I have a 1985 Camaro 2.8L MPFI daily driver I need to get back in service fairly quickly and minimal budget. Original engine is a gonner (extremely loud metalic knock). I have a Blazer 2.8L TBI (with all sensors and ECM) available. It is a rebuilt with 40K on it for $500.00. My understanding this is a fairly straightforward swap. The car itself is in nice shape.

Should I keep it a TBI or change it to MPFI. Is this a easy conversion? Is it a matter of intake? or intake and heads? Fuel Pump (is MPFI fuel pump OK for TBI)? The MPFI of the original engine is working fine. I do not have the 2.8 L engine close by right now to compare myself.

All opinions and info are welcome.

Thanks...

Gene

 

put the intake, motor mounts, accesories, sensors where needed, get an intake gasket set(about 25.00) and valve cover gakset set, (about 9.00), and have at it. unhook the battery--taking the hood off is quick and makes life a little easier later in the job--drain all the fluids--unhook hoses-- electrical connections on the front, sides AND the grounds bolted to the back of the heads and the wiring harnes that is clipped to the bellhousing bolts-- exhuast Y pipe, and if your pulling the transmission out with it, drian the fluid, pull the drive shaft, unhook shift linkage and electrical connections,drop the cross member, if its a manual, remove the slave cylinder. also if its a stick, put a new clutch on the motor while its out of the car, it will take about a 20 minutes or less with the motor out of the car, and put the tranny and motor together out of the car. what to watch when pulling the motor--leave your power steering hoses alone, just lay it to the side, take all the accesory brackets off before removeing and watch the wiper motor when lifting the motor out, i broke the black plastic cover and watch the distributor on that stupid cowl
----------
or for the money, you could do a 3.4 swap..... for the blazer motor... just swap your intake and accesories, motor mounts and possible the sensors in the cylinder heads, youll be back in action in no time, there will be no issues with your fuel pump if you use MPFI, MPFI to TBI = down grade

 

just take the TBI intake off and install the cars MPFI intake in its place. swap motor mounts put the engine in the car and go. the only other thing you may have to worry about is the truck cam in the blazer engine but it shouldnt be that much different that the ECM couldint handle it till you can get a proper engine in the car. or you could do what i said before but also swap cams. basicly all you need to do is change the block correct? well everything should be the same but the intake, motor mounts, and cam. change the first 2 and let the cam ride for now so you can get the car going again.

 

if you drive like a human, and dont go wide open all the time, the truck cam will offer more low end power, great for normal driving, not so great if you like driving the **** outa it

 

The TBI is a bit more torqy due to intake style and cam. The mpfi is more upper rpm band, and a bit better on the mpg.

The engine will swap over, just swap the intake, and possibly cam. Whenever my life slows down I can tell you what an mpfi intake does on a tbi cam

 

I can tell you what a 3.4 with a 2.8 TBI cam and 3.4 MPFI intake with a 4L60E (I converted a 2wd camaro trans to a 4wd) will do.

I had that combo in my 1987 GMC Jimmy.

I have since added a bigger cam and a turbo.

The TBI cam with the MPFI should make more torque than the standard camaro cam and get better mileage. The actual TBI setup gets about the same MPG, a little worse in the city, and a little better on the road.