Hey, my last topic was closed, so I guess Ill be a lot more specific in how I am explaining things. Ok here it goes:

I have a 1991 black camaro RS and I never liked the V6. It had too little hp, not enough get up and go. The engine swap started with a browse in the junkyard for old rims to put some snow tires on. But when I was browsing I opened a hood of a camaro, just curiously, and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the TPI. It was missing a few parts but it looked beautiful... and I had to have it. I bought the engine for $200, it was a mess of rust and bad oil. I took the entire engine apart and it turned out the crankshaft was dead, oil pump dead, and piston rods dead. Decided to throw away the block assembly.

Then luck struck me! A friend at work had a 1991 camaro LB9 block assembly and he gave it to me for free! I had to give it a little bit of PB blaster to get it turning, then all rod bearings replaced, and oil pump and pan replaced. After that it was all a matter of rebuilding. All new gaskets installed, all parts cleaned in kerosine, all the good stuff.

After the engine was together I got the 3.1L V6 with TH700R4 transmission pulled out. The engine mounts had to be replaced, the brake lines had to be rerouted, the exhaust had to be modified, ohh a lot had to be done. After all that was done the radiator was pulled, the radiator fan was pulled, and the V8 was dropped in.

It fit like a charm, the LB9 took up just enough room with all its wiring that it filled the engine bay and diddnt make it look empty. The radiator was pulled out of a TPI firebird and I placed it in the car, hooked up my old fan to it, same fan shroud... things were comming together.

After all the wiring was done, all the bolting, the new T5 transmission placed in, it was ready to mount the TPI runners and plenum. I mounted them in about 30 minuted (lost a few bolts, had to find replacements), and the throttle body was attached too. The throttle body is a dual 52mm port stock throttle body.

The throttle body is missing the top vaccum plate, so right now its taped off with masking tape. the front end of the car sits 1" lower, and the car is basiccaly all done. I need to finish wiring the interior, and I need to solve a few problems with the injectors and starter to get this thing running and on the road. Here are before and after pictures of the engine bay:

PS: I added that intake, I am gonna try to make one of those open filter intakes for my TPI soon

 

after pic

 

Hi, good job mate, im thinking of doing this to my V6, i might have just got hold off a crashed 89 formular 350. do you think it should go smooth being as i have a whole donor car?
will say more if i actuly get the car.
Nick (uk)

 

same way i felt when i saw the TPI on the 350

 

its a LB9 305ci engine. The car runs, I drove it without an exhaust down my street and back, trannie and clutch work great. Ive got to go to autozone now to try to find a Y pipe for under $100... wish me luck. once I get the exhaust fitted and figure out why the windsheild wipers wont work Ill drive it on the road. I hope cops dont mind it still being within progress :P

 

Nice, how long did it take you from start to finish. From the pictures i dont c any headers, u mentioned that u were running open exaust. make shure u have some pipe behind the manifolds to so you dont warp your valves in your heads. Good luck the car is coming along nicely

 

Well the part I was missing was the Y pipe. I got that now and will install shortly. I might need to replace my exhaust manifold - y-pipe bolts, they are pretty rusted. The car wouldnt idle with the open manifolds, after I get the Y pipe on Ill try again and see if it idles, if it still doesnt than Ill try to advance or retard the timing

 

Hi,
What color are the wires going to the temp guage?? Mine were cut doing the same swap (not tpi though) and I have no idea which ones of the 3000 wires in the harness they are!
The v-8 sure looks nicer than the v-6 when you open the hood!

 

What temp sensor? block temp or coolant temp? lol. There are 2 on mine. block temp is a single green wire... coolant temp looks like this:



I dont know if the colors are the same... but I cant look at my wiring harness coolant temp wires, they are under the alternator and alternator bracket.

I have a question, my wiring harness and my transmission both are for a mechanical speedometer, BUT my instrument cluster has an electronic speedometer in it. How do I either A) replace the guage in the instrument cluster to have a mechanically driven one or B) Convert to electronic senders and wiring?