Hello TGO!

I've had a sleeping beauty sitting in my garage for a little over a year now, and I'm finally getting fund's to raise it from the grave! The car is an all black '91 Pontiac Formula Firebird currently without a motor.

Just a little of the car's background:
When I had originally bought it about 3 years ago it already had a L98 350 swap with a 5 speed trans. The guy I bought it from did the swap, and after owning it for a while I came to learn I don't think he knew everything he was doing... So this cause ALL SORTS of problems over the 2 years I drove it. Then it had to be garaged temporarily(blew a head gasket) until I fixed it.

My background:
I have never taken schooling for mechanics, or auto anything. Everything I know is because I taught myself through various needed repairs and modifications. If I had to give a rating on my knowledge, I'd say I'm anywhere between 6-7 out of 10 (10 being a know-it-all). I used to be a manager for a local Pawn Shop, and have acquired LOTS of tools. I had never pulled a motor, and after the head gaskets on my formula blew... I figured now's a good of time as any to learn how. So after a few weekends of taking out bolts, nuts, lines and all that good stuff I finally had the motor, trans, exhaust and most of the engine bay taken out. I have also COMPLETELY taken the engine apart all the way down to a bare block. Now the car has been sitting and waiting for time/funds(mostly funds) to get finished.


Now my dilemma, and the reason for posting on here, is I'm looking for some pointers on what some experienced tech's think I should do? My budget is around $3000, but could be expanded to maybe $4000 if I really want to pinch pennies. After my project I'd like to see at least 300+ ft/lbs of tq and hp. I do NOT want to do too much fabrication myself. I'm the person who will pay the price for a quality part made by someone with experience, instead of making it myself... so keep that in mind.

Option 1: Should I use the old L98 motor and rebuild that with all NEW parts? Keep in mind this is only a 2 bolt main motor, and the block has not been tested if it's still good or not(I'd assume so, but I'm not 100%).
Option 2: Sell off the old block and purchase a different used motor? I'd like something 4 bolt to withstand some of the modifications I may do in the future, but not sure if I will NEED that?
If Option 2: I've been looking online for motor's to swap in, and I think for price/availability/performance I'm leaning towards either an LT1 or LQ4. Which would you choose and why? Or would you have another preference?
Is there an Option 3 I'm unaware of?

I'm leaning towards Option 1 because I know it will just drop right back in my car without any extra fabrication to things like the harness, k member, exhaust, accessories, mounts etc. However I do want to make it more powerful, and I'm not sure how much that 2 bolt block will be able to hold up? I'd also like to put the old one back together as more of a learning experience (I love learning) but I do not know if I have the right tools or knowledge to do bottom end work. Does the bottom end require any special tools or knowledge? If so, where could I find those?

I'll be posting pics of the car and how it sits currently within the next couple days. But for those of you interested, I've attached some older pics, but those pics were taken just a few months before it was garaged. It's rust free and has an excellent body. It's very sharp and worth the work I want to do.

Any help that can be provided is GREATLY HELPFUL and will be very appreciated. I know I typed a short novel here(sorry!) but I figured it was all fairly relevant information to know for the person(s) who may decide to help. I plan on having this finished by next summer for a huge road trip I'd like to go on. So for anyone who really stands out to help me, I'd love to stop by on that road trip and show you the culmination of our combined efforts to get the beauty back on the road! I miss my 3rd gen sooo badly and anyone who has the same passion for them I'm sure can understand!

THANKS TGO!!!!

 

If 300 hp/tq is all you're going for then the 2-bolt main will hold up just fine. A nice set of heads and decent intake can get you to your numbers.

Any information on the engine? Is it actually an F-body l98 or just some truck 350?

 

Id rebuild the engine if its ok. Get some Vortec heads and upgrade them to allow for a cam over 470 lift. 300HP should be easy to make and in your budget. $800+or- on rebuild kit, $700 heads,200 cam, your other parts you can find cheap on Ebay etc. 3k you could easily do it.

 

I'm not sure if it was from a truck or F-body prior, I could check the serial number when I get home to verify(at work at the moment). I'll let you know RedLeader.

How much power COULD the 2 bolt hold up to? Because if I have extra cash down the road I'd like to get 400+, but won't really have any desire to go over 500 (I hear part tend to start breaking frequently after that).

Also is there any specific things I should know before putting the crank and other bottom end motor parts back together? Or should I just start putting them back in? Would this be a good time to get any worth-while misc. parts for the motor? Seeing as this is my first swap/rebuild I'd may not know some of the "rebuilding 1.0" tips and tricks that some experienced techs would know to do.

Also I'd like to take some pics of the older internals: pistons, rods, crank etc and let me know if I could reuse the old ones, or should I just replace anyways?

Thanks so much for the fast responses!!!

 

Eh, since you're taking it apart you might as well replace the freeze-out plugs, they're cheap and will be super easy to pop out/replace when you have the block out.

Not sure of the potential for 2-bolts though, a search on here might find some answers from people's different builds.

 

You may need a new transmission if you want to go over 400lbs torque. If the 5 speed you have is a T5, it won't be able to handle that much power.

 

I do have the T5. What do you think would be a sufficient enough upgrade?

 

2 bolts are good to 5-600hp.. depending who you ask. the thing that kills them is stroker kits and revs (7k+). those distort and "lift" the mains causing the bearings to spin. both of which i dont think you will be reaching so a 2 bolt will be fine

hopefully its a roller block too. i much rather have a roller cam 2 bolt than a 4 bolt flat tappet cam.

 

A popular upgrade is getting a Tremec T56 6 speed out of a 4th generation F body. It can handle a lot more power and it has the attachment points for the torque arm since the suspension setups between the third gen and fourth gen cars are similar. There are quite a few guys who have done that swap successfully here.

 

I would go with the LQ4. Don't everybody chew my head off. My reasoning is this:

you want 300 hp now - that is basically accomplished with LM7, LS1, or LQ4 right out of the box. A basic swap however will run you anywhere from $4000-$6000.

But it will allow you to reach your overarching goals down the road with a lot of ease.

Power, driveability, less expenditures looking aty the whole picture, those are my arguments.

Look at it this way, you can make any Gen III or Gen IV motor go 400+ easy with only a cam swap. The same thing for a Gen I SBC (power wise) will require you to virtually upgrade everything from A-Z. Yea I may have exaggerated a bit, but look at it this way, you will spend less money all together going LSx, than trying to squeeze 400+ out of a motor that was originally built and tuned for 230 ( and I am being generous)

And now I open the floor for all the die-hard SBC fans to bash me

haha

 

bash bash bash lol

The only issue I see with what alex posted is that at the point that you've spent 4-6k on the lq4 swap you could have just bought a brand new 350 crate engine that would drop right in and already have the power you want.