From what I've read it doesn't seem so hard. I know I need to swap the motor mounts, computer and wiring harness, front springs, tranny, accessories and brackets, and drive shaft but what else is involved? I'm assuming that if I can get hold of a wrecked IROC the swap will be fairly simple, since all the parts will be there.

Any help/info appreciated.

 

You don't have to swap driveshafts.

One person's defination of "hard" will vary from another's. I've done a V6 Vega swap, and BBC/TH400 in a '57 (with a 350/TH350 swap and 302/Al Powerglide preceeding). I'd have to say the V6 to V8 3rd gen swap was harder than the others combined.

Doing a TPI, which requires all of the controls (read - emissions) to make it work properly is certainly more difficult than a simple mechanical carb/distributor job. But, having a complete V8 donor car is the only sane way to do it either way.

Is this your first car, or does it have some similar sentimental value to it? If not, the cheaper and wiser course is to sell your V6 car and buy a factory V8 car. Being able to say "I did the swap myself" is only worth so much.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4. 2.93 limited slip. 2-1/2" cat-back, ZZ3 intake, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 CC system w/'87 LB9 block, ZZ3 cam, ported World 305 heads, Hooker 2055 headers, 3" Catco cat & 3" catback, restalled TC, Spohn SFCs).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Holley 750VS w/4150 conversion, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 600 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).

 

I agree with the comment above. Unless you just MUST do the swap I'd get a V8 car and start from there.

 

It's a piece of cake. Did mine all buy myslef and had no donor car. The only hard thing I see for you is getting all the wires and computer hooked up. I just used a carb and dist. and was done with it. We'll see if I pass emissions next year. That could suck if I don't.

Brad...


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1986 SC Camaro
Mods: Threw 2.8 in garbage, put in rebuilt
350 .060 over, XE268H Comp cam, Edlebrock
Performer Intake and Edlebrock 600 CFM Carb,
Pete Jackson noisy GearDrive (which sounded
cool for about 5 minutes, now I'm sick of it)
Rebuilt TH350, 3.42 Rear Gears. LCA RLB's.
B&M Mega Shifter.
Now has T5 in it. YES!!!
CenterForce Dual Friction Clutch.

 

There's one in every crowd...

 

I wasn't trying to brag or be an A**hole. It's not that hard. I'm no mechanic and I've never attempted a motor swap till this car. It's a pretty straight forward process. Pull the V6, swap the mounts, carefully bend the brakeline with a bender and put the motor in.
The only prob I had was finding brackets.
I actually figured it wouldn't come out very good. I got lucky. Then I had to go and put a T5 in it like a dumba**. I am learning a lot with this car and site though. Sorry if I came off like a ********.

Brad...

 

Make that two :-D its not very hard to swap that stuff, c'mon u dont know how to turn a wratchet and have someone hold a wrench or get creative with swivels ?

 

So it shouldn't be too difficult if I have a complete donor car?

 

It shouldn't be too hard regardless. I wouldn't attempt it over a weekend as no matter how experienced you are, something drastic could always come up. BUT, if this is a second car - or you have another car to drive while you're doing the swap -- I say go for it. Also, a donor car always make things easier, but if you take your time and do your research, just make sure that you have all of the parts that you know that you'll need before you yank the V6. It won't require any fabrication because all of the parts necessary to put the V8 in your car are readily available. Just don't talk yourself into believing that it will be a piece of cake - even if you're pulling the V6 and dropping another V6 in it's place it wouldn't be THAT easy -- but a V6 to V8 swap has been done over and over again in these cars and there are tons of info on this board alone for that swap so it's definitely do-able.

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1985 Trans Am - rough and ready -- 3" cat and primary exhaust, lowered 2", custom rust body work mild fender denting. Daily driver.
1976 Corvette Stingray - not so rough, but always ready. 427 BBC .030 over (433 ci) 12.5:1 compression about 600-700 HP/World Class T5 tranny, and no, I can't gun it for fear of breaking my tranny - upgrading to a muncie/gear vendors O/D as soon as I get some more $$$

 

Yes, many have done it (self included). But, when the topic line starts with "How difficult...", flags go up in my mind.

Be careful of the donor car you choose. The differences between a few years' spread can be significant. And, again, an emissions-legal swap is much more work than a non-CC carb/ignition job. And, avoid a Firebird donor (different tach, for instance).

I repeat, though, that the best economic route is to sell the V6 car and go get a factory V8 car. I did mine before I knew about this board - had I seen the advice offered here, I would have reconsidered. Love the Camaro, the '57 even feels jealous from time to time, but it still wasn't the wisest course.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4. 2.93 limited slip. 2-1/2" cat-back, ZZ4 intake, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (ported World 305 heads, Crane PowerMax cam, Hooker 2055 headers, 3" Catco cat & 3" catback w/Flowmaster, restalled TC, Spohn SFCs).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Holley 750VS w/4150 conversion, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 600 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).

 

It will be easy no matter what. Only thing that makes it difficult is not knowing what you need or what to do. That is what everyone here is for.

As for swapping a V6 for V6, it can be done in a days time very easily.

 

Agreed; it took two days "after work" to pull a friend's blown 2.8 and put a $100 2.8 in it's place.

The problem won't be so much the swap, but getting the stuff around the engine swapped. That's stuff like water pumps, bracketry (alternator/power steering/air conditioning/AIR pump), wire harnesses, fuel supply, etc. Doesn't NY have similar strict emissions requirements as good 'ol NJ (dyno emissions test)?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

That's why I would do this with a complete donor car next to mine, so it would just be a matter of unbolt from here and bolt up there.

And yeah, NY has similar emission requirements.

 

hey,im in the middle of this swap right now, 2.8 is no problem to get out,we pulled the engine and tranny together in a matter of a few hours,longest part is the da*n brackets,but now that i think of it,we might have been able to leave them on in the 2.8, i have my z in my garage now,gettin ready to pull the engine out,this doesnt look to hard either,but i guess ill find out soon enough,i hope to have it swapped by the end of this weekend, i have to work alot,so dont get to much time to work on it, but ill keep ya posted,but really isnt hard at all, first swap ive did to, u need basic knowledge and ur gonna be fine.

 

Cool. Thanks.