molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Hello!

I'm going to rebuild an 89' 2.8 V6 engine and them swap it into my car that is currently a 2.8 carbed V6 '83.

Is there a guide on this? I have the complete 89' engine with all the wires and ECM.

I already know about the fuel pump issue, but what else is there? How will the connectors hook up to my existing connection as the firewall? What will I need to get to retain alla original gauges etc.?
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And also, has anyone had experience with the ARI engines stroker kit ?

http://www.engine-parts.com/GMV6/gm2831stkr.html

Are the parts any good, is it worth it? If I get it, should I have the machinist still measure and machine and balance all the parts?

I'm going to take some more power out of this engines than stock , so I need it to be atleast as durable as when new.

pairtoe

iTrader: (4)

hopefully you are keeping the 89 block. its much better then the older ones. i never switched my 2.8 from carb to fi, but the fi isnt that bad. if you need any wires or computers or parts let me know cause im parting out my entire 2.8 and has a bunch of high performance parts you might want.


check it out:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/4...rformance.html

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I'm basicaly going to swap the entire 89' engine in. Except maybe accessories, cause it has a serpentine belt and I would have to get electrical fans............but maybe........

pairtoe

iTrader: (4)

electric fans are the way to go in my opinon. are you planing keeping it N/A or do you want some sort of FI?

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Well at first I'm going to keep it N/A.

First thing is to get it up and running good mildly modded and with the new fuel system and everything else.

After that, if I have my suspension and brakes as good as I want, maybe some turbos.

But this engine swap and rebuild is going to take at least a year total, so the turbos are still a long times away.

pairtoe

iTrader: (4)

yeah your def gonna want to learn form firstfirebird and get it tuned and running good before you go throwing a turbo on there.... im sure he will chime on the subject.

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

Let molopaa get the motor built first. My issue really wasn't the tune, i was being stupid and playing with it. The 7730 ECM pulls fuel for the rev limit, and caused the lean condition. If I didn't hit the rev limiter, it would still be running.

You are going to see a nice gain with the EFI and later model heads. They have bigger valves, and IIRC ports as well. What is the 89 engine out of?

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Yep, the carbed heads suck.

The engine is out of an 89' Camaro.

So does anyone know of a guide or anyone who has done this swap?

2.8RS

iTrader: (5)

Look in the tech articles section, there may be one there. I know that there is a FI to carb swap but there is probably a carb to FI swap. It is more then likely for the V8 but you can use that as a guide for all of the big stuff, you may need to come back to us for any specifics it doesn't outline.

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

It's really pretty basic. Install the harness, fuel pump and upper end, then connect to the ECM.

Are you looking for specific information? If so, like what?

Blue1989RS

If your're going to convert over to MPFI do the whole thing.

Fuel
You may need to swap the entire fuel line as you probably have a single hardline cause its carbed. Fuel Injection uses 3 lines. High pressure feed, low pressure return, and carb canister. Once that is done, fuel pump pickup tube and wiring (relay, fuse, wires)

Engine
The engine will mount up no problem. You can keep your old accessories (v-belt) but you need to know now as your water pump stem changes length with electric fans vs engine driven. The old pump will work on the new block (timing covers changed over the years as did the oil pan). The headers will bolt up too. Wiring will be a pain because you will be putting in a VATS V6 in a non-VATS chassis. Some of the wiring will be missing on the chassis side, exactly what I don't know without comparing the manuals.

Transmission
if you're keeping manual-manual or auto-auto you won't have a problem. If you intend on using your old tranny with the new motor, make sure you keep the flywheel with the original motor. 83 was externally balanced, 89 was internally balanced. Ask if you don't know what to look for.

Anything else? It will be a lot of work if you haven't thought about it too much. I wouldn't do it but thats just me. I'd keep it carb'ed but swap blocks and heads.

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

And yes ARI is reputable. You can always just get a JY 3.1 crank and pistons to put in your car to make it a 3.1. make sure it is RWD, though.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the replies.

My main concerns were on the wiring part. Will the gauges read correctly, what won't hook up and what about the VATS. The oilpressure sender unit hookup looked different for example. How about cruise control? Must be a different system carbed 83 vs. MPFI 89?


Can you disable VATS altogether, as I have no need for it nor can I use it, because like you said I don't have VATS in my original car.

The main reason I don't want to keep my existng carb is that it is an electronic piece of ****. So complicated, too many wires, tubes etc. If it breaks, I won't be able to fix it.

Also since I'm going to modify the engine, will the carb be able to keep up? The mixtures will probably be f:eed up, though it's supposed to be able to adjust it by itself? And will the carb be able to deliver enough CFM or will it be a bottleneck in power?


Luckily I'm in no hurry, first gotta build the whole engine and then think about everything else......who knows, maybe I'll just get a bigger Holley replacement carb and try that............but still, it would be nice to have fuel injection.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Starting to gather up parts and get ready to dismantle the engine.

Still having doubts on the MPFI system..............but still in the long run it would be so much easier.

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

You could always go with MegaSquirt standalone EMS.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

A question to someone who has ripped the wireharness and ECM out:

Is there somekind of a middle cable between the wires that come from the engine and the ECM? Or do they just all go into one single connector from the engines sensors and then that hooks up to the ECM?

I was looking at the wire harness and it just didn't look right..........wonder if it's missing something.

Blue1989RS

There is a seperate harness for the injectors that connects to the engine harness. Is that what you mean? Its a pretty small harness overall, should fit in a box for an 18pack of longneck bottles.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

You should stick with the carb...

You can get one to replace yours that is not electric from a 1980 or older application. You could get one from a 1980 X car (citation, skylark) and jet it up just a tad or you could get one for a 1980 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup with a 250 inline six (4.1 liter) and jet it down a little.

You are looking for the Rochester Vari-jet (E2SE) two stage two barrell.

Take a picture of your old one to the junkyard; they are on a lot of late 70s cars...