1988 Beretta GT Rebuild

[airedale06]

As I was once in the same boat, it is amazing how much of that soul and personality you can transfer over from one car to another.

I meant buying a completely different car. I was seriously contemplating buying a Subaru but doing the work was going to be more rewarding.

Can't agree with rebuilding a ruddy 2.8 though. The gasket set is more than a reasonable mileage 3400 can be found for in a lot of cases.

I never contemplated an engine swap. Perhaps in the future when I have a car that I can use in the meantime and the engine and harness. I just want to get it running before the snow comes because the only other car I own is a 1966 Plymouth Valiant and there's no way I'm driving it in the snow. The salt they use on the roads would just completely destroy it.

[Asylum]

http://www.car-parts.com

You can likely find a 3400 and have it in and running in less than a week.

It's NOT a hard swap and has been done literally dozens of times on Berettas.

The 2.8 is just a waste of time and money, and please tell me you are not even considering not turning the crank, new main and rod bearings and at least new rings.

Other wise you are REALLY wasting your time and money.

[airedale06]

The engine is being completely rebuilt. It's going to be stripped, dipped, new cam, lifters, honing the heads, new gaskets, new rings, new bearings, and timing gears. Why is the 2.8 such a waste of time? It's served me very well in the tens of trips to and from PA, and driving in hard, Maine winters.

[Money pit Beretta]

I still have love for my old 3.1, that is a 2.8 with a small stroke. It was an old school engine(lots of low end power and little top end). I always thought it needed a bigger cam. And do to the stock shift points it does to make good use of them. Keep your 2.8 stock and enjoy it. I'm sure you have enough to spend your money on.

[Asylum]

The engine is being completely rebuilt. It's going to be stripped, dipped, new cam, lifters, honing the heads, new gaskets, new rings, new bearings, and timing gears. Why is the 2.8 such a waste of time? It's served me very well in the tens of trips to and from PA, and driving in hard, Maine winters.

Well then good luck with it. It's your car.

I have been around engines for almost 40 years including HEMIS and small block Chevys, and I wouldn't spend a damn nickel on a 2.8/3.1. Just a horrible design to begin with.

And I'm the guy who won almost $10,000 with a stock 3.1.

I still think it's a sad waste of money, but Good Luck with your car.

I have a set of 2.8/3.1 heads if you want to pay shipping. They are fresh and need nothing, but they are heavy.

[3X00-Modified]

As I was once in the same boat, it is amazing how much of that soul and personality you can transfer over from one car to another.

I meant buying a completely different car. I was seriously contemplating buying a Subaru but doing the work was going to be more rewarding.

I did both... LOL I have a Subaru Legacy daily driver and then my Pink car is for shows and nice days only.

I opted to keep just one Beretta in motion... I had both going for a while, but with the age of the red car, and things starting to fall apart on it I need a replacement and Amy got me a Legacy so that's when I fully retired Ole red... I just need to finish pulling all the stuff from it and then I'll send it out.

[airedale06]

It's been a while since I've posted but some major things have happened to the rebuild. Last weekend I started working on the rusty hood. Got it sanded down to bare metal and primed it with etching spray. And, the most exciting of all was today I went up and got my rebuilt engine back!

[airedale06]

Some more pictures.

[Money pit Beretta]

Is the valvetrain new? It would be a good time for some 1.6 rockers if so.

[Wanako]

that engine looks beautiful. Like Sir Cranky said, those motors, 2.8 and 3.1 are quite slow, but they've got good torque, and are reliable as all hell. My 2.8 lasted 254,000 miles and 23 years before it finally died. It's quite rare to see a blue 88. I've never seen one before. I'm eager to see it finished. =)

[3X00-Modified]

You stole my color combo... WTF is up with that?

It actually looks like your heads are just painted silver... or straight aluminum color... not quite sure.

My trans in the Gray/black from this year.


And my engine (this photo is from when I first built in back in 2007 too!)


I like my industrial gray color

[MY91GT(Z)]

to bad you have a rusty crank ~^^^ but i agree while you have your block like that is to do 1.6 rockers and ported uim and lim would be nice too

[3X00-Modified]

Everyone says that... That pulley was there to just turn the motor over, it wasn't installed that way.

[MY91GT(Z)]

i know just messin with you i know your that picky bout pinky ~

[airedale06]

It's quite rare to see a blue 88. I've never seen one before. I'm eager to see it finished. =)

That's funny that you haven't seen a blue 88 GT. There's one around town (an automatic), there's mine, and the parts car I bought (with the DigiDash) are all blue 88 GTs. If you want one, I think I could find you one, easily.

Is the valvetrain new?

Yes. It has new lifters, rods, cam, valvejob and the heads were honed.

You stole my color combo... WTF is up with that?

I didn't choose the combo. It came like that and I think it looks beautiful. I'm a little concerned that it's going to look out of place in the engine bay. I'll have to pressure wash and clean it up a bit before installation.