Have 84 camaro sport coupe with 2.8 v6, heard these motors are crap.It is getting tired and i want to rebuild it, but because in my state and county if you change anything such as swapping in a v8 it will not pass inspection. Was wondering if anybody knows if you can rebuild one of these beasts in a heavy duty way and soup it up a little and where i might find the engine parts to do such a rebuild.

 

I beleve they make a 3.1 stroker kit for them, maybe someone else will know a little more about it

 

I'd find a 87-89 f body 2.8l to rebuild, they have larger bearings, which was the weakness of the earlier 2.8s. They should be easy to find here in the classifieds as alot are swapped out for v8s.

 

dont waste ur time rebuilding the 2.8 u have now, go to the junkyard and pick up either a 3.1 or a 3.4 out of a 93-94 camaro and put that in

u just need to swap ur intake and carb onto the new motor and noone will be able to tell the motor is largher since the 3.1 and 3.4 are identical to the 2.8

 

All that sounds great, but I thought the difference between the early 2.8 (82-86) and the late 2.8 (87-89) was that one was a 60 degree engine and one was a 90 degree engine. Therefore is my stock intake manifold going to fit the later 2.8 or the 3.1 or 3.4 and since the last three mentioned engines are injected instead of carbed how is that going to work?

 

they are all 60* engines (2.8/3.1/3.4)
ur intake and carb will swap right onto any of those engines

the 3.1 is a direct swap
the 34 u will have to swap the timing cover and oil pan off ur current 2.8 onto the 3.4 along with ur intake and carb
other then that the motors are identical

 

Hey, thanks for the help, know where I can get one cheap.

 

I would go for a 90-92 3.1L engine. The GM RPO code is "LH0". What these guys say about the 2.8L is entirely accurate. 82-86 2.8L engines are garbage. The bearing were too small and failed a lot. Also the rear main seals, were notorious for leaking.

The LH0 3.1L uses the same heads, block, and cam, as a 2.8L. Your carb intake will bolt up just fine. You will need to save your exhaust manifolds as well. All thirdgen V6's, with exception to the '89 Firebird 3.8L V6, are 60 degree bank angle engines. The best part about the 3.1L, it looks identical to a 2.8L. Meaning that the guys, at the inspection station, will not know that your engine is not stock. The 3.1L had only 15hp more, than the MPFI 2.8L, so you may not notice a huge gain in performance.

As far as performance, while maintaining street legal, go with Edelbrock "Performer" series parts. They make a carb intake, probably have a street legal carb, and the "Performer" series cams usually utilize an EGR valve, making them street legal. They have higher lift and duration, and are the most cost-effective means of pulling more top-end, out of an engine designed for mid-range power and economy. You may need to save some other odds and ends, like sensors and stuff like that.

 

If your budget permits, you'd probably just do better to use the GMPP crate 3.4 intended for '82-'85 S-10s. It even comes with a legal upgrade cam already installed. Then Edelbrock makes a legal upgrade intake manifold. Pacesetter makes headers, install those after inspection. This will put you ahead of most stock 305s.