I have a 92' Firebird with a 3.1 V6 and its time for a change...I have a Chevy L05 350 and I want to change it to carb not tbi. I have looked through the Edlebrock catalog and the only carb intake manifolds are Vortec and non-Vortec. Can I use any carb intake manifold or is there certain ones that can be used? Also can the stock V6 radiator handle the V8? And one more (for the current moment) how dificult is it to throw in a carb through all the wiring and what needs/can be removed/added? I appreciate any help...my buddy is all Vette' knowledge and dumb to everything else, and I spent to much time with ricing imports.

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

First, read the "V6 to V8" sticky at the top of this forum. That will tell you what you need to do for the basic swap.

For going to carb, there is a tech article linked from the thirdgen.org homepage that discusses going from EFI to carb. There are a couple of holes in that article, but nothing we can't fill in here. At least start with the basics.

Your V6 transmission won't mount to the LO5, so you need a V8 tranny. Again, that's covered in the sticky.

Your '92 V6 radiator is the same as a '92 V8 radiator, so no issues there. That's about the end of the "good" news.

The LO5 is a Generation I small block Chevy (SBC). It has what is referred to as the '87 and up intake bolt pattern. There are plenty of carb manifold choices out there to cover that. Edelbrock, Weiand, and Holley all offer them, from what I recall off the top of my head.

 

I have finally got about everything needed to do the project. New Fogger heads, Edelbrock intake, Webber 4brl 650cfm carb, and all the for fuel pressure. According to what I've been told I can use the same igntion setup (coil, rotor,...etc) just wanting to double check that. Also after extinsive research online I found out that the tranny is the same for the V6 as the V8. The same 700r4 was used on the Formula model. I'm changing the rear end to 4.10 and rebuilding the tranny. Been told thats all I need, but as before...double checking. BTW if anybody has any extra front fender body kit pieces please let me know....with both of the missing it really makes the car look white trash. Also looking for a new front bumper and any ideas on step number two after the engine.....thanks fellas.

 

Sorry to disappoint, but you're about to find out that the tranny is not the same.

It's true that the V6 and V8 both used a 700R4, but they have DIFFERENT BOLT PATTERNS to bolt to the engine. The V8 uses a Chevy rear wheel drive pattern and the V6 uses the METRIC pattern that the front wheel drive car engines use. At the very least you need a V8 housing so that you can put all of your internals into it and bolt to your V8.

 

The V6 internals are different and weaker than V8 TH700's as well.

You need a different tranny. That they called them the same thing is a cruel joke, but true.

Ignition stuff is different, too. Although you might be able to use the external coil.