few things I learned
03-12-2017, 08:44 PM
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few things I learned
Just thought I would post some things I learned doing my first motor swap on a budget. So I had a early 90s 350 TBI that had cracked block in the car 88 firebird. Had an early 80-85 305 laying around out came cracked 350 in 305. 305 was originally v belt, 350 had serpentine. Swapping was straight forward. There was only 1 bolt that didn't go, I think on the tensioner there was a spot for bolt but the early 305 didn't have a hole drilled for it. Just left it out instead of tapping one in,still running fine 3 years later like that. If u go serpentine get a serpentine I think reverse rotation water pump. Sorry going off memory from 3 years ago. Next I was getting rid of TBI BC factory wiring was a mess and I have no emissions to worry about either, so got a quadrajet from Craigslist first. That quadrajet was off a standard so it did not have the connection for TV cable. I TRIED to look up where to get that linkage and I just kept getting TV cable linkage for edelbrocks and Holley's. So basically if u have an automatic best bet it to get a carb off a auto car, makes things a lot easier. Next I know some people say u cannot run without the tq converter lockup functioning, let me say 3 years didn't even mess with lockup wiring and still running fine, but if I planned on staying auto I would wire that up with a toggle switch to get the extra 1-2 mpg. With no lockup I'm getting 20-26 mpg highway so still not to bad. Next thing I learned is that the factory mechanical fuel pump CAN pull thru in tank electric pump, BUT it will starve for fuel at highway speeds. Around town it drove fine. Obviously I needed an hei distributor, so what I did was take working TBI distributor to local junk yard and asked them to swap for a non TBI hei, which they did, so no $$$ spent there
and if u don't have a engine hoist, go down to local harbor freight or whatever and get a 1 ton or even half ton chain hoist$25 and attach to STRONG tree branch or some kind of strong beam, worked for me, then promptly returned chain hoist . as I said I know there's a "right" way of doing things, but not all of us have deep pockets. So all in all I spent about$50-100 on misc things to get that job done. Just use common sense and eBay and Craigslist and u will be good. Did all this by myself with no prior knowledge about motor swaps. Its not too hard, with basic tools and a weekend it can be done. Also don't forget about the air dam on bottom of car. I didn't know anything about that and car kept getting hot at highway speeds. Tried finding a used one with no luck. So ended up making on out of a plastic tote lid. Looked up air dams on google, cut plastic tote lid to look like air dam, and it works great. No more overheating. 
and if u don't have a engine hoist, go down to local harbor freight or whatever and get a 1 ton or even half ton chain hoist$25 and attach to STRONG tree branch or some kind of strong beam, worked for me, then promptly returned chain hoist . as I said I know there's a "right" way of doing things, but not all of us have deep pockets. So all in all I spent about$50-100 on misc things to get that job done. Just use common sense and eBay and Craigslist and u will be good. Did all this by myself with no prior knowledge about motor swaps. Its not too hard, with basic tools and a weekend it can be done. Also don't forget about the air dam on bottom of car. I didn't know anything about that and car kept getting hot at highway speeds. Tried finding a used one with no luck. So ended up making on out of a plastic tote lid. Looked up air dams on google, cut plastic tote lid to look like air dam, and it works great. No more overheating. 
03-14-2017, 09:57 AM
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Car: 82 Berlinetta/57 Bel Air
Engine: LS1/LQ4
Transmission: 4L60E/4L80E
Axle/Gears: 12B-3.73/9"-3.89
Yes, the serpentine water pump is reverse rotation (not "reverse flow", as some want to call it - LT1 is reverse flow). I would highly recommend drilling and tapping bolt holes, though.
You may not have learned it yet, but driving around without TCC lockup will burn up your 3-4 clutch pack, sooner or later. It may seem fine just driving around, but you'll find it won't shift from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. Best not to drive it until you have the lockup functioning (had a transmission shop tell me one of their techs forgot to hook it up after rebuilding the trans, it didn't make it back from the test drive).
If you have a factory mechanical fuel pump (with return), you can hook up your in-tank electric as a "pusher" pump, and at least run it until it needs to be replaced . It's actually a decent way to feed a carb, so even if it eventually quits, I would recommend replacing it rather than bypassing it (same, or less, amount of work).
You may not have learned it yet, but driving around without TCC lockup will burn up your 3-4 clutch pack, sooner or later. It may seem fine just driving around, but you'll find it won't shift from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. Best not to drive it until you have the lockup functioning (had a transmission shop tell me one of their techs forgot to hook it up after rebuilding the trans, it didn't make it back from the test drive).
If you have a factory mechanical fuel pump (with return), you can hook up your in-tank electric as a "pusher" pump, and at least run it until it needs to be replaced . It's actually a decent way to feed a carb, so even if it eventually quits, I would recommend replacing it rather than bypassing it (same, or less, amount of work).
03-15-2017, 02:33 PM
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Re: few things I learned
Yes, the serpentine water pump is reverse rotation (not "reverse flow", as some want to call it - LT1 is reverse flow). I would highly recommend drilling and tapping bolt holes, though.
You may not have learned it yet, but driving around without TCC lockup will burn up your 3-4 clutch pack, sooner or later. It may seem fine just driving around, but you'll find it won't shift from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. Best not to drive it until you have the lockup functioning (had a transmission shop tell me one of their techs forgot to hook it up after rebuilding the trans, it didn't make it back from the test drive).
If you have a factory mechanical fuel pump (with return), you can hook up your in-tank electric as a "pusher" pump, and at least run it until it needs to be replaced . It's actually a decent way to feed a carb, so even if it eventually quits, I would recommend replacing it rather than bypassing it (same, or less, amount of work).
You may not have learned it yet, but driving around without TCC lockup will burn up your 3-4 clutch pack, sooner or later. It may seem fine just driving around, but you'll find it won't shift from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. Best not to drive it until you have the lockup functioning (had a transmission shop tell me one of their techs forgot to hook it up after rebuilding the trans, it didn't make it back from the test drive).
If you have a factory mechanical fuel pump (with return), you can hook up your in-tank electric as a "pusher" pump, and at least run it until it needs to be replaced . It's actually a decent way to feed a carb, so even if it eventually quits, I would recommend replacing it rather than bypassing it (same, or less, amount of work).
Like I said I have heard that I will burn up my tranny with no tcc lockup, but its been 3 years of HARD driving, and trans is still good as day 1, just my experience (plus I have a T5 sitting in my closet
) didnt think about using the factory fuel pump as a pusher pump, thats a good idea, i just used length of fuel line in place of pump, no problems. I know they say rubber fuel line will deteriorate in the gas tank, but like I said, it was a budget swap and Im just letting everyone know my experience 3 years later.
