I drive a 1958 Z28 camaro V8 5.0L automatic and found out I have to replace the engine due to cylinder damage. I was curious since I have to replace my engine if there were any suggestions as to upgrading my engine ( to a 5.7L) for example. Not sure if this post makes sense but I can provide more information if needed. Any and all input, suggestions, and criticism welcomed.

 

That would be rare.

Totally depends on your budget. (how much ? ) How is the car to be used ? Fuel economy a concern ?

You can physically bolt in any small block Chevy engine you like 350 -400+ using your existing trans
Obviously the more Hp the engine you use makes , the more money you need to spend upgrading other parts (trans / diff , etc ) so it all hangs together

 

I like the lt1 swap. Great if you can get the whole car.

 

Sorry for the giving the incorrect year of the car, it is a 1985, not a 58. Hopefully this clears up the mistakes.

 

Build a good solid 350, use your existing carb or TPI setup.

Won't compete with the Pro Stocks or anything, but'll be ALOT better than any 305 ever thought about being, for the same $$$$.

Why do you think your engine needs to be rebuilt, anyway? "Cylinders" don't get "damaged" too often, without something else happening too. I'm guessing there's some history we haven't been told? Or is this just some "mechanic" 's diagnosis?

 

If you go with a mild 350 and stay tpi get southbays 22#hr injector and if you need a prom for the computer send me a person message.

 

Is your car a TPI car or carbed? If it's carbed, you can ignore this whole post.

If it's TPI, the unique nature of the 85 TPI system will present a few hurdles. The 85 TPI cars had a year-specific ECM (along with a couple other unique oddities like the MAF sensor & burnoff module) that very few people know how to tune (although Tuned Performance who just posted above me may be one of those few who has the resources - or knows who does). You're going to have a hard time finding a place that can burn a custom chip for that computer, and the computer won't handle new fuel demands on it's own very well. It's not as easy as just slapping in a set of bigger injectors. I did that initially on my 350 swap and the car ran very rich. If you stick with the stock computer, you're better off sticking with 19lb injectors, but using an adjustable fuel pressure regulator to bump the fuel pressure until you get the fuel needs close enough for the stock computer to figure out. Ultimately I swapped over to an 86-89 ECM and harness so that I could benefit from the existing knowledge base as I learned to burn my own chips.

The good news is that the harness & ECU swap is very easy, and only requires a harness and the computer itself, and just a couple very minor tweaks to the harness.