Here's the basic:
I have a 2.8l engine bolted to a TH700-R4 (4L60) transmission. I am interested in swapping out for another V6, and I am looking to compile a list of compatable engines for myself and others with a similar desire. The engine would have to match the native 60 degree transmission, bolt on without modification, and for all intents and purposes, basically pull the old engine (LC1 in my case) and swap in the new engine with virtually no major modifications (Using the same transmission, engine mounts, wiring harness)

If you know of engines that fit this description, please post a reply with them, so i can compile this list! thanks in advance.

List so far:

2.8L
3.1L
3.4L 4th gen (seems best so far)

EDIT: Link to the forum thread where I am working on the engine swap: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/7...-teardown.html

 

I'm not the greatest with the little v6's, but I'm pretty sure you list will be small.

Only ones I know of are the 2.8L, 3.1L, and the 4th gen 3.4L. The 3.4 would not be a simple drop in swap.

 

I figured the list would be small. I also read that if you have the 200-r4 transmission that you can use a converter to attach a 90 degree engine to the 60 degree transmission without having to change the torque converter or flex plate, otherwise you are basically SOL.

 

If you are looking for drop in, that is your complete list there. Keep in mind, any of those have to be from a RWD platform, a FWD will NOT work without significant modifications. The 3.4 long block will drop right in and you can use basically everything else from your 2.8. Read up on this in the V6 forum, there is a ton of info on it. I did this swap and loved it.

 

Your best motor swap with that trans is the 3.4l rwd engine. The 2.8 3.1 and 3.4 are the exact same when it comes to the narrow 700r4 (v6 version) bolting up. You can toss a v8 trans behind it but need a adapter plate from speedway motors. the flex plate would also need to be slightly modified Along with a few little modification to the block And belhousing.

 

I was afraid that was how it would be, I just never seem to have much luck with this car and gaining power so far! Being an unemployed ameteur car enthusiast is a pain! Thanks for the input though, it does help.

 

you forgot the 3.3 and the v-8 northstar

 

the 4th gen 3.4 is an easy swap put the 3rd gen distributor in it and hook the rest up like the 3.1.
you don't need the DIS coil packs so you remove them and the brackets. hook up your fuel injectors because they are the same part number. for the sensors you don't use leave them to plug the holes. you can ether keep the 4th gen brackets or put the 3rd gen brackets on only difference is going to be the a/c compressor. put I would keep the 4th gen saden a/c comp. and just get the up grade lines from the classic industries Camaro book.

 

oh cool, did not know that. Learn something new everyday! Like I said I'm not the greatest with the little v6's lol.

Most I have ever done with the 2.8L or 3.1L is yank them out and stick a V8 in their place.

 

Yes those are interchangeable too but I was just listing the common motor swaps that are easy to do for the v6 set up. 3.4 is the best option.

Op you can retain the dis ignition if you tune the ecm.. wire in the dis icm. I'm running dis on a 3.1/3100 hybrid set up.

 

I just want to tell the young lad that there where other motors northstar would be a bitch and you have to rotate the intake and the accys brackets would have to be fabed up but its possible 325 at the fly hp out of 4.6 stock liters is awesome but theres no aftermarket parts for the engine and you cant rebuild the motor once its shot, and the heads are throw away. and if you overheat it they blow head gaskets like crazy. I know I had a 99 STS with the 4.6 VIN Y engine. loved the car hated the down time cause of motor issues when they get high on the odometer

 

Looks like the 3.4 is the best option, which it doesn't look like a bad motor at all from the ones I've seen. I wonder what the hassle difference between putting a 350 in it vs putting a 3.4 in supercharged. I've seen many 2.8 turbo builds on here, is that a viable option for me? The car barely has 60k miles on it...

 

Why just a 6-cyl?

The guy that mentioned a Northstar should have poked a brain cell or 2 into action there.

A turbo 2.8 is ludicrous. Take the weeeeeeeeekest of the weeeeeeeeek, bolt on The Force, watch it GRENADE. Not a good way to enjoy this hobby. Granted, there may be acoupla people that can get by with it, or even make it work; prolly have good junkyard connections; but, not for the rest of us, that would prefer to drive more than wrench. Kinda like the guy I ACTUALLY KNEW in the flesh, who went out skydiving one day, and his parachute failed... and he survived. Should he get on all the forums and tell people "yo udon't need parachutes, just {do something like I did i.e. get lucky somehow} and you won't die, see look at me, I lived, all those other people who tell you that you need a parachute are wrong"? This idea is in roughly the same class. There's a HUGE difference between "I did it and got away with it once", and "YOU should plan on it, put your money into it, bet your bank account on it while I sit by and console or tell you all about what I imagine you did wrong when it goes up in smoke".

Incidentally, there's CURES for the N* "head gasket" issue, which actually isn't "head gaskets" at all; it's HEAD BOLT HOLES. The head gasket is what fails but it's just the victim of a chain cascade, not the actual culprit.

 

not sure if ur talking about the 2.8/3.1/3.4 but it will not grenade with a turbo, and if not totally halfassed together will live just a slong as the car , my first turbo 2.8 went 200k miles before an oil change accident hurt the engine

 

After a large amount of consideration, my lost likely course of action is going to be either a 3.4 or 4.3 turbo, either way I plan to carb it, I dont like the idea of fuel injection. I k ow its more powrrful, better gas mileage, better for the engine, all around superior in nearly every way, but I just like carbs. So in this situation, I most likely will be replacing the transmission in the long run with a manual if I do the 4.3, if I do the 3.4 however I will most likely keep the th700 and just replace the parts needed to handle the new payload

 

if u turbo it dont use a carb

 

Im going to venture a guess that carbs and turbos dont agree well? Would it be possible instead to use a supercharger?

 

they can work but the amount of money u will spend for the edelbrock 4bbl intake and the mechanical secondary holley 390 carb u need is just insane


the stock efi or an megasquirt system will tune much easier and cost far less

 

i was actually looking at prices, not sure if it would work for that specific application, but i did find an intake that comes in 2 pieces, the base and the 4bbl adapter totaling under 400, and the carb i was looking at was a 500cfm for 300. is that actually considered too expensive? I thought it wasn't too bad myself..

edelbrock part numbers were 1404, 3785, and 3789 for carb, base, and adapter respectively

 

u have the right intake but the 500cfm carb is to big , u need the mechanical secondary 4 bbl 390cfm carb , has tobe the holly carb to be used with forced induction

 

Alright, does it have to be holley though or does edelbrock have one I could use? I normally prefer edelbrock over holley, but I wont be upset if I use holley instead.

 

holley can be easily modified to be used with a turbo i blow threw config dont think the edelbrock can be

 

Edelbrocks can be used in blow through set ups, but it's almost all custom work, not many bolt in/on parts to do it with.

Studebaker done it many years ago (1963) on their R2 engines. Blow through supercharger with the carter carb (pretty much same carb as the edelbrock). IIRC they had Carter to build the carbs blow through ready for them for the 1963 super lark

We built a twin turbo'ed 327 v8 for my dad's firebird and I modded an edelbrock carb for blow through use. It works fine.

I grafted on the plastic thermoquad floats onto the edelbrock float arms as the brass floats was crushing in at 10 psi boost.

Used the edelbrock marine accelerator pump seal and the larger needles and seats.

piano wire stuck in the air bleed holes in top of boosters, and wrapped other end of wire around/under one of the booster screws.

Removed the choke shaft, flap, etc and JB welded up the holes

 

Good lord, that sounds almost frankensteinian. I assume holley is much easier to do it with, so when the time comes I will most likely use a holley for the turbo/super setup. I have decided for now to go with my brother's judgement, and first rebuild a 3.4 engine as if I would apply a turbo/super, but then put a smaller edelbrock 4bbl and the intake on, without the super/turbo, and see if it already has enough power for my tastes. If so, then I wont jave to go through all the hassle of setting it up, and I have a strong built engine. Win win, if you ask me, albeit pricey.

 

build that 3.4 with ported heads , gasket matched intake a delta 260 cam , free flowing ex system and a 109$ autozone high stall converter for the 700r4 and it will be a huge improvement and put a smile one ur face

then if u put a turbo on that setup it will make over 300 hp with ease and will be capable of 450hp and live for a very long time if u tune it right

 

Holley carb.... You can buy an already blow through ready version, or if you mod one yourself you need to do pretty much the same mods as I did to the edelbrock.. The difference is the parts are already made and sold for the holley.

Solid plastic floats for holley carbs can be bought/ordered anywhere they sell holley carbs.
Edelbrock ones.. Nope, nobody makes them so you have to do it yourself.

The wire in the booster hole in effect does the same as installing a smaller screw in air bleed into a holley carb

 

I don't understand why Edelbrock wouldn't make such parts, I mean it seems like they are ignoring a large portion of market without providing them, and causing customers to go to other brands (holley in this case) which to me seems to be bad marketing.. is there a mechanical reason they can't do it? i wouldn't think so considering you can rig one up to be just fine... kinda makes me lose a bit of respect for Edelbrock..

 

That holley carb you mentioned, the blow through ready version, could it be used without the turbo? I want to make sure that I have versatility in my functionality.

 

Yes you are correct it's a marketing nightmare and leaving some customers going to another brand.

Yeah edelbrock could make the parts, even the carbs as blow through bolt on ready. Cater did that in 1963 like I mentioned before for Studebaker's R2 supercharged engine.

Yes you can use a blow through carb on a N/A engine, you would need to change the tune though as the air bleeds, and jetting would not be right for a N/A engine.

 

That makes sense. Other than costing me alot, is there any other detrimental effect involved if I were to buy an edelbrock and put on it, then buy a holley when I get a turbo for it?

 

besdies a stupid waste of money no

honestly just buy the std holley 390 and then mod it for blow threw yourself when the time comes , it will be alot cheaper inthe long run

and btw on a 3.4 u want a 61-66mm turbo , at gt3582 is the smallest turbo u want

 

Alright. I appreciate all the information, this will definitely come in handy when the time comes this summer. Looks like 3.4 with holley carb it will be. I appreciate it!

 

I did some digginr and found that the 4th generation camaro 3.4l v6 was the RPO code L32, then when I went digging for a block for sale, I found this...
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/nal-89017862

It is a 3.8l chevy claiming it could be used as a replacement engine for those with the L32 RPO code. Does that mean I could theoretically use it in place of the 3.4? Because that is another 0.4 in the displacement!

 

u could but its not a bolt in replacement at all , search 3.8 swap in the v6 section to see whats involved its a ton of work

 

I'd rather not do anything that requires a large amount of work. Looks like i just need to do more searching for the appropriate engine...

would this be an appropriate new purchase? i plan to do some junkyard crawling and see if i can find a used one to rebuild, but if i have to buy new, i want to make sure i know what to get first... http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/s...15031|L3*16033

 

just found one from pickup city in fairmont wv, they say its a match, from a 94 firebird. they want 525 for it, it has 87k miles on it, but i plan to tear it apart and rebuild it anyway so now comes the dash for cash!

 

can u hear it run before they pull it? , even still i wouldnt plan on a full rebuild
pop the pan , pull a rod bearing and pain bearing to check them if they look good run it as is.

87k is not alot of miles , what iw ould do is pull the cyl heads and give them a nice port job , swap the camshaft out , and gasket match the intake when u get it

 

They started using the 3.8 mid yr 1995. If you have a v-6 already in your car it should not be a big deal to install it. But these are called series II ENGINES and are set up for DIS Ignition not distributor i did not see the link for the one you mentioned. if you want a turbo v6 then find an older 3.8 chevy or buick. the chevy 3.8 is a 229 found in late 70's early 80's . I had a 1980 monte carlo with a 3.8 turbo v-6 which was the test bed for the buick grand national. Any way do you want the v6 so you dont have to change the trans orwhat. If i was going to do a low cost engine swap i would find a good 350 pull out TPI or TBI because there are alot of the out there from people doing LS1 swaps ,or go with a carb set up. Like i said before its all what you want out of your car.but sometimes u have to do what your wallet says also.or wife LOL

 

they are not a bolt in swap , its alot of work to put a series 2 into a 3rdgen
if he wa soging to do all tht work a 3500 or 3900 swpa + the turbo would be the way to go , much cheaper then a v8 swap and will run 10's a the track

 

Thats the current plan. Gonna call them tomorrow to see if its a good engine or if its trouble, hopefully it has a decent history for it.. I am pretty much set on using a 3.4l, the others seem to be too much trouble/ manufacturing new parts etc, and id rather not get into that right now. 10 years from now I may consider putting a 383 steoker in it but right now I want mileage and power both. Later on it can be a garage toy lol.

 

this discussion seems to be going towards the actual work on the engine over the list itself, so I'm going to post a link to the thread where i am working on the engine build and swap in the first post.. Again, I greatly appreciate all the help so far.

 

Hahahahahahahahha, sofa you are hilarious! Have you not seen my thread? Weak? Hell no its not. 300,000 miles on my 2.8 and now it has a turbo. 140psi exact in EVERY cylinder.

Dont spread false information. The only way to grenade the 2.8 is if you have the early carbd version, dont take care of it, or dont know what the **** your doing.

I have NEVER tuned ANY car, NEVER touched a SINGLE turbo, and my 2.8 raped a v12 jag. Stop spreading misinformation. You seem pretty smart, so why would you lead people to believe the 2.8 is weak? Biased v8 owner?

The MOST I have replaced on this motor is a timing set. It is BONE STOCK, aside from the megasquirt and the turbo. Hell, I had to reweld 90% of the turbo headers cause the guy I got them from cold welded them.

Its not the engine, its user error buddy.

 

As for the OP, yes the 3.4 is your best bet. I'm going 3.4/3100 small port hybrid with a T4 turbo. Don't know what it'll run but I would like to build it to handle 30psi a few times. Probably only run 10psi on the street.

Don't know how fast, but it will be fast.

 

Unless its a 4G63T, those just explode for funsies.

 

Agreed. But if you just run 15psi and set the 3.4/3400 up right itll push over 400 Hp on a conservative tune. 30psi would just mean that you dont have a good set up at all and a major restriction somewhere. Just take my set up for example and im running a few less cubes then a 3.4.

 

The only reason I would do it would be to say I did. I know boost pressure isnt exactly a measurement of power, its a measurement of restriction.

Its gonna be a small port 3100 on top of the 3.4. I want it to handle 30 psi so ill never have to worry about it breaking at say 20-25 psi.

 

Why a small port?

Build it the right way... feed it 10 15 lbs of boost and call it a day.

My car is pretty scarry on the highway with 14psi. The only time it actually wasn't was with drag radials.

 

Its what I got. I looked for the 2000+ 3400 top ends and around here they want an arm and a leg. No thanks.

Ill port and polish the 3100 top end. Im putting a T4 on it.