I am thinking of picking up an 88 RS to play with. I have a mild built 454 I want to install
78 2 bolt block. cast pistons, stock rods, 8.4 compression. It has been rebuilt and was in a off road truck. It has a comp cams "mild" hyd. roller cam, lifters, roller rockers. I ran the peanut port heads and had a Holley projection 4 Fuel injection on it. I plan on keeping the short block the same. Might up the cam a little. I also will be putting oval port aluminum heads on it. Unsure what intake/carb to use yet. I have an old edelbrock dual plane 4bbl intake now. I was thinking of performer rpm and an 850DP.

Anyways, I have been poking around this forum and have seen some decent info to aid in the swap. I do want this a fully functional street car. I know from other advetures with 3rd gen cars, that cooling is an issue. I planned on that.
(84 T/A with a 406 small block)
(86 IROC with a 383)
This is the first time I thought of doing a big block in one. I have seen a few references to the wiper motor not fitting with tall valve covers. Has anyone figured this out? I don't care if I have A/C. The car I looked at had A/C, but didn't work. Is A/C more common than NO A/C in these cars?? I see hooker headers seem to be the most common header to use, but what about exaust? Any pics or links to ther threads to show what concerns I have would be great.

I am not new to the hot rod game. I've been building/racing cars for 20+ years. I can fab stuff I need. I recently got rid of my 71 camaro. Living in the Northeast has made it difficult to find decent rust free cars. Even the 2nd gens are hard to find. Thats why I'm looking at 3rd gen. Or even 4th. Not 100% sure what I'm building .....yet!!
The 4th gen look like a BBC could be a real trick to install!!

 

I personally would stick with the stock heads, as the 8.4:1 compression would be ideal for boost (but thats me though). I know a guy who has over twenty second gens (all Trans Ams) in his yard, he lives literally two minutes from Raceway Park, if that's what your looking to do.

By the way, welcome aboard....

-Rob

 

second gens are great drivers, and look great, ( I wish I hadn't sold my last one) but our third-gen cars are several hundred pounds lighter. By far the vast majority of third gens were built with air conditioning. Even back in '82, 84% of Camaros came with it, and by '92, 98.5% of Camaros had it. It's hard to give up $600 or so for a BeCool radiator, plus an Edelbrock water pump, But that's all it took for my friend in Florida to get his big block to stay cool all summer. There are no readily available header-back exhaust systems for big block third gens, whether you use hooker or patriot headers. You'll have to get something custom made. As for the wiper motor, just don't use tall valve covers. The short ones will barely clear the stock heater box.

 

Well, the engine already has roller rockers AND tall valve covers. I was wocering if putting a notch in the corner of the valve cover would clear the wiper motor. I had to something similar in a 87 monte I put a big block in to clear the A/C heater box. The stock peanut ports work great in low rpm range, like I needed in the truck. 5,000rpm max. But I figured the weight savings from aluminum heads and the better RPM range would both be a +. I'm really not sure where I am going to end up with this. I just know I want a "street" toy. I haven't had a car to play with for a couple years, and gettin that itch!!

 

I have some stock '94 rockers and valve covers I'll let go for cheap.

 

The majority of roller rockers will fit under stock height valve covers. Tall covers are required when you're like me and run a stud girdle.

 

I'm running Crane Gold Rockers. They DON'T fit under stock rockers. I really don't want to go backward and take the rockers off.

 

bablazer, welcome! im currently doing my research and parts gathering for a bbc swap into my 91 firebird (soon to be a firemaro). atilla and stephen are both helping me as well.

ive run into the same problem as you with the roller rockers and stock covers, and was also considering notching the valve covers. i havent had alot of time lately to play with the car, but im also toying with the idea of relocating the wiper motor or re-clocking it, but ive got to get it back in the shop b4 i can check all that.

most of the roller rockers ive looked at say they wont clear stock covers, which sux for us. im looking at steel ones, cuz i busted my aluminum ersons on my last 350, so i dont wanna deal with fatigue points. im thinkin about trying to make my own covers so i can fit them regardless but well see.

what tranny and rear gears are you going to use? im trying to find a t-56 and prolly going to use 3.90's/4.10's.

neway, im right there with ya on the swap, good luck with it! well have to check eachothers out after were done.

 

No plans on the rest of car yet. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna do it. Depends on how "affordable" it is. I have the engine already built. I figured I'de use the 700R4(Untill it pops) and a 373 gear.

 

Comp Cams Pro Magnum rockers are the way to go. Much better than aluminum rockers. Next step up from that would be Jesel or T&D shaft mount rockers. Those are not within most people's budgets and I would love a set of Jesels.

 

 

Have a set on my SBC, and they are awesome. Never had a problem with them.

What heads are on it? If its got a set of the 781 large oval port heads, then I'd say keep them. They were pretty common on smog era big blocks, but they are actually quite good. The ports usually measure out in the 260-270cc range IIRC (peanut ports are around 200cc) and they flow quite well for a street/strip 454. Once you have a set of bigger valves installed, they are fantastic street heads. I think the stock valve size is 2.06/1.72 or something... have a set of 2.19/1.88 valves installed and it will wake them up quite a bit. Lots of guys make over 500hp in streetable combos with these heads unported. Just cleanup machine work and the larger valves.