second post....first post went in wrong forum, sorry mods for the cross posting.

found boards on accident. nice place, wish i knew about this place sooner.

anyway, i have a '90 firebird with the tiny v6....which has just died. I dont feel like paying out the rear to replace the head gasket as i paid under 2k for the car in the first place. Its old, has about 130k on odometer, but looks great and im in love with her. Having T-tops in Socal is great. I bought this car in hopes of eventually putting some time and learning into building a fast car. Unfortuanaltly right now my school schedule doesnt give me alot of free time. Its a daily driver right now so im screewed and really need it fixed asap, so i can get back to school.

So im torn, do i spend the 1k to replace head gasket? Can i do an engine swap(im dont have skills or tools to do it myself)? I found 350's online for like $1200. Can I swap one in or will i need new tranny and rear end too.

Do I just junk her and look for something new-er :-/ ?????

money/time is definately and issue.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. be gentle and forgive my noob-ness...

thnx,

jrsjkd

 

It's almost always cheaper and easier to sell a V6 car and buy a V8 than it is to swap in a V8, unless you're just taking about a bare-bones race car or no-nonsense street bruiser. It's all the little things that add up to big money- engine mounts, ECM, wiring harness, front end accessories, different A/C and hoses, throttle cables, EXHAUST SYSTEM ($$$$), etc. Anyone could extend the list.

But if you want to do the swap on the cheap it's best to just buy a V8 "parts car" with everyting already in it (with a banged-up body to keep cost down) and swap everything in. You'll still spend a lot of TIME doing it, but you won't lay out many bucks, if you have the tools and skill to do some semi-serious wrenching.

If emissions are a concern you need to swap in a powertrain that is of the same year or newer than your car.

 

Welcome to thirdgen.org.

Check the "Motor Swap" Board, it's pretty involved and costly to do a V6 to V* conversion. Bellhousing and tranny's are different. Front suspension is different, being you're in Ca, there's emissions concerns too.

That's just for starts...anyways, I don't think it's a weekend project.

I'd pickup some tools and a gasket set and get busy...or buy something else...being that time is a consideration.

Then again, in my local paper about 300 miles north of you is an "87 IROC loaded, no motor trans" for 400...

Hmmn, possibilities are endles