hello camaro owners this is my first post. i am an owner of a 1973 camaro with a crate 350 and just prchased an 87 camaro v6 2.8 t5 a couple weeks ago for 700$ to turn into a mild race car that i can beat on at the track to get experience.
I plan on buying a carbureted sbc 350 next week to swap into it and i have a few questions that were not answered here>https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...swap-read.html

-i am finding a lot of motors in the 5-600$ range on craigslist and plan on picking one of those up. what should i look for when buying this motor. most of them come out of 80's vans and trucks, what do these motors generally produce hp/torque wise stock? will these motors be a good choice for a mild racecar if the heads, intake, carb and cam is replaced?

-if i bring all the parts needed to a professional how much will it cost to have the swap done for me? will 1000$ cover labor, i think the fuel ump neeeds to be swaped for the v8 one or some kind of restrictor added, and they will have to hook up some kind of ignition.

-i plan on grenading the t5 with this motor eventually, does the v6 t5 hook up to an sbc 350 with just a bell housing and different clutch assembly? or do i need more?

eventually i would like a t56 or muncie, 400hp, and i will be putting a full roll cage in the car as a wyotech project in a couple months.
what do yall think? ALL help and advice is appreciated.

 

I have a great cam for ya if you decide to go with a sbc block with flat tappets.

 

ok, so i found a 1990 305 car vin E (the lowest hp of the v8s for that year @170hp i believe) now would this be a good donar car for my 87? i would like to use the alternator, fuel pump, steering pump, motor mounts etc, for the 350 swap. these 305 parts will work correct?

and thanks cc i dont think im to that stage just yet. you'll be the first i contact if i need that cam tho!

 

With that as the baseline for all future assumptions:

The HP they produced in the trucks is irrelevant. If you replace all of those things, it's not a bad start. The pistons will have a slight dish, which will lower compression vs. flat tops, but that can be accommodated.

If I was a professional, I wouldn't even quote this for you. $1000 may cover it, but the hassles vs. doing work at book rates would make it too risky to my assurance of putting food on the table.

Based on the baseline assumptions, you need a T56 or Muncie or Tremec or TH350. The V6 T5 wouldn't last one pass.

Don't wait.

At the crank, I assume.

Only required at NHRA tracks at 11.49 and quicker. You'll have to be making more than 400 HP or shave off a bunch of weight to do that. If you don't plan on replacing the stock truck 350 pistons, you probably won't need a cage. But, there is something to be said for having safety equipment that you aren't technically required to have.

As long as you don't fall for the old "double hump heads" gimmick, the accessories should bolt up.

 

thanks for the advice man much appreciated and i have no idea what the old "double hump heads" gimmick is. could you, or someone else possibly explain? the 305 would be a 1990 it seems new enough to have all the right parts but im not sure.

also the cage is just a project im doing for a fabrication class, and in a year the car better run better than a 12.

 

aka "camel hump". Refers to the pattern cast into the ends of SBC heads. http://www.circletrack.com/enginetec...s/viewall.html has pics.

They were "the" head back in the 60's and 70's. Some people never grew out of it. A set of Vortec heads will run circles around them, but people still fall for what they heard from their buddy's uncle's friend's cousin who raced back in the day who has a set they'll sell for only $800. They weren't made for unleaded gasoline, and the ports and chambers aren't that great compared to even 416 or 081 305 castings.

Same story if someone offers you "2.02 heads". Most likely they are performance junk.

You didn't say what you had planned for heads, but I strongly suggest you ask here before getting out the plastic.

I wasn't trying to talk you out of the roll cage, just pointing out where it should fall in the priorities. Can't argue with safety, that's for sure.

 

ok cool, thanks for the info. I always ask a lot of questions before buying anything and will post in this thread for advice on heads and cams when i build up the motor. first i need to find the block and get the parts just to get it to work in my car.
ive decided to try to do it myself with the help of my buddies in a storage unit lol. so i will be asking a lot of dumb questions about this swap since im a painter and havnt really worked on motors much. first one- can i put in a new cam on an sbc without pulling the motor? what would i have to remove?

 

Thought about finding a junkyard ls1? Could always freshen it up, and use that with the t-56. 4:11 gears in the back.

 

remove the radiator, and front nose of the car. Remove all the accessories, water pump, take timing cover off, pull the cam out, put new one in.

Check bearing wear before putting a new one in

 

hey nathan, yeah my original plan was to get a 5.3L ls1/t56 combo, but it seems more expensive and more complicated. im not a fan of working with computers either, so im going with the same motor that i have in my other camaro with the same 600 edlebrock carb most likely, that thing runs great and makes a ton of power, and i know my way around it much better than my truck's 5.3 (which i would never attempt a cam or head swap on). I will save the ls1 project for when i get a fourth gen down the road.

and thanks for the input on the cam replacement that makes things way more simple for me. i will get the motor running then worry about power swaping heads cam and intake.

 

ok after reading some threads and researching it seems like the ignition and fuel pump are problem areas for swaping a v6 to a 350 carbed. can i just BUY a fuel pump that will just wire up to my battery and an on/off switch that will just work with a 600 carb, sbc with decent horsepower? and why is the ignition an issue? cant i just wire up an msd to my steering wheel key slot and my motors starter and block?
what new ignition? and which new fuel pump should i use?

 

The firebird I bought was a v6, then was swapped out to a 355 carb. There was a fuel pressure regulator leading from the in tank pump.

 

yeah i talked to someone at my school today and they said my v6 fuel pump should work. do i need to modify it at all? also do i need a v8 water pump or will my v6 pump work?

 

Yes, if you're willing to drop the tank and convert the pickup to "mechanical" style (see sticky in the Carburetor forum).

You can wire it up to the ignition power & tach wire from the V6.

I'd stick with in-tank electric, and upgrade to a Walbo 255 and use a return-style fuel pressure regulator like the Mallory 4309.

Yes, with a return-style fuel pressure regulator like the Mallory 4309.

The V6 in-tank pump will be a little weak for a mildly healthy V8. I'd upgrade to a Walbo 255 and use a return-style fuel pressure regulator like the Mallory 4309.

Answered in the first paragraph of the V6 to V8 swap sticky: "Anything the V6 bolts to, and anything that bolts to the V6, will be different than the V8."

 

ok great, i will definitely upgrade to that walbo 255 eventually, and install the mallory at the time of the build. and i will look out for a water pump in the salvage yard. thanks for the replies 57 this site has been extremely helpful. I'll have more questions for yall later im sure.