Build Thread: 2.8L of Doom!

[emptypockets86]

Seems everyone has a build thread and I'm feeling a little left out, so here goes.

Picked up this '86 in 2010. It was my first Jeep and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
Came with the awesome 2.8L/a904/207 and D30/D35 setup.

I read about Winterfest in FourWheeler and wanted to go. It was a pretty spur of the moment thing. I threw on some V8 Grand coils, 2" lift blocks, and some 29's (woot woot!) for my first off road event.

Had a blast meeting everyone. Got ribbed a bunch for my D35, so I eventually got rid of it and the lift blocks. Swapped in a set of xj/xj bastard packs that I built, a locked 8.25 I picked up from Brennan, some fixed lowers, adjustable trackbar, and other crap.

Replaced the 29's with some 31's and she was looking sharp!

Went to my second WF and got my first real body damage on green.

 

[emptypockets86]

Kept it pretty much the same for awhile, with a few minor tweaks.

Then I started hacking sheet metal. Picked up a pair of Farmboy Fab tail light boxes and a Rustys bumper off of here, tossed on some 33's, and some F150 rear shocks to go with the JK fronts. Wheeled it some more.

Went wheeling with Ram-Rod and his crew. Tara took this pic of my junk in whatever that hellish trail we went down was.

Painted it up for Winterfest 2013. Tossed on some ZJ steering stuff.

Whomped on it some more. Had another great WF.

 

[emptypockets86]

Derp... out of order. Did my RuffStuff stiffies before WF '13.

Ordered this for the D30 when I got back from WF.

Stupidity followed.

 

[emptypockets86]

Spent part of Easter Sunday tearing out the interior.

Decided creature comforts were overrated and went with the minimalist look.

Flushed my trans with 24 qts of ATF trying to save it since I only had 2nd and R at that point. Bought the Donorkee in case I couldn't get the A904 back. The original trans was a champ though and is still kicking.

Rebuilt and stripped the 2se down into a bare bones carb.

Pulled a 231 out of one of the many XJs laying around here. I had already rebuilt the 207 by that point and it was getting weird again. Figured if I was going to rebuild something, it better be worth my time.

 

[emptypockets86]

Ripped the case apart.

Had to source some parts which took me awhile. This is out of order from the rest of the build since it took me probably 4 months of junk yard and swap meet digging to scrounge these parts up.

23 spline 231 long input from a 4.2L/a999/231 YJ vs short input

241c 6 gear planetary, early gear cut. I also used the range hub out of the 241.

233c drive sprocket and 231d front output make up my JY wide chain kit.

Picked up a JB Conversions SYE.

 

[emptypockets86]

Used the front half of the YJ case since I still have the cad axle and the back half of the XJ case.

Now skipping backwards briefly.

Bought a 3.4L to swap in place of my 2.8L. Why? Because I'm stupid.

Harness went from this:

To this:

Painted the upper intake and polished the TB. Why? Who knows.

 

[emptypockets86]

Nice and clean.

VATS bypass, which looking back on it, I didn't need since I'm getting the ECU tuned.

First roadblock, the flex plate. The 2.8L is externally balanced and the 3.4L is internally balanced. You can't use one out of the S10's because of the Chrysler trans. You either need to machine the weight off and have it neutrally balanced or there's a company that sells them.

Ran out of money around that point, so I have a torn down 3.4L buried in my garage waiting to be finished when it gets warm out.

Somewhere in that time frame I cut and folded the rear quarters and put in a set of HD Offroad No Lift Relo's.

A few months later I had Brian put a cage and 2x6 rockers in it.

 

[emptypockets86]

Halo

Got rid of the stock bumper

Went wheeling with Jerry, John, Brennan, and co.

Let Zac behind the wheel for a minute and he tried to chop down a tree with my junk. Hm, that didn't work out well.

For some reason I trusted him enough to drive it again so I could take this picture.

Replaced the header panel and lost my sweet 10 slot grille. Hacked the fenders up some more while grieving.

 

[emptypockets86]

Bought some stuff

231 installed, long arms, and lift on. Nothing adjust yet.

Bought some more stuff....

and more....

 

[emptypockets86]

WTF? I thought I could only put 5 pictures per post... ughhhh.

The stock tank has seen it's fair share of abuse over the years. It took a few love taps from a 3lb hammer to make it start leaking. Borrowed this from an old project I gave up on. Have some AN fittings already on the way.

And this is pretty much how she sits now. The rear is up a little higher now since I moved the shackles back a hole.

So that's where I'm at currently.

 

[shortxjdoug]

Is the 2.8 truly the giant rat turd it's billed to be? I've never owned one.... I'm starting to get curious though

 

[FlexdXJ]

Is the 2.8 truly the giant rat turd it's billed to be? I've never owned one.... I'm starting to get curious though

Mine was! It only had 66k on it and the bearings were shot.

 

[emptypockets86]

Is the 2.8 truly the giant rat turd it's billed to be? I've never owned one.... I'm starting to get curious though

The 84-mid 85 motors were bad. 85.5+ they went to the large journal crank, same journal size as the 3.1L, which solved some of the problems associated with it's bad rap. The carb is probably the biggest turd involved in the motor. The Weber carb is supposed to help, but I have a hard time spending $375+ when I can buy other goodies. There's also an Edelbrock upper intake and plenum set that allows you to put a 4 bbl carb on it, but the lower CFM carb you'd need is also spendy.

I probably have over 100k on my motor at this point, hard to say since the speedo cable broke, and never had an issue with the motor itself. Rebuilt the carb, replaced a few ignition coils till I got smart and moved them up to prevent heat soak issues, and then just regular maintenance stuff.

It's not fast, but it keeps up on the trails no problem. I think it surprises people, especially since there's this stigma that 2.8L are complete junk. Maybe I'm nutty, but I'd have no issues doing another 2.8L build.

 

[Jeepguy91]

Nice build thread. Looks like a clayton long arm kit on it.

 

[shortxjdoug]

Maybe I'm nutty, but I'd have no issues doing another 2.8L build.

Interesting.... I've never owned one, I'd like to get another wagoneer to restore/drive someday. There's so few around here it might mean making a 2.8 live able. What kind of mpg's were you getting when it was stockish?

 

[emptypockets86]

Nice build thread. Looks like a clayton long arm kit on it.

Thanks! Yeah, it's a shortened Clayton kit.

 

[XJ01-08]

The 84-mid 85 motors were bad. 85.5+ they went to the large journal crank, same journal size as the 3.1L, which solved some of the problems associated with it's bad rap. The carb is probably the biggest turd involved in the motor. The Weber carb is supposed to help, but I have a hard time spending $375+ when I can buy other goodies. There's also an Edelbrock upper intake and plenum set that allows you to put a 4 bbl carb on it, but the lower CFM carb you'd need is also spendy.

I probably have over 100k on my motor at this point, hard to say since the speedo cable broke, and never had an issue with the motor itself. Rebuilt the carb, replaced a few ignition coils till I got smart and moved them up to prevent heat soak issues, and then just regular maintenance stuff.

It's not fast, but it keeps up on the trails no problem. I think it surprises people, especially since there's this stigma that 2.8L are complete junk. Maybe I'm nutty, but I'd have no issues doing another 2.8L build.

I'm beginning to think their not as crappy as people say, my friends 86 MJ has one that only has compression 5 cyls and missing half the vacuum lines and still manages to putt around until it hits 40mph then starts hesitating bad, he's probably gonna end up swapping it for something else since its mostly broken but surprises me it still runs.

 

[macgyvr]

Nice build taking one of the most undesirable XJs and making it into a desirable one.

mac 'carbed out' gyvr

 

[emptypockets86]

Interesting.... I've never owned one, I'd like to get another wagoneer to restore/drive someday. There's so few around here it might mean making a 2.8 live able. What kind of mpg's were you getting when it was stockish?

I want to say in the 15mpg range. I had come from driving a truck that got 8mpg, so I was overjoyed.

I'm beginning to think their not as crappy as people say, my friends 86 MJ has one that only has compression 5 cyls and missing half the vacuum lines and still manages to putt around until it hits 40mph then starts hesitating bad, he's probably gonna end up swapping it for something else since its mostly broken but surprises me it still runs.

A few years back I was headed to the hospital for my Mom's surgery. On the way there the heater hose blew on the highway. I pegged the gauge, pulled over, popped off the radiator cap, and drove it to my friends house about 8 miles away. Replaced the heater hose in his driveway, stuffed the garden hose in the radiator and force cooled the motor, filled her back up with coolant, and headed back down the highway. The motor never skipped a beat and is still running strong.

Nice build taking one of the most undesirable XJs and making it into a desirable one.

mac 'carbed out' gyvr

Thanks! :thumbup:

 

[Luke95]

Nice ass jeep I dig!