Wow Memories. My first car was a 1976, 2.8L Pinto and I beat the snot out of that little car for 10 plus years finally gave it to friend in need after the interior gave up and no AC while living in Florida.
What transmission do you have. I "built" my engine in 1983 by adding a Crane Cam , the Offy manifold and the holly 390 cfm carb. I had stock compression and an automatic and it was way too much cam. No vacuum at idle and no low end torque but if you could baby it to 5000 RPM it felt like a rocket. In reality it was basically undriveable . I don't remember the cam specs but there were 3 or 4 offerings back in the day, I chose the middle one and it was way too much. After many months of trouble shooting I was able to speak to rep at Crane who identified the problem as too much cam. I changed to the smallest they had and it was still a lot, but it was drivable.
The problem with the cam was not enough compression and not enough stall with the auto to get the engine to run in the appropriate rpm range to make usable power with my combination. At that time for me a higher stall "If I remember 3500 was recommended" and or custom pistons to raise compression were not available and or in my price range. Also at that time, nobody was making aftermarket heads. In practical terms it was cheaper and you could get more power converting to a V 8.
Issues and efforts I had with the 2.8
Mechanical lifters need to be adjusted at least once a year depending on how much you drive it Mine was my only car so I did them about every 6-9 months to keep the noise down. Never really affected drivablity just noise.
Car went thorough water pump bearings, about one a year.
The thermostat is in the lower hose neck and everytime I opened it up to change the water pump I had to bleed the cooling system or it would overheat. Once bleed I never had an any overheating.
The stock heads are prone to cracking between the valves. Mine was cracked when I pulled it and two sets of junk yard heads were also cracked. I was able to get mine fixed by a machine shop. To tell you the truth I never would have know they were cracked if I had not pulled the heads. No oil. coolant or compression loss with the crack.
Over all a great engine, I ran it up to 7000rpm many times, the valve springs were updated with cam and never had any problems. I did not have headers but did have dual exhaust with thrush mufflers, sounded like nothing else on the road.
I ran the timing a few degrees advanced of recommended but never messed with the overall timing curve. The Duraspark) ignition modlule did flake out on me once and I chased that intermitant problem around for several months. That acted like fuel and or vacuum leak problem but ultimatly it was the ignition module.
Nobody made custom valve covers either but I guess today if you have enough money someone could mill you some out of aluminum.
While it was fun in the day I think if I had it to do over with a 302 or and eco boost 4cyl.
Good Luck and I hope some of this information is useful to you .
I've decided on a comp cam sk36 241 4.
Wow Memories. My first car was a 1976, 2.8L Pinto and I beat the snot out of that little car for 10 plus years finally gave it to friend in need after the interior gave up and no AC while living in Florida.
What transmission do you have. I "built" my engine in 1983 by adding a Crane Cam , the Offy manifold and the holly 390 cfm carb. I had stock compression and an automatic and it was way too much cam. No vacuum at idle and no low end torque but if you could baby it to 5000 RPM it felt like a rocket. In reality it was basically undriveable . I don't remember the cam specs but there were 3 or 4 offerings back in the day, I chose the middle one and it was way too much. After many months of trouble shooting I was able to speak to rep at Crane who identified the problem as too much cam. I changed to the smallest they had and it was still a lot, but it was drivable.
The problem with the cam was not enough compression and not enough stall with the auto to get the engine to run in the appropriate rpm range to make usable power with my combination. At that time for me a higher stall "If I remember 3500 was recommended" and or custom pistons to raise compression were not available and or in my price range. Also at that time, nobody was making aftermarket heads. In practical terms it was cheaper and you could get more power converting to a V 8.
Issues and efforts I had with the 2.8
Mechanical lifters need to be adjusted at least once a year depending on how much you drive it Mine was my only car so I did them about every 6-9 months to keep the noise down. Never really affected drivablity just noise.
Car went thorough water pump bearings, about one a year.
The thermostat is in the lower hose neck and everytime I opened it up to change the water pump I had to bleed the cooling system or it would overheat. Once bleed I never had an any overheating.
The stock heads are prone to cracking between the valves. Mine was cracked when I pulled it and two sets of junk yard heads were also cracked. I was able to get mine fixed by a machine shop. To tell you the truth I never would have know they were cracked if I had not pulled the heads. No oil. coolant or compression loss with the crack.
Over all a great engine, I ran it up to 7000rpm many times, the valve springs were updated with cam and never had any problems. I did not have headers but did have dual exhaust with thrush mufflers, sounded like nothing else on the road.
I ran the timing a few degrees advanced of recommended but never messed with the overall timing curve. The Duraspark) ignition modlule did flake out on me once and I chased that intermitant problem around for several months. That acted like fuel and or vacuum leak problem but ultimatly it was the ignition module.
Nobody made custom valve covers either but I guess today if you have enough money someone could mill you some out of aluminum.
While it was fun in the day I think if I had it to do over with a 302 or and eco boost 4cyl.
Good Luck and I hope some of this information is useful to you .
It is was and will be. Thanks!
The transmission is a C4 that leaks from every available access outside the case. Its next. I'm an M22 or linco guy and autos kinda intimidate me. But I'm pretty sure I can get it dried up.
I've decided on a Comp Cam sk36 241-4 *noticable idle* int/exh .425 lift advertised duration int/exh 264. Duration @ .050 220 110° over lap. Rpm range 1200-5000. It will (should) work with OEM compression, springs and torque converter. The Ghia is my wife's car and I doubt the engine will see 4500 rpm very often. It will see triple digit speeds, hence the new suspension and brakes.
I could live with 6 month valve lash adj. My Chevys have split valve covers I fabricated from aluminum. The lower half stays on the engine. The upper half is bolted to it with 8 5-40 machine bolts. No gasket to change. It makes running valve lash easy.
The 2.8 has curves on the head to rocker cover so, idk if I can make a set for it. If I could replicate it I'd have another income.
That Offy and Holley are a roller cam for my BBChevy. I could have built a heckuva SBC for what 'normal' hotrod parts cost for a 2.8.
2.8 is different and different is cool. I got 600 + hp on pump gas outta my 502 with a roller and Dominator pretty easy. Now I'll find out how good I am at this. When I'm done, above mentioned cam and intake, 030 over, blue printed, swung balanced bottom end, head pocket ported and matched to intake, if I can get 1 hp/1 cid to the back tires I'll be satisfied. Then a 3.80::1 gear to keep the wife outta jail
