(does this belong in the swap board?)
OK, so most of the posts are about converting to v8's with Autos, but I have a 5spd, and am not interested in an auto (duh).

About 5 yrs ago my 2.8 spun a rod bearing. It's been down since. What I am looking at, is either:

rebuilt 2.8 (from www.used-chevy-motors.com anyone know about them good or bad?)
5.0/5.7 for the same year/model..

My gut tells me that the 5sp will not handle the 5.7, but will probably handle the 5.0. Question is: will they mate up? I'm not opposed to building up over time, since I really would like to get the car out of the garage and driveable again.

For the v8 swap, I'm figuring on going with a carb setup unless I can find the rest reaonably priced. I'm not in CA, and am not too worried about emissions.

 

Just rebuild the 2.8 with a 3.1 crank and pistons, or get a used, low mileage 3.4 instead.

As far as the T5 tranny, you can use it behind a V8, but you'll need the V8 bellhousing, and be aware you have to use the 9 5/8" V6 clutch, as the input shaft spline count is different between the V6 and V8.

 

Thanks, I was doing a lot of research this am and decided on the 3.4 swap. Thanks for the info on the tranny. It will come in handy should I do that in the future (or use this car as the donor for a tranny in an auto ... seems so few sticks are available around here).

Thanks again.

 

np on the tranny info... Yeah, I know what you mean about sticks being rare. Heck, my own '88 was the VERY first stick shift camaro I had ever seen, and the entire reason I bought the car!

 

hehe, it' is also why I got the 2.8, since there were no standards w/v8 available at the time.