the driver side head. it really sucks not having a 15mm deepwell for the y-pipe juction. Thanks TomP for the heads up on those ground bolts on the back, saved a LOT of cussing.didn't really see any weak spot on the head gasket, but there was some rust in the exhaust manifold & rear intake valve.
Tokk the exhaust manifold off, only had to cut the top middle bolt, the lower bottom had the head stripped off. dam that's a little thing. Looked at the combustion chambers, if I opened them up some, it will drop compression & allow me to run more psi. Anyone know what the CCs of the 2.8 & 3.4 heads are? might save me some work.

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$150.00 2.8 Auto.
Blown Head Gasket.
turbo has arrived, but put on hold (4 now)
USAF-Giving the enemy the oppertunity to die for their country

 

I now havve a short block sitting in the car. Actuallt took the pass side head off w/the exaust manifold attached to the T-pipe. Judging by the amount of crud on the piston, the driverside head gasket failed. The springs & rocker arms on the pass side are in alot better condition than the drivers' side. I might just end up droping the pan, remove rod caps, piston s, crank, hell, remove the entire engine in my garage. With the sale of the regal, and a promotion, I might be able to get a 3.4 and go from there.

Question: Whats with the notches in the pistons? I know the dots are for the front of the engine, but what about the notches?

 

Just a question off the topic: Well, first, you should document all this and second, can I buy that carb off you? If it even is carbed. Mods, you are erase this post after he reads it. Thanks. I just can't find an fbody 2.8 carb anywhere! And I'm not spending $400 at autozone. Thanks man.

 

hey, 1984Firebird502, read your post on the engine swap. If you really want to do it (i recently sold a 79 T-bird w/351) go for it. Do it up real nice & take it to fbody/ford shows and watch the head scratchin commence.

Question: I remember reading that some of those who did the 3.4 swap had tranny trouble afterwards. Was the tranny slipping any before the swap? Will a shift improver help this or will it too have the contraversy of "bringing down the life of the tranny"? I read up on these before I started posting a while back, just checking up on any updates.

 

After one does this swap, you tend to have a "bit of FUN".
My situation.
I had a "fresh rebuild" on the tranny, so told me by previous owner & confirmed by the clean T. Covnertor seen as I did the 3.4 swap job.
had my fun, tranny started to slip, I needed a rebuild again!
So much more power goes thru teh tranny after this swap and it just can't take it, UNLESS YOU GET A PRIMO REBUILD DONE BEFORE YOU DO THE 3.4 Swap Boogie.
If your tranny worked fine before, seriously, just go for it!
IF your budget includes a tranny job, do that, too.
You only win with the fresh engine & fresh tranny job, anyway!
And honest, from one that knows about head gaskets & worn down 2.8 engines, replace the whole engine with a good running 3.4. Shouldn't take ya long to find one, as it's winter time & lots of car, all the sudden, end up in the wrecking yards, if ya know what I mean!

Do a search on this title, 3.4 engine swap boogie. I list exactly what you need to do, step by step, mistake by mistake.
You are already 75% of the way to the finish line. Have fun!!
Just buy a running engine, LOW MILES & swap it in. Rebuild all of your exisiting 1985 2.8 electronics, fuel systems, slap it back on teh 3.4 block.
Don't waste an extra second of "Hot Rodding" anything, until you get a running car, you can drive daily.
You'll have enough details to worry about during your engine swap to worry about what the cc is of a 2.8 compared to a 3.4 head.
Oh, the answer is, they are the same head! So, numerically, the answer is the same number.
Find the past thread, print it out and start phoning around, using all my tips.
You'll have a running daily driver car in half the time, I did my project in!
Ask any questions.

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Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA