Hello all!
First time making a thread here and I thought why not make one about my swap and build I am doing. Hopefully if all works well this should be pretty pic heavy. I got the 84 Firebird v6 base model from a buddy for $600.00 and to my surprise completely rust free.
Ok to start I will go over what I have done with the car at this point. To start off I gutted the car completely, removing the front end, doors, rear hatch, all the interior including carpet and sound deadener. I removed the dash and all the wiring harnesses and heat and ac. The v6 and factory k member came out as well as all the stock suspension. I have replaced the factory k member with the Spohn chrome moly k member as well as the rack with a manual pinto rack. The front and rear suspension has been swapped over to coil overs which are QA1 18 way double adjustable shocks. The front brakes have been changed over to Wilwood lightweight drag brakes as well. I removed the front sway bar and the crash bar as well. The front windshield, rear hatch, and door glass is all being replaced with lexan. The factory front bumper and fenders are getting replaced with a one piece fiberglass kit. I am running a 4" pin on fiberglass hood. The doors are also being replaced with fiberglass doors. I am currently having my S&W 14 point chrome moly cage being painted awaiting the install which is February 1st. Custom made sheet metal dash has been put in. RCI racing seats and simpson 5 point harnesses as well. I have Weld racing wheels fronts are 15x4 and rears are 15x10.33 with a 6.75 bs. I am running 26x4.5 front skinnies and 28x12.5 rear tires. Running Spohn sfc's, pro series torque rod cross member, wonder bar, and driveshaft loop, pan hard bar, lower control arms, lower control arm relocators, and drag anti roll bar all of which is chrome moly.
To the motor now. I am running a Gen VI 4 bolt main block that has been decked and bored. Have a forged scat crank H-beam rods and having pistons custom made for my head combination and nitrous requirements (plan on running a 400 hp kit on it). I am putting AFR 300cc oval magnum full cnc heads on it with a comp cams 249/255 duration cam that has .678int. and .661exh. at .05 lift. Running the victor jr single plane intake topped off with a custom built pro systems 1000cfm carb. Have a 440gph fuel pump and running a 16 gallon fuel cell. I had Dan Lemons custom make me some 2.125" primary headers into a 3.5" collector. For nitrous i am looking to run a progressive kit to build shot as i get down the track. The motor will be running 110 octane race fuel due to the 13:1 compression as well
The rear end and transmission now. I am planning on a moser 12 bolt 35 spline axles full spool and 3.73 gear with wilwood light weight drag brakes on it. Transmission will be a TH400 from ATI and a 5000 stall converter and trans brake.
Im sure im forgetting tons of stuff but will keep updating as i go.

 

 

 

Pistons came in started polishing did a side by before and after pic comparison

 

Also motor is now going to be a 496 instead of the 489

 

Wow, lots of bichin parts bud. Beautiful. In the process of researching and gathering all the info i need on a mild BBC swap for the street. Love how they look and sound.

 

Thank you. I have done tons of that research and finding stuff as I build as well so if you got any questions ask away I will help with what I can.

 

Honestly I think dropping in a Mark IV BBC will just be simple enough. Car has the 2.8 mpfi v6 (lb8) so i think my biggest obstacle will be fuel pressure. Cause i would very much want to use the stock one on the new engines block. So what then will i do to regulate fuel pressure?

Route #1 would be to remove the "in tank" pump and "straight-plumb" it. Question it what fittings & materials do i need to purchase for that? Or do i need to remove the pump at all? Can the mechanical one pull fuel through the "disabled" fuel pump? Is the dead pump too restrictive?

Route #2 would be to buy an fpr. Those can cost hundreds. Where are the $20-75 dollar ones that come with a return? If anyone reading this can give me a part #, that would be bichin, if not ill look harder for one.

Its going to be the most likely the most budgeted BBC swap ever done lol. Im talking junkyard engine & trans lol. But it sure beats my tired v6 that i know wont make it another year.

 

As far as your fuel questions I got nothing for ya lol I changed out the entire system. But as far as your swap at the very least I would get new front Springs.

 

I heard Moog 5664 coil springs work the best in iron headed BBCs

 

Ok guys looking for help/opinions. I'm thinking about back halfing the car and running ed quay 4 link with the 12 bolt. Wanting to know if anyone has done this or if it's worth it for what I'm building. My motor should make anywhere from 850-900 hp on motor and a 400 shot of nitrous on top of it.

 

I back halved my car but used competition engineering frame rails and 4-link kit. I use a 9". There's a lot of work to back half a car. A chassis shop can easily charge $10,000 to do it. Once you start cutting out the floor, you're committed to finishing it.

Doing a back half before installing the cage is much easier than trying to do the back half with a cage installed. I had already had a cage in my car and when I did the back half, I cut out the old cage and installed a custom made one. The only cage parts I bought prebent was the main hoop and halo bar from S&W.

I run 16x32" slicks on 15x15 rims with 5.5" of backspace. I still have room to go wider if I ever wanted to but have no room to go taller and I'd love to use a 34" tall tire.

Pre-painting the cage may seem like a good idea but everywhere the tubes join will need to be clean down to bare metal before it can be TIG welded. CM tubing can't be MIG welded. After putting in my cage I brush painted the whole thing and it looks fine.

Doing a search, you can find threads on my back half installation, cage installation and fiberglass door installation.

 

Decided to back half it going to run 9" rear 3.89 or 4.11 gears 35 spline axles Weld 15x14 wheels and a 33x15 tire

 

New tires came in today 33x15x15 Hoosier drag slicks