I got a 89 bird for 300 bucks. it had been underwater and the insurance company totaled it. I got some carpet from the junkyard for 5 bucks, spent 12 bucks on some really good dye for the interior, cleaned everything up, armor all'd it, looks great.
I am putting a mild 350 in it, bout 360-380hp, TH350 tranny with stall and stock 3.42 rear gears
So far I have gutted the engine bay, labeled everything, cleaned it up. put V8 motor mounts on the frame, got V8 brake line from junk yard. I think i am gonna get the fuel lines too, I dont like that the V6 ones come out on the drivers side. I know I will need a fuel pump regulator, and regulator, i am planning on running headmen hedders, if not, i have stock V8 exhaust for the time being. I am sure I have forgotten some things. Anything of importance I have left out, please let me know. I couldnt afford to go out and buy a 3rd gen with a V8. this way, I can build it like I want it, I have more time than money. The junkyards have alot of 3rd gen parts, everything except freakin fenders for a firebird!!!!! sorry bout that. anyways, untill I get to wiring everything back up, I dont think the swap will be to hard. sorry this was so long.

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake

 

Done the swap, not to hard. There are some things you should look for:
1. the tranny must have the mounting holes on the tail shaft for the torque-arm, if not you might as well find one that does. Converting a TH-350 is a very expensive project.
2. Depending on the year of the 350, You might not be able to use the stock exhaust manifolds. '79 and older have a driver-side dip stick, this will not clear the stock manifolds.
3. Get a good V-8 radiator. The stock one for your car will not work (over heating with V-8 motor)

If you have any other questions about this project, I will be more than happy to give you some answers. WCovingtonR@aol.com

 

I have never seen a TH350 with the mounting holes for the tourqe arm and have never heard of anyone on the board talk about them, I dont know why you say its expensive swap to do. I have a TH350, 2800 stall, TV cable, dipstick tub(which saves some money), i got the metric200 drivshaft today and was 10 bucks from the salvage yard. The swap kit is 70 bucks. thats less than 100 bucks, I'd rather pay that than 1000+ for a 700R4. I also have a long shaft TH350, so if I would happen to blow something up, I can use the other.
I had heard about the dipstick thing, thats a very good point, I dont think most people would think about it, i know i didnt. I did hear that it will work if you have headers.
I am still looking for a radiator for it. thank god for the salvage yards.

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake

 

i did the swap in my '88, its not really that hard...

I'm running an aftermarket torque arm and a TH350.

I've got a front fender off a third gen sitting up in my attic, I think it's the pass side. if you're interested email me @ J812MANY@aol.com

The fender is factory red (and looks like new) no dents or bondo.

I'll take just about any offer (if you pay the shipping)

 

hey 812, what aftermarket tourqe arm are you running, and are you using the adapter plate? oh, do you have any pics of that fender?

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake

 

The TH-350 didn't come with the torque-arm mounts, but I have been told that there is a kit to put the 700r4 tail-shaft on. That would give you the mounts, it uses some kind of spacer to make it measure up (you would have to use the TH350 with the long tail)

 

any idea who makes this "spacer"? hehe

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake

 

Jegs and Summit both sell kits to attach the stock torque arm to a t-350. The kit is less than $75.00.

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1992 Pontiac Firebird 350/Six Speed
1987 Toyota Pickup 383/500+ HP

 

The biggest factor complicating this swap is emissions - If you have to go through them, it's a lot harder. You didn't say either way, but a carb'd 350 isn't going to make it in an '89.

You didn't mention front springs, air conditioning, cruise, throttle cable, kickdown cable, shifter (I think the TH700 shifter will work - when it's in the "2" position, you're in first - but you'll need a 3-speed cable & bracket, I believe), air cleaner, lines to charcoal canister, wiring harness.

I assume you know you'll need the entire exhaust for a V8, not just the headers. You also should have gotten the torque arm with the driveshaft.

I've heard talk that some mid/late-70's California Monzas came with 350s & TH350s that had a torque arm mount. I've never seen it in person, though. I've never heard of a tailshaft housing conversion, but if you could find the Monza piece, you're in business. The Summit conversion kit is probably cheaper, though. The other choice is to weld up a bracket to the crossmember. That would take the load off of the tranny mount, which is a good thing.

The only fuel lines that go up the passenger side are carbed V-8, and even those pass from the driver's side to passenger side over the top of the tranny tunnel. The factory had a clamp bolted to a stud at the top of the tunnel - V6 cars don't have that stud. I just ran a steel line across the front of the crossmember with a short piece of rubber to splice the factory line. I kept the return line as well (just ran rubber for that). I have no means of proving this, but I believe the fuel will stay cooler with my routing.

Don't forget to drain the fuel tank. Also check the charcoal canister for water.

By the time you're all done with this, you will probably have spent as much as it would have taken to buy a factory V8 car. But, you can spread out the expenditures this way.

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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, LT MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1/95.5 @ 5800' Bandimere.

 

five7kid, thank you for the input. no emissions is not a concern. i have heard about the monza's with the TH350 tailshaft/tourqe arm thing but have never seen one. why would i need to get the tourqe arm from the car i got the driveshaft from? I will probably run steel fuel line arcross the K memeber like you did. Are you running a electric fuel pump with a regulator, or a mechanical(if so, how?) thanks

 

Torque arm length and driveshaft length go together. There are short and long ones out there. Since you're running a long driveshaft with your short tailshaft tranny, you'll need a long torque arm to reach the tailshaft.

I'm running a mechanical pump. The V6 originally had a mechanical pump, so there wasn't any in-tank pump to either use or fool with. The V8 was also mechanical. I've heard of both using the V6 in-tank pump w/regulator, and pulling through the disabled in-tank pump with a mechanical pump. I'd recommend the former before the latter.

 

these are my thoughts on the tourqe arm/drivshaft thing(i could very well be wrong). the swap kit is for TH200/TH700R4. the TH200 has a longer driveshaft tourqe arm/driveshaft than a TH700. If you can swap to a TH350 with either transmissions, there must be provisions for both. I am using the long driveshaft to compinsate for the TH350 being shorter than the 700R4. Either way, the bracket in the kit is gonna mount at the same spot on the TH350 no matter if it has a long or short shaft. The actual transmission is the same length on either, just the shafts are different(sounds like something my ex gf would say.....bitch...oh sorry bout that)So if i used the long shaft TH350 and the stock 700R4 drivshaft, the overal length from the rear end, to where the bracket is gonna mount is the same, the only thing different is wether the driveshaft or tailshaft is 3 inches longer. I might be completely wrong here, and that is very possible. I have both long and short shaft TH350, with long and short driveshafts. So Hopefully I can work something out. If anyone else knows anything about this, please let me know. thanks.

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake