V6 Discussion and questions about the base carbureted or MPFI V6's and the rare SFI Turbo V6.

max power from 2.8?

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Old May 25, 2004 | 07:40 PM
  #1  
manofsorrow's Avatar
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From: Alberta
Car: '84 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Transmission: Automatic
max power from 2.8?

I was just wondering what the most powerfull 2.8 youve heard of. My friend has the same engine as me ('84 2.8L) in his truck. It seems to be bone stock, but he claims to have around 245 horses. how much money would be involved in making this engine so powerfull?
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Old May 25, 2004 | 09:15 PM
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From: Houston
Car: 86 Berlinetta 84 MonteCL
Engine: 3.4 MPFI 3.8 229
Transmission: 700r4 T350
An

An imaginary amount. I reckon it could be done, but it would be outrageous. Most powerful 2.8 I've heard of was manufactured by GM in some wierd car running off of two 2.8L engines. The motors each made 200 horsepower. Of course, that is in Naturally aspirated form. A turbo version could easily hit that amount.
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Old May 25, 2004 | 10:12 PM
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From: Toronto CANADA - GM Parts Rep.
Car: 1987 Iroc Z28
Engine: The KING of the 3rd gen TPI's.
Transmission: Beefed up T5
Axle/Gears: Aussie 3.45's
Re: max power from 2.8?

Originally posted by manofsorrow
My friend has the same engine as me ('84 2.8L) in his truck. It seems to be bone stock, but he claims to have around 245 horses. how much money would be involved in making this engine so powerfull?
$7 or $8 on a 6 pack of beer. Drink 'em down real quick and you can turn that 130 hp midget into a 245 hp fire-breathing dragon!

Last edited by freestylzz; May 25, 2004 at 10:14 PM.
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Old May 25, 2004 | 10:14 PM
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From: Kingsport,tn
Car: 1991 camaro RS
Engine: 305 Carb
Transmission: 700R4
245 horsepower sounds kind of outrageous for a 2.8. I think stock they put out like 140 or so
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Old May 26, 2004 | 01:28 AM
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From: Vancouver, BC
Car: '86 Camaro SC, '16 QX60
Engine: 2.8 V6 POWER, 3.5L V6 N/A
Transmission: T-5, CVT
An '84 2.8 would be carbed would it not? Fageol makes a supercharger for that engine. With the sc and some other work you could get it above 200hp.
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Old May 26, 2004 | 10:31 AM
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From: Alberta
Car: '84 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Transmission: Automatic
its definatly not super charged or even turbo charged. It is definatly carbed. Ive tried telling him that there is no way he can have that much power, but he still doesnt believe me.
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Old May 26, 2004 | 10:33 AM
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From: Houston
Car: 86 Berlinetta 84 MonteCL
Engine: 3.4 MPFI 3.8 229
Transmission: 700r4 T350
..

he's living in a dream world......
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Old May 26, 2004 | 01:25 PM
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From: Philly
Car: 85 firebird
Engine: Pos 2.8 pulled and replaced with a 350 tpi motor converted to carb.
Transmission: 700r4, vette servo,shift kit, hayden 15"x8" trans cooler.
Yup hes sniffing his exaust fumes too much

I once thought about going carb with my old 2.8. Edelbrock sells a cam/two peice manifold kit that was supposed to (with a holly 390 carb) boost a 2.8 to (iirc) 160 hp..That and a fageol would be kinda intresting, But after i added up all the money it seemed way too much for my dieing motor.
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Old May 26, 2004 | 01:59 PM
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From: Central NJ, USA
Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
Call the local speed shop, ask them for the phone # to a "chassis-dyno place". Call the chassis-dyno place, ask how much it is for a horsepower run.

Then tell your friend you don't believe him, here's the chassis dyno place #, and the "loser" has to pay the cost of the chassis dyno.

I really doubt it's 245 HP out of a 2.8, especially if it's carb'd, and looks stock. Has he done anything to the motor? He might've done a ton of work but kept all the chrome off the motor for a "sleeper" effect. If his motor is all stock, then no way. Of course the previous owner could've hopped it up...

I guess one "indicator" would be if it's the stock E2SE (2 barrel) carburetor. I'm imagining that it would be "impossible" because that 2 barrel can only flow so much air- right? Or am I way off base here?
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Old May 26, 2004 | 02:24 PM
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Car: '99 Trans Am, '86 Camaro
Engine: LS1, Scrap
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Axle/Gears: 3.42 Stock ZT, 3.42 Open
E2SE, assuming same bores as an E4ME, should flow about half... somewhere between 375 and 450 cfm. Not 245hp worth of air, I don't think.

I'd keep the BS flag up on the guy personally.. heck, just last night I was talking to some guy about his '84 SC that came from the factory with a 2.8 MPFI ( riiiight) that could almost keep up with IROCs.... suffice to say I started avoiding the conversation entirely after he refused to accept that the MPFI setup wasn't used in '84.....
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Old May 26, 2004 | 02:39 PM
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Car: 1988 Chevy Camaro Hardtop
Engine: Turbocharged/Intercooled 3.1
Transmission: World Class T5 5 Speed


Yeah...some people just don't know better. But that's why we're here, to inform them!

Max power? from a 2.8? Not sure, but there's a Datsun 510 with a twin turbo 2.8 making over 400 hp

Last edited by Doward; May 26, 2004 at 10:21 PM.
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Old May 26, 2004 | 02:51 PM
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From: Philly
Car: 85 firebird
Engine: Pos 2.8 pulled and replaced with a 350 tpi motor converted to carb.
Transmission: 700r4, vette servo,shift kit, hayden 15"x8" trans cooler.
If it was a tt i could see him being close to those numbers but bone stock with a 2b carb!? Tell your friend to take a look around this site and see how hard some people have worked to try to squeeze a little more hp out of their 2.8s and he'll see his motor is no place near 245. Hell my 350 probably doesnt have 245 hp!


Wasnt the 84 2.8 rated at like 90 hp or something?
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Old May 26, 2004 | 10:00 PM
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Originally posted by br()bert
If it was a tt i could see him being close to those numbers but bone stock with a 2b carb!? Tell your friend to take a look around this site and see how hard some people have worked to try to squeeze a little more hp out of their 2.8s and he'll see his motor is no place near 245. Hell my 350 probably doesnt have 245 hp!


Wasnt the 84 2.8 rated at like 90 hp or something?
120 hp 135/tq or so. I had an 82' S-10 pickup as my first vehicle. It made my camaro look like a supercar.
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Old May 26, 2004 | 11:46 PM
  #14  
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From: Orange, Calif
Car: '87 Cam RS V6
Engine: Top Secret
Transmission: DYT700R4 custom inerts and conv.
It can be done- but you'd know it when you open the hood- it wouldn't look stock.

Again, GM has successfully exceeded 1.5 hp per cubic inch on full race motors.

That equates to 173ci x 1.5hp per ci = 259.5HP Naturally asperated.

Its all mainly in headwork, intake and exhaust- but you'd better have a bottom end that can handle the rpms/ cam profile.
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Old May 27, 2004 | 12:42 PM
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From: Wahiawa, Hawai'i
Car: 1989 TTA
Engine: LC2
Transmission: Worn-out 200R4
Axle/Gears: BW 9-bolt, 3.27's
I would imagine that you would ge able to generate that sort of power if you could spin it waaaay fast, like close to ten thousand or so, if induction would support that. Not to mention using unobtanium for all the reciprocating componenets... Just really hard to swallow that this guy has a full-on race motor in his truck. I'd expect to find something like that in a race car.
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Old May 27, 2004 | 04:51 PM
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From: Vancouver, BC
Car: '86 Camaro SC, '16 QX60
Engine: 2.8 V6 POWER, 3.5L V6 N/A
Transmission: T-5, CVT
There was this thing called hydrarev I believe that someone talked about before. I keeps the lifters on the cam at high rpm without needing a spring with a large constant. I'll see if I can find the link. Anyways, this kit allows you to increase your redline substantially.

edit: found it! https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=203925

Last edited by camaro_junkie; May 27, 2004 at 04:56 PM.
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Old Jun 13, 2004 | 01:59 AM
  #17  
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From: Davenport, Iowa
Car: Still a 3rd Gen
Engine: 450HP 355
Transmission: TH350
Axle/Gears: 9" with 4.11's
260 HP on a 660 n/a is not impossible......


http://www.domesticcrew.com/660/



it does take ALOT of work tho, and i really doubt that you could grind enough out of those iron heads to get enough flow...
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Old Jun 13, 2004 | 10:15 PM
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From: Vermont
Car: 1986 W69 Special Edition
Engine: 2.8/ECM/Int/Exh
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.42 posi
Does anyone have any real HP numbers for the 2.8s???

I have done a 2.5/3" intake using custom 3" aluminum tubing and a GN intake pipe, 2.75" exhaust all the way back, crappy Thermomaster HyperTech chip, and make sure the engine is tuned properly and I can easily beat down my wife's 3100 GRand Prix, which is still nothing to sneeze at...

I have been accused of sporting a V8 on a couple of occasions before, and actually had to pop the hood to proove myself.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my homemade "cat"...
Attached Thumbnails max power from 2.8?-kitty.jpg  
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Old Jun 17, 2004 | 12:27 PM
  #19  
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Car: 1988 Trans Am
Engine: 305 TPI
Now I know the primary users of the aluminum 2.8l block for rwd applications are used in sprint cars. I wonder how much power those are putting out since they obviously don't have to worry about emissions and all that.
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Old Jun 17, 2004 | 10:31 PM
  #20  
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From: New York State
Car: 1984 Camaro
Engine: 2.8L V6 2BBL (yeah I know...)
Transmission: 700R4 automatic
'84 2.8L only put out 107 Hp from the factory. That E2SE carb and the valves (I've been told) are largely to blame. 245 Hp out of a stock 2.8 in any GM vehicle in 1984 is just not likely. Especially not with that grabage carburetor. I've had 2 V-6 Camaros with that carb....lots of experience rebuilding them
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Old Jun 17, 2004 | 11:07 PM
  #21  
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From: NWOhioToledoArea
Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
Money is really the only limiting factor. If you have enough cash to build n re-cast every part by the number a 2.8 should spin 14,000. a 11,500 red would be cool.

RPMsxGears=Fun

Eliminate the need to burn oil and make it a 2 stroke 11,500 red line 2.8

Reving twice as fast, sweet.
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Old Jun 18, 2004 | 03:34 PM
  #22  
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From: Caldwell,ID
Car: 2005 BMW 545i
Engine: 4.4L N62B44
Transmission: 6spd auto
Axle/Gears: Rotating
I say lets all go this guys house


first we get a good laugh at his 245hp out of a 2.8
second we get a good laugh cause we can have whatever stuff he has been sniffing/smoking
three all our cars would put out 100hp above stock
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Old Jun 18, 2004 | 05:51 PM
  #23  
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From: Davenport, Iowa
Car: Still a 3rd Gen
Engine: 450HP 355
Transmission: TH350
Axle/Gears: 9" with 4.11's
lets see... it took 7 psi on a stock 3.1 in a Turbo Grand Prix to make 205 HP. a stock 3.1 (aluminium heads) makes 145 HP. most of the newer 2.8's ('87-90) made 130 hp.

I had a 1982 S-10 with a carbed 2.8 and on a good day (225k miles) i could still powerbrake it on 215.60.15's. they did make decent torque, but HP was around 100.

245 HP, no way on a STOCK 2.8. now.....

port and polish and shave the heads, P&P the intake manifold, swap the carb out with something decent, headers, underdrive pully, decent cam and a few other things and it would still be under or around 200 HP. those heads suck, just swapping a gen3 top end on a 2.8/3.1 is about a 20-25 HP gain. the flow difference is tremendous.
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Old Jun 18, 2004 | 07:05 PM
  #24  
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From: Wahiawa, Hawai'i
Car: 1989 TTA
Engine: LC2
Transmission: Worn-out 200R4
Axle/Gears: BW 9-bolt, 3.27's
Gen3 is what - the 3100 stuff, that was introduced in '94, or is it even newer than that?

Oh and TGP's seriously ROCK. Seen only one here in Hawaii, old dude who looks like he maintains the car pretty good. The roof rack can go, though...
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Old Jun 19, 2004 | 12:55 AM
  #25  
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From: Davenport, Iowa
Car: Still a 3rd Gen
Engine: 450HP 355
Transmission: TH350
Axle/Gears: 9" with 4.11's
IIRC, gen 3 starts in 95. and yah, it's the 3100 and 3400.

Yes, TGP's do kick ***. someday i'm gonna use that setup in my 91 Z24. it's basically just a stock 3.1 MPFI with a turbo. the pistons are stock, the rods are the stock forged ones. they have slightly lower compression tho....
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