u/YourFriendPutin

okay so I've tried a couple starters and it's still not catching the ring gear which appears to be fine. sometimes it'll grind a bit before just spinning, the Bendix is pushing the starter gear out I know for sure it just seems the ring gear is slightly too far away or something?:

do I need to widen the top hole on the starter so I can move it further towards the ring gear using the bottom bolt as a pivot point?

I've been a mechanic a long time and my boss was helping me with it too who's also a good mechanic but I only started work on it yesterday, he's the one who tried multiple starters with no change.

any ideas would be amazing, it's the only thing wrong with the truck.

and best place to buy a cheap black grill? and black headlight trim/bezels?

okay so first things first, I don't need or want speed. I don't need huge power. I just like to modify things and it's always fun seeing what I can do with these kinds of engines, like what's typically tossed aside for a 4.0 swap and whatnot.

now I can port the heads and work with the flow bench at work, the parts I would like some input on? maybe a sort of choppy cam, intakes (maybe carb swaps even), headers, ya know? all the fun stuff you'd do to your 289 or 302 but I know it will barely give me any more power.

it's because it's what I have and I very much love how much I learn taking the "build what you've got" route.

has anyone modified a 2.9 cologne?

besides the cam, headers, and intake (wether carbed or ported), and head work I can do, does anybody know where to get flat top pistons? I'd love to slightly raise the compression, and frankly am not looking to move quickly. it's just fun to me to work on these motors that tend to me tossed aside.

I've done Ford 300's, Mopar slant 6's, 2.3 limas, just stuff that isn't known for power, was never meant for power and I just want to make it pretty, and sound good. and however minimal the gains are is fine with me.

I can port the heads at work since we have a flow bench, if I can find headers I'd love it, otherwise I'll slowly spend time making some myself but would like to buy them.

would a carb conversion be worth anything? Anyone ever go with ITBs?

where to shop for cams? I had the 3.8 in my super coupe years ago but never went crazy, just a pulley and bulletproofing it.

anything I haven't mentioned please bring up! how can I make the 2.9 sound good, be a fun little engine, and stay different?

I have a thing for trying to turn the engines we usually swap away from into something fun. it's not a race car, it's just for around town, won't be stupid loud but a choppy rumble would be awesome, also being a 4wd, will I hurt it if I put a spool in the rear dif?

if anyone knows what pistons I can use to increase compressions for instance, something that's not dished at all and is a flat top? with head porting and very slight decking at work I know I can raise comp a bit that way, and increase flow. will also be lookimg for intake manifolds as well wether FI or carbed.

also any means of dropping the 4wd by 1-2 inches would be awesome, I keep getting mixed opinions on if it's possible. I'll happily notch a small amount of structure and reinforce it to get slightly lower.

also for a truck that occasionally needs to do 80mph is there any rear gearing that would be more aggressive but still able to cruise at highway speeds? even if it puts my top cruising speed down to 65-70 I'd have way more fun as it barely sees the highway.

sorry for so many questions, feel free to tackl one or all of them haha.

tldr: what do to 2.9 cologne for good sound and power gains can be minimal just don't want to end up with less of it.

don't yell at me. I'm just trying to have fun tinkering. I know I could swap in a 4.0 for cheaper than these parts cost but that's not why I'm doing it. I like to see what I can make out of what most consider a boat anchor

thank y'all!!!!: