im just about done with school and will have money soon. im pretty certain there is going to be a 455 going into my 86. anyone know of any sources that have information on the swap before i start it.

thanks

and yes i am serious, i can do all the engine work as well as any fabrication work that may need to be done

 

I believe i saw an article some time back in hot rod magazine with a 455 pontiac motor in a thirdgen firebird. If i find it in my collection, ill let you know. As for the swap, nice choice! =) I have a friend who swapped a 430 c.i. Buick block (dimensionally the same as a 455 buick) into his former v6 bird. Talk about scary...

This thing cracked the windshield from all the body flex! And its a hardtop car.... Maybe you should add subframe connectors to your to-do list?! =)

You will most likely need to have a custom length driveshaft made as well.


Hellraiser

 

Why would you need to have the driveshaft changed? Using a proper bellhousing tranny in place of the third gen tranny will bolt in to the exact same spot. The engine bolts to the tranny and new mounts are attached to the frame. The only time you would need to change the driveshaft length with an engine swap would be if you repositioned the engine and tranny forward or back from their original spots.

Although having a 455 Olds, Pontiac or Buick engine in a third gen would be different, it is a lot cheaper and easier to install a BBC.

No engine swap is impossible. Just lots of planning and fabrication needs to be done. Don't expect to find a lot of bolt-in stuff to make the job easier. You could drop in a 500 Caddy engine or a Viper V10 if you wanted.

 

Thats what I'm planning!!!! I achually dont think it is going to be very hard.

 

really its not that hard to put another GM engine in a GM car, but ditto on the window cracking, a buick puts out insane power and enought torque to twist the car in half and the pontiac and olds engines are not all that far behind, theres a few real pontiac powered pontiac's from the 80's and its not all that hard to do and keeps there blood pumping pontiac blue/green which is allways good to see frame ties are a must forsure but the swap wont be too hard

 

I have a 1976 455 pontiac ill be rebuilding and squeezing into the 86 z. What a lovly project I have came about..

::Raises arms::: Wooo

:rockon: