Hey I am restoring my 2.8 camaro and im wondering how careful I have to be with it.

well the block itself is cast iron along with the heads, but either way you still want to be careful because one screw up on those and you have to start all over from scratch

they can take alot, hell if i can make over 360 hp and 470ftlbs of tq on a stock bottom end motor id say its pretty dam durable

I'm asking because my friend bought a 2.8 camaro and i drove it around the block.. I floored it a few times then the next day it seized up.. so was this just random or should i stay away from flooring my 2.8

p.s he was changing the motor anyway

it sounds like the guy your friend bought it from messed it up already and that is why he sold it

Can anyone tell me what kind of stuff they do with their 2.8.. as in burnouts or flooring it often ect.

I have heard stories that the bottom ends like to go in the 2.8's. Over revving them will cause the rod bolts to stretch allowing the clearances to widen, then you get a drop in oil pressure then the rod knock, then lastly that rod decides to poke a hole in your block. Heard that from a Chevy mechanic. It's mostly 5 speeds that it happens to but autos can have it happen as well.

The earlier 2.8's had smaller cranks and two piece seals and were suppose to be problematic,I ran the hell out of mine with no problems.The later model with the one piece seal are quite strong,most problems occur from lack of maintaince.

I had a rod go through the block on my 1983 Firebird (5-speed, 2.8L) but that was at about 400,000 km.

I rebuilt the 2.8 on my 1989 Firebird at 425,000 km as I had a slight coolant leak at the front cover and decided what the heck, let's have some fun. So, currently have 25,000 km on a bored and stroked, heavily modded 2.8L in the '89 Firebird and no problems (it's also my DD).

So, in my opinion, these motors are almost bullet-proof.

I had my 89 2.8 over in Germany driving in mostly hilly country, cities, and the autobahn from 100 to 130mph for 2 years.

Had it floored one day down a road trying to get some plane tickets for leave, went to shift from drive to overdrive, but it was already in OD.

8000rpm before i could blink. No problem.

Was still running great at 194k (some ticking/lifter type noise, and an exhaust manifold gasket leak) when I decided to stick in a new 3.4.

Kinda wish I'd just saved the money, or took my time building a 3.4 hybrid, and just drove the 2.8 till she blew.

Probably would have still been running decent now at 220k

So how durable is the 3.1L? I floor mine all the time too, but Ive noticed a small bit of coolant making its way out the front of the engine right below the goose neck, is that bad?

they are good motors if maintained of and not over revved


find and fix your leak before it costs you a motor

i have an 86' sport coupe automatic and i had this happen. still havn't fixed it yet...

Hey,...I have an '85 305 now,..but about 5 years ago...I had a 1987 Camaro, it had a 2.8L V-6 in it, w/5-speed manual trans. The problems I heard about/had was a leaking rear main seal. Besides regular upkeep,..the 2.8L is pretty reliable and has quite a bit of snot. I ended up rebuilding another 2.8L for it while it was my DD,..that's when I found out how much power/reliability it had. While building up the motor for 3-months,..I rotted it a bit pushing its limits...trust me keep the oil clean and the 2.8L is practically "BULLETPROOF"

uMM, KEEP oil IN IT !!!!! and maybe it wouldn't have siezed...... mo .02

I spoke to a mechanic who has worked on thirdgens all his life, and he told me that the 2.8's were among some of the most reliable v6's GM ever produced. He did tell me about the infamous rod knock, but he said not to worry about that for another 200,000 KM lol . Right now my 2.8 is sitting at 120,000 KM (80,000 miles?) and it's my daily driver. Maybe some time in the future years from now it may die, but I think it has a long life ahead of it

I have a 1992 3.1L firebird Automatic that has 212K miles on it. It used to have a 75 HP nitrous shot on it, and it never gave any trouble whatsoever. I quit using the nitrous on it about 2 years ago, then about 1 year later it blew a head gasket. That was the only problem was the head gasket.

I have been very pleased with how my 3.1 runs and drives. Before it had 200K miles on it, I could even get 30 to 31 MPG on the interstate with the cruise set on 78 MPH.

My dad has a 1991 GMC sonoma ST with a 2.8 and a 5 speed. It has 355k Miles on it and has never had the valve covers off of it. It is getting such that it leaks and is burning a little bit of oil. Hey, it's nearly 20 years old and has been rode hard for 355K miles. Still cranks easy, though.

The later 2.8 and the 3.1/3.4 are much more solid then the early 2.8's. When was the balance changed? 87? 88? Any of those earlier 2.8's probably shouldn't be beat on. They tend to let go if they're abused. The 3.1/3.4 however are kinda hard to kill. I tried to kill my 91 3.1 many times, 150,000 miles, 120hp shot of nitrous, and countless beatings and it still ran fine when I sold it. I hear it's still driving.

Now my 84 Camaro 2.8 didn't survive the first beating. All stock, all original, 129k miles.

My room mate for 4 years was into Fieros... He had at least 6 2.8 blocks sitting in the scrap pile with holes in the blocks. The trick fix/upgrade for those cars was a Camaro/Firebird or Lumina APV 3.1.

Guess I wont be beating on it till i'm ready for a swap

Yeah these 3.1 blocks have to be pretty damn indestructible, one time a Cobra mustang 4.6L Supercharged pulled up next to me, and i was like oh ****!!! but i gave him a run for his money and just stomped on it and well the tach went passed 7,000rpm and stayed there for a second in first until about 40 mph and then i let off of it, it was a short race, and he beat the hell out of me, but he thought i had a 350 tpi car when we pulled over and talked

and well that was almost 8 months ago and since then ive put another 4,000 miles on the car and have had no problems, cranks right up and on no matter what, runs great, and ive had no problems with it what so ever, well except 20 year old multec injectors, lol