defclimb

i just picked up a used 89 RS its nice, maroon, T5, trigon wheels, cooper cobra rubber, but the cracker heads who had it before me ran water in the winter months (tennessee) and cracked the block and now it has no compression. (by the way the motor is a 2.8 mpfi) so now im on the hunt for another, a local junkyard has a running 2.8 that comes with fuel injection and a warranty against smoking,knocking, or excessive oil use, it's in a 89 TA with a 700r4, my question is this: I was told by a local mechanic that on those 2.8's that a 2.8 that came factory automatic will NOT work on a manual b/c it vibrates too bad..but i was also told by another that they will interchange all i have todo is change pilot bearings flywhell and possibly harmonic balancer...will the 2.8 out of the automatic TA work in my manual RS?

KED85

Look for answers in my 3.4 long block swap boogie tech article
That should help ya big time

defclimb

that didnt really help me on answering my question if the engine with a auto will work in my car with a manual

MDv6man

I currently swapped a motor into my automatic v6 86 camaro. The engine came out of a 5-speed camaro and I have not noticed any problems. Just take the new motor and set it aside of the old one after it is pulled and make the new motor look like the old one by swapping all the necessary parts.

stuart69427

couldn't say it better...

KED85

AND that was exactly what I was stating, also.
Thanks, Guys!
GM does not build special motors for a stick shift car.
Even with their pocket book
Special/different parts that work on the same engine block, sure!
When ya get the stuff, side by side, you'll see how easy it can become (any question, you ask yourself as you do the swap boogie!!)

Mikes86SC

Umm wait a minute here. The yard has a v6 in a 89 Trans Am. Does that sound off an alarm in anyones mind? We all know that there was only one Trans Am that came with a V6. And it just so happens it was built in 1989.

But I guess its possible someone blew their V8 and threw in the first engine they could get. Or someone at the yard thinks every Firebird is a Trans Am.

TomP

Good catch, Mike! Unless defclimb calls every Firebird a "Trans Am". So many people in HS would ask me "How's your Trans Am doing?" I finally gave up, and stopped correcting them. If they want to think it's a t/a, who am I to argue?

MDv6man

I'm going to guess it's one of the two later options because he said the motor was a running 2.8. I'd also venture to guess that of the two options, it was probably the guys at the yard figuring all firebirds are trans ams. Also didnt the TTA come with a 200-4r rather than the 700R4? Again I'm going to say the donor is really a firebird

defclimb

I know the difference in a firebird and a trans am. like the difference in a rs and a iroc, the trans am should have been a 305/350 with a 700r4 but i am going by what the guy at the junkyard said, i talked to him over the phone he said a 2.8l MPFI engine running guarenteed not to smoke, knock or have excessive oil usage, in a 89 trans am that had a 700r4...maybe he was wrong but since i have not saw the car yet, i went by what he said.

stuart69427

a lot of people put the t/a gfx on there birds, so that can possible be an easy mistkake sometimes. See them on the road alot too, say firebird on the side, t/a gfx, standard brake lights.

TomP

Didn't mean to offend ya, defclimb, just trying to figure out the 2.8+TransAm mystery. Youll have to go see the car and let us know! Hell, for all we know, the junkyard guy might be talking about a Camaro! I've had people say "Nice Camaro!" to me, when you can see it says "Firebird" right on the fender and the rear taillights.

stuart69427

85f-bird

easy to mistake the two as we all know, and my firebird is mistaken for both a transam (which doens't bother me to much) and a camaro (which gets me all revved up. ) but also remember that during some of the later years after GFX were available on the Trans Am's they also became available on base birds, but hte fenders remained w/o the brake vents, and no trans am tags, not to mention the hood would be flat w/o trans am vents, and no wrap around spoiler the go wing was still the standard. So, not all of those gfx on birds are aftermarket, some are very much factory. and for all i know the 2.8L from an auto car should bolt up to the one from the manual car, but like was stated b4 i'd really suggest you sit the blocks next to each other and recreate what you saw on your original block onto the new one. and yeh, most likely the car at the yard was a firebird, but if it was a trans am, painted white, and the engine doesn't look quite like your 2.8L, maybe has the word buick stamped on the front, take it in a heartbeat...and then take every piece of metal that goes along with it. hehe. I've heard of people mistaking the word 2.8L for 3.8L, different companies all togehter.

laegion

if you have to money to buy a long block, you should really try to find an early 90's 3.1 litre, you won't regret it those things have some *****. with the mpfi. my friends mom has a olds cutlass supreme with one, and it probably would have wupped my 82 z.