motor swap 87 B2600 4x4

Hey guys, quick question here, what could i drop into my pick up to where i dont have to do to many mods? I can handle a bell housing swap but dont really have much money to work with right now so im just wondering. I was thinking I could put a Ranger 2.9 in there, but I dono thought id ask you guys and see what you think. And thanks in advance for any help guys.

Justin in Washington

i have an 88 b2600 4x4 that the previous owner tossed a carbed chevy 2.8 into.

it works pretty well, it wont have enough power to break the mazda driveline too... lol nah its not bad. it uses the bellhousing from the camaro, but it is grafted/welded to the mazda one to mate up to the mazda tranny. the output shaft was also added on to (about an inch and a half or so long i think).

i think one of the toyota 4 banger 4x4 drivelines would prolly be something to look into. more power from the engines, and if you use the 4x4 parts from the toyota, there's likely more available parts for repair and replacement.

Thanks mate, im just fed up with my motor in the pickup now. Started it up last night and drove to my neighbors place and wasnt there, went to his pit and came back and let it idle for a min and it stumbled and then died. I just think the motor either a: needs to be replaced or b: rebuilt. But just wana know what i can drop into that thing that will fit. And thanks jim that helped out a lot. Gives me another option. What year camero bell housing would that work out of?

it's an 84 camaro. almost anything you want to do besides rebuilding/refreshing the stock engine is gonna require some customizing.

yea i can do that. i have a neighbor that can fab me up some motor mounts lol. thanks again jim. Im just fed up with the 2.6L. Ever since i got the thing i tried to retime it and it hasnt worked and since then i havnt been able to get that thing to run right. Have you done anything else to your b2600?

i havent done a lot to this truck yet. the last owner did the engine and fab work needed. also setup a front dual receiver hitch setup (trailer hitch style, but 2 of them spread out 2 1/2 feet or so. and rigged up a plow. has a screw type chain/winch lift to pull the blade up.

anyways i bought a front bush bar used, and custom fabbed the bottom so it slides in the receiver's... so easily removable just like the plow. works good. still have to clean up my welds, grind it and better paint the whole thing, but it's solid and looks decent for now. i also had to repair the box. the floor is rotted out (and completely gone in 1 to 4" strips where it used to connect to the bed sides), so i just had some metal corner bead (about 1/16" thick corner bent), that used to be part of a shelf, anyways welded that in to reconnect the floor to the sides again. brought the bedsides back up an inch or 2 back to the bodyline...lol

oh and i welded the mazda seat rails onto some 2000 toyota celica seats... much better than the old stockers.

i still have lots to do to the thing including a 2 or 3" body lift with hockey pucks in the next year...lol and other crap that doesnt cost much. bodywork and a quicky paint job maybe

i wana lift mine as well, and get that 2.8 in there as soon as i get some money. i also wana crank the torsion bars up but dono how to do that one lol. I also wana give it a good paint job lol and get a pic on here lol. I also wana get some good shocks for that thing all the way around, but dono what to get lol. Also get some aftermarket stuff on that thing as well lol. All future plans lol.

you got it man. all in time.

dont go with a 2.8 just cause i have one in there... there are lot of other options, everything will need some thought and customization to fit and work well. keep doing research and decide if you want to keep the mazda tranny, transfercase, difs and all, or swap to something that more easily works with an engine you like.

if i had done this swap, it would be something fuel injected. thats just what i like though.

yea thats true, id love to get FI but since i dono nothin about FI i dont really wana start into that just as im gettin the carb down lol. but id love to try and keep everything stock. What other motors will fit in there with keepin everything stock?