i have an 88 2.8 firebird and im considering swapping it for a 350 from an 87 trans am gta.i have several questions
1.will i need new suspension?
2.can i use my stock tranny or will it be too weak?
3.how easy is it to change the fuel system?will i just need the end that goes into the tank from a v8 to have 8 lines instead of 6?or is there more to it?
4.will i need a new radiator? would mine be to small for it?
5.the 350 ive found comes with the ecm.do i still need to get a v8 tachometer or anything else? thx for ur time everyone i really appreciate it

 

ive already researched on here but havent found any detailed answers

 

Suspension should be fine, Tranny is either an M5 or A4 regardless of engine, so fine, fuel system... you going carb, TBI, TPI? What? Someone can correct me on the radiator if wrong, but I believe the 2.8 used the same radiator as the 5.7. However, if I look up radiators for the 2.8 and 5.7, Autozone shows different part #'s. Since I don't actually know what's in your car, can't say for sure. Not sure how the tach reads, whether it's from the ecm or straight off the distrib pulse, makes a difference.

Most of this stuff is already on the forum, like the drivetrain info. You need to look harder, Google is your friend! Google "88 firebird 2.8 transmission" and you will get the drive train chart here.

In fact, so many answers are already posted here, I only ask questions when I'm lonely.... *sniff*

Lots of folks here with more knowledge than I, suprised someone hasn't jumped on this yet.

 

Wow thx man that's pretty good.I need a favour.can u explain to me why and how my tranny will be fine? I'm eager to learn and a lotta ppl have said it's to weak.it's a 200c

 

There was a reason the factory never installed the T5 trans behind a 350; only came with a auto

Tacho works direct from coil ; regardless whether Carb / TBI or TPI
Differences are in the tacho itself (6 vs 8 )

 

Depends on what you are going to do with that 350, depends on how you plan on driving that car. The TH200 was available behind a 305, took the strain of thousands of gleeful lead feet pounding the floorboards in new Firebirds across the nation. If you are going to drop in a relatively tame 350 and drive it like it's a treasured classic, you should be OK. On the other hand, if you are dropping in a testosterone designed, 'roid rage built 350, and drive it like a possessed lunatic, yeah, it'll be weak. LOL.

The TH200 was not designed or intended to take the strain of a built motor... But if you aren't going to torture it, you should be able to get many happy miles from it.

 

ok thats more like it.and btw i actually think its a 700r4 but im not sure.all i know is that its automatic and its the tranny that my 88 2.8 firebird came with

 

Dude. You really need to find out what's in there before you start asking questions about whether you need to replace it... Make's it really tough to give you an accurate answer. If you have a 700R4 about the only issue you may have is shift points, but it'll be robust enough to handle a decent 350.

 

the transmission WILL NOT work.the bellhousing bolt patern is different.you will need a v8 transmission.the suspension is the same except maybe the springs.the tach can be modified to work.the gas sender depends on what carb or fuel injection is on the v8.no idea about the radiater.theres a sticky on this above.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...swap-read.html

 

Well thats a relief.I wouldn't wanna be spending a chunk of money on a new tranny,or risk blowing my current one up.is my tranny the same one that the gta's came with?

 

Wait wut?? Tranny wont work?

 

I! Did not. Know, that.

Thanks for the correction Zenish. I was under the apparently erroneous impression that it would but had not considered the possibility of different bell housing bolt patterns. I suppose then, that is definitely NOT a 700R4 under his car with that 2.8? Or if it is it's got the narrow metric pattern?

Sorry Janson, tried to give good info, but as I said in my first post, there are scads of people on here with more knowledge than I!

 

That's ok.at least I haven't done it yet.it should be a 700r4 tho.in my shop manual it says that 84 and later auto trannys r 700r4's

 

Well **** now I have to think bout wut tranny to get...Unless someone knows how to fix that bolt pattern problem

 

it is a 700r4 but it has a one piece case with a v6 pattern so theres no bellhousing to swap like on some transmissions.im sure this is covered in the link i posted.

 

uhh ok and does anyone have any idea of about how much i could sell my engine and tranny for?? my engine is stock everything and has 150km on it.so does the tranny.and the engine runs very smoothly and is in good condition.could i get 1000$ for both combined?

 

oh wait hold up guys.look wut i just found on the hawks site.they claim that this tranny will fit both a v6 and a v8? can someone help me out?i emailed them but according to them they get back in 48 hours.itd be nice to know sooner if possible http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ca...ionv8orv6.aspx

 

I say its doubtful that you will get $1000 for your engine/tranny combo. I gave mine away for nothing. What I would do with the build (in my eyes) depends on how your going to drive it. Is it a DD/ weekend car? Looking to cruise or weekend bracket? I finished a v6 to 350 swap this summer and it wasn't horrible. However, I went with a carb.

As far as your transmission, turbo 350 and 400s are both easy to come by, and can be rebuilt fairly cheap compared to a tranny with overdrive. In addition to the trans however, you will also have to purchase a crossmember and or driveshaft depending on what you got. (My v6 driveshaft was to short and I had to have a custom one made). The 700R4 you have will not fit due to the bolt pattern as mentioned. Also they were not built as strong as the V8 counterparts. See if you can get the trans that was attached to the GTA motor. You will save money on the crossmember.

As far a suspension, I would recommend that you replace your fronts with fresh V8 springs at the minimum, or even upgrade to some lowering. Whatever floats your boat.

Fuel system was easy for me, however I ran a carb. There are 4 lines that come from the tank. One is fuel to the motor, one is a return line, one is to a little filter that vents pressure and the other goes to a weird little emissions container. For me it was easy as pull intank pump, run an electric inline pump instead of intank to one of the fuel lines to feed the motor. Chop what I didn't need. If your going fuel injected I'm sure there is much more to it and I dont have the answers for you on that.

Radiator should be fine as long as it is in good working condition. If it is the original I would replace with a new one just to be safe. It would suck to put in a new motor and fry it.

If you have any more questions or run into some snags feel free to PM me.

 

What that guy ^ said.

The reason the Hawkes tranny says "v6 or v8" may be either because they have both patterns available, or because they are referring to the fact that the bolt pattern on the 4.3 V6 is the same as the SBC's. Apparently the 4.3 uses the standard pattern whereas the 2.8 is metric narrow. Before you order check local sources and see if you can save yourself a few bucks on freight!

 

Id bet you could find a fresh Turbo 350 local for that price.

 

What that other guy said.