaded.

a further problem is the D (or E) stamp may have rusted away, hence my curiosity for a picture and a vague hope of finding the remnants of a stamp on my heads. There are possible marks on my heads but without knowing the size and orientation of the stamp I can't be sure I'm not imagining patterns!

glenrobbo

35,069 posts

149 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Does this mean I have to revert to panic mode again?

It does entail changing the bulb once more .......

Alan Whitaker

2,054 posts

181 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
I think that could be a YES, I think you would have known by now if it was going to go pear shape

Alan

greymrj

3,316 posts

203 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi Glen (and other 2.8 owners) you may find this link useful. It should enable you to date your engine correctly (PROVIDED it is not a Ford remanufactured engine). You can be pretty certain your engine will be post 1983 and therefore have hardened valve seats. There is however some evidence that these engines can be a bit prone to 'pinking' with low octane fuel, which would cause other erosion in combustion chambers, and the use of additives may still be beneficial. I would say, if it tends to pink at standard ignition settings, and that goes if the settings are retarded, then use of an additive is likely to be beneficial.
http://www.burtonpower.com/tuning-guides/tuning-gu...

Blue 30

Original Poster:

519 posts

116 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi Guys...

Blimey, you have gone for broke on the unleaded topic !!
All I want to do is clear some space out my garage....
What I can tell you is this, I bought this engine complete with all of its ancillaries.
So I can confirm this IS a 85/86 2.8 EFI engine.
The bulk of these EFI powered Mk3 Granadas were originally sold the boys in Blue directly from Ford.
I was informed less than 1000 units in total.... Thats why all 2.8 (&2.9) owners are chasing those Ford alloy 'blingy' rocker covers from the EFI engine... Yes, I stole those from this engine...
My professional engine guy who is an Essex/Cologne engine specialist for 20yrs plus & has worked on the odd one or two units over those years states that only the 2.9 is truly manufactured as an unleaded unit... Obvious if you think about it ! Plus the 2.8EFI being as it was the first V6 unit with EEC3 ECU, yes '3' not '4'... Hence why the 2.8EFI was never considered to be any better than the MFI... As EEC3 wasnt that good at all.
I have done some laboring work for my engine guy over the years (to keep my bills down) & stripped many Essex/Colognes for him... None of the 2.8 heads I saw had valve inserts (stamped D/E whatever) however the later the unit, the better the internals seemed to have stood the test of time & mileage... Even the block casting improved with design tweaks over the years... So this 85/86 block will be a better unit to build from ! I also know that Ford directly supplied crated units to other manufacturers such as TVR/Reliant/Panther & were not stamped with any No's... I think they were called PSA engines or something like that. personally I think its about time people got over the... Using unleaded will wreck my engine, its more likely that you will do that by a persistent heavy right foot etc, no matter what fuel you use... Its the internal combustion temp that can cause the problem... And with normal road use you are only using a small percentage of its available power so accordingly the heat generated is small too... Of course if you are putting the car to track use, that's a whole different thing altogether. So do as those 'bibles' suggest, retard the timing to 10o & use a preparatory brand of additive one in every 4 tankfuls of fuel... Keep your valve clearances in spec..... AND KEEP AWAY from E10 fuel !!!!
So... Thats me off my soapbox.
I really do hope someone can make good use of this engine or parts from.
I am in Staffs WS7... postcode.
Send me a PM if you are interested.

(Oh... Yes I do have a car (non-TVR) powered by a 2.8, heavily modified & professionally re-manufactured to 3.0 using the 2.8EFI top-end hardware plus an Emerald ECU.
TerryB.