After starting this whole engine swap process way back in April, we finally got the new motor into my 91 Formula yesterday afternoon and got it fired up. The motor is a L98 (350) from a 92 GTA that had 50,000 miles on it. I just freshed up some seals, did some minor head work, and put it in the car. I was just going for reliability and fun. The IROC is my "fast" car. Anyway, the Formula runs pretty good, just need to play with the timing a little and she will be ready to roll. Here are some pics of the motor all put together before we slapped it into the car. Once I get everything buttoned up in the engine bay Ill toss up some picks of it all together.









...And here is what started this whole project. 136,000 miles + dumb kid + no oil= my new project



Thats the original LB9 305. Obviously it had a few oil leaks

The next step for this project is some minor bolt ons, headers and exhaust mainly. I also need to take care of some rust issues, especially the drivers floor pan which is shot. So what do u guys think of the paint?

 

looks nice. so even though you planned on getting headers you went out and purchased brand new manifolds? which do look realy nice BTW.

 

Not new manifolds Those are the originals that came with the motor when I bought it. They were in the same condition as the ones on the car, that is to say, rusty as heck. I sent them out, got them bead blasted, and sprayed them with 1500 degree exhaust manifold spraypaint. They look great in person. The only bad part is the paint will rub off on your hand until you cure it, either by running the motor or baking them in an oven. Here is what they looked like after I got them back from the bead blasting...

 

Good score on the low mile L98! And the detail work looks great!

 

You wouldnt believe how little I paid for the motor, let alone the car. The car cost me much much less then the motor

 

is it me or does it look like your plenum could use some port work

 

Looking very great men!!

If you have some pics of that cute little thing inside the car!!!

And, ... ???

Witch brand of paint did you take to paint you exhaust manifold!!
My headers have 'kind of gray' finish, it was suposed to be silver but (SVT paint). I cook them in an oven at my work, and the finish is resistant but not the finish touch I want!!!

Have fun whit it!!!

 

I do need to port out the intake a little. I'm going to play with the one that was on the 305 and put that on when I get done with it.

As far as the paint on the exhaust, its Plasti-kote high temp paint. 1500 degrees, not supposed to peel or chip. Hopefully it works out well and stays the color that it is.

 

Very nice!

 

omg thats so sexy! i cant wait for my 350 swap....gonna do it TPI also....choke-a-motor

is that a dodge daytona in the background?

91 formulas are the best!

 

Looks great, I decided to go Lt1 to take the place of my 305, what kind of hp do you expect?

 

RWDtech: Thats my 88 Chrysler Conquest TSi. A lot of people confuse it with a lot of other cars. Daytonas, 80s Supras, and the rear end looks like a fox body Mustang. either way, its not related to any of them. It has a 2.6L turbocharged and intercooled (factory frontmount) motor, 5 speed stick and independent RWD They are really nice cars, just rare. They can move out too. Mine is on the back burner right now cause all the cash for it went into the Firebird

88blkbird: The motor is all stock. Should be about factory HP and torque output for a 92 GTA. So probably around 245hp & 330lb/ft. BTW nice screen name

 

looks good man. im doing the same thing with my new 350 except im going carb. and most of the stuff for the motor is chrome so i dont have to paint much, which is nice.

but its looking good man real clean.

 

lookin good.. I can't wait to get my new motor on an engine stand and start wrenching..

 

I really like the color of the intake and vc's. Glad to see someone attempting something different with those.

 

Looks great! Seeing stuff like this gets me motivated to go out and by a high mile thirdgen to wrench on. It would make for a nice father and son project.

 

Great work. Looks awesome. Good choice of colors.

 

are you sure that Chrylser Conquest doesnt share the same platform as the Dodge Daytona? Seems odd Chrysler would develop a platform from scratch for such low production. Thats sweet that its RWD though, it has all my respect.

 

Definitly NOT related to the daytona at all. It is actually a rebadged Mitsubishi Starion. Kinda like a Camaro/Firebird, they had the Starion/Conquest, also known as the Starquest. The two cars are damn near identical aside from the badging. Mitsu imported these cars for Chrysler from 83-89 and sold them as the Conquest under the Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth brand names. Aside from saying "Imported for ______" on the back, they are identical no matter which Chrysler brand it was sold under. It actually doesnt have ANY Chrysler badging or Pentastars on it anywhere aside from the "imported for" tag on the hatch. Check out StarQuest Ventures: Internet infrastructure solutions linking IBM enterprise customers to the Web for more info.


Anyway, back to the 3rd gens. Thanks everyone! I cant wait to get it all buttoned up and take it for a cruise with the t-tops off. And to get some pics of the Bird with my IROC Heres a pic of my IROC motor so u can see what this paint looks like in a different color, if ya haven't seen it before. It is supposed to look anodized.

Here is a pic of the 350 TBI motor in my Silverado that I also did in Metalcast but in orange.


Can ya tell I kinda like this paint? The truck was just the air lid & valve covers, the IROC was just the intake plenum, runners and valve covers. The Formula motor is the only one I have completely repainted so far but the other two will happen soon

 

very nice 350.........I'm looking to score a low miles one to build too

 

Looks Good, Kind of Has that sinister look to it.........jt