I currently have an 86 fbird I plan to sell as soon as I finish getting it cleaned up. At which point I plan to buy an 87 iROC-Z with the 350 5.7L V8 L98 engine. Unfortunately, these engines only came with an automatic so I'll have to put in a manual. I also plan to turbocharge the engine after I get the car cleaned up and as long as the trans is working that will also be one of the last things I do. On this topic I have a few questions:

How difficult is replacing a transmission, more importantly, what difficulties are inherent to converting a car from automatic to manual?

Which turbocharger should I use?

I understand that you need to have an upgraded trans to handle the increased performance of a turbo engine, which transmission should I plan to get?

What kind of performance should I expect from a turbo 350? I've read that a 350 with a turbo should produce 300-325 hp.

I'm new to working on cars but do not intend to pay someone to work on my car unless absolutely necessary. I feel that wouldn't really be me restoring/improving a car if I just signed a check. If things could be put in lamens terms. Any links you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

There are a lot or articles on turboing cars how-to's and such. Search the turbo section and in general do a search for everything. I have seen a lot of threads of people swapping trans.

Got any pics of the car yet?

 

Okay I'll take a look at that. If you mean the iroc, then no, the one I was going to buy was a bust. No muffler, bad trans, cracked nose and bumper. Wouldn't go down from 3750 so it wasn't gonna happen.

 

Man that's sucks on the iroc some people think it's gold because its a Iroc, and way over price them.

 

Yeah I'm looking to spend 3500-4000 for a 350 iroc that runs well and is relatively clean. I would pay 2500-3000 for bad paint and interior because I'll replace that but I won't pay for that

 

I don't know if you are aware, but you can get an Iroc with a V8 and a manual transmission, but it will be a 5.0. I have an 88 GTA with the 5.7 and a friend had a formula with a stick, and it was a little faster. The HP rating is only 10-15 different depending on which year you are looking at. I realize you may want the 5.7 because there are more bolt ons, etc, but if you're putting on a turbo or supercharger, you should be able to hit the HP that you're looking for. Good luck with your project.

 

Not a bad budget. I just picked up my new one an 87 iroc with 350 paint not 3 years old interior needs work but it's not trashed. And it's all original nothing crazy done to it.

 

Well I plan on painting the car no matter what and I want a clean interior so unless it's exactly how I would make it, or it's perfect, then it's not really a big deal to me. Yeah I know that the 305 has a manual but I'd prefer a 350, not that I would turn down a good deal on a 305

 

Could always swap in a 350. Depending on what you do to motor could come out cheaper with less headache. Just a thought

 

That might work but doesn't a turbo engine require a stronger trans? Or did I just read that somewhere

 

Depends on how much boost you run but a stall and and shift kit never hurts

 

I'm new to cars so I'm not sure how much I'll be doing.

 

Research is key then. There are stickies at the top of each sections with how to's that answer most if not all questions. I'd start with figuring out a motor or tran swap prices and difficulties, then move on. Try to get a good idea of what all your gonna have to do but keep a realistic budget.