The subject mostly says it.

There is a v6,AT 91Firebird in my area for under $850.
It has two problems
1) accident damage on passenger front which
looks to be just fender and bumper cover.
2) tranny was allowed to run dry and burn up.

It has five redeeming qualities
1)a 3.42 POSI rear I can use in my 88CamSC or
leave in if I engine swap it.
2)4 very nice wheels and 4 1 month old tires.
(my car needs tires now)
3)incredibly good body, shiny paint, no rust
at all
4)bigger sway bars than my car which i could
use if i don't swap.
5)a veryfine interior save for one cig burn
on the passenger seat base.

As a swap candidate it looks good to me
because i could get a used AT for a V6 for around $250 and drive it until i found the donor engine/tranny car.

If I remember correctly FB's have electronic speedo's, and a V6 tach won't work with a V8.

AM I wrong?? Is this all in the ECM's chip so all I would need is a custom PROM.

For now I would basically put the 3.42, bigger sway bars, and new tires on my 99CamSC. The plan being that later I would
find an 89 up TBI/TPI and 5 speed or AT in a wrecked car and do the swap to the bird which would get my 2.73 open diff, 30mm/18mm sway bars, and 10k miles left Euro TA's until
it comes to life as a V8 car.

Will the ECM work in the FB for a v8 swap??
WIll it be hard to change out the speedo/tach to support the 2.73 and V8??
Will this require a wiring harness swap??
Is a wiring harness swap a pain??

I figure if I find a post 87 Firebird V8AT donor car it should be a straightforward labor intensive pain in the *** engine swap but well worth it.

What do you think??



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1988 Camaro Sport Coupe305TBI-4spdAOD-2.73open in "bought stock" condition. That'll change if it stays around here much longer mike.davis@firstunion.com

 

The ECM will not work, swap in an ECM for whatever engine you install (TBI or TPI), and yeah it's kind of a pain, but people on the board do it all the time so I'm sure there's tons 'o info on the archives on it.

No problem swapping out the speedo and tach. They are quite easy to swap with others, especially speedo and tach from V8 birds...also, the dash setup allows for easy install of custom gauges.

Sounds like a good deal to me. I'd go for it. Just keep in mind front end parts can catch a pretty penny on 91-92s.

MILT

 

I'll have to disagree, slightly. I'm sure if you check around very carefully, and add up ALL the costs to do this (even if you supply all the labor), you will find that you will have to get the car free in order for it to cost less than buying a factory V8 car that runs well and has a decent body and interior and tires. You might get the $850 back if you parted out the car, but probably not.

Sorry, that's the harsh reality.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4. 2.93 limited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 w/'87 LB9 block, ZZ3 cam and intake, World 305 heads, Hooker headers & y-pipe, 3" Catco cat & 3" cat-back).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. 0.030 over 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlock header mufflers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1/95.5 @ 5800' Bandimere.