I am thinking of purchasing a 1986 Firebird. The engine unfortunately has a very loud knock, and I was wondering how hard it is to replace a fuel injected 2.8 V6. I have found a fuel injected 2.8 V6 from an '87 S10, will it fit in? If not what other engines will fit in with relative ease? I read somewhere else on the forums that other GM V6 engines should fit in without too much trouble. I am looking for an easy engine replacement that will not give me too much trouble. How difficult is it to replace the engine? Will I need to do anything to the transmission or engine mounts? Tools aren't a problem, I have a garage full of them, but would there be any certain special tools needed for this work? How long would it take two people to complete the engine swap? Thank you for your answers in advance.

you'll have to put the intake on from the car, which is a slight pain in the butt, but not too hard... the hardest thing to do is to not break bolts when you unbolt the exhaust. get lots of colored tape/paper and start writing down what goes where, cause there is a TON of wiring/tubes.

good luck!

p.s. its not hard to change the big engine, its the small stuff that will piss ya off!

engine: 2 bolts
trans: 6 bolts
exhaust: 4 bolts

12 bolts ... thats it. and tons of wiring

Thank you ScottieB,

I don't mind taking things off and having to put them back on, I just don't want to have to do any heavy modifying to anything.

Edit: To make it more clear, what I want to do is take a 2.8 v6 from an '87 S10 and put it in the car. I just want to take the parts off the motor, take it out, put them on the new motor and put it in the car. Will the parts from the old motor work with the new motor? Will the same transmission work with the new motor?

First, welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

The transmission will work, and everything will fit. When I was looking into this back in '99 when I first got my knocking V6 Camaro, I was told the S10 V6 oil filter mounts differently than the f-body V6. In order to use the S10 engine, you'll have to use a remote mount oil filter (something about chassis interference). That's what I was told - I never verified it.

The 2.8l V6's had inherent weaknesses that made them prone to failure. Those issues were addressed (as I understand it) in the 3.1l V6. You might want to look into getting the later, larger version. It will all bolt up like the 2.8l.

(For the record, I never put a V6 back in - I just went to the 305.)

Thank you for the reply.

Now just have to think about buying the car, it's cheap and in pretty good shape, other than the engine it just needs rear brakes.

May I ask what your planning on paying for the car? For an engine that has a knock, as well as needing rear brakes, I would imagine that it's costing you around $500.00 or less. If it isn't, move on to another. Just my advice....

$1300, but they have fixed many other things on the car. Plus everything else is in decent shape.

if u are going to rpelace the v6 get urself a 3.4 v6 out of 4thgen camaro or atleast a 3.1 oput of a 90-92 fbody.the weak 2.8's were the early carbed ones u do not want one of those.

the 3.1 and 3.4 are the same motors ,3.1 is a stroked 2.8 and a 3.4 is 3.1 with a larger bore, eithe motor will require swaping basic parts of the current 2.8 motor to bolt it in

Gregg, I just bought this car for $800.00, runs great, needs minor cosmetics. Have some patience will ya, $1,300.00 is WAY too much for a car that needs an engine....;

whens it getting a turbo ???? lmao

sorry for the hijack lol

... I'd like to turbo the carbed 400 that's already in it, and take on Paulie's GN!

You really think $1300 is too much? I think it is is an OK deal.
I haven't noticed any other firebirds around here for this cheap, and I don't mind doing a little bit of work on it.