Alright so when I first got my car, which was about 1 week ago from now, I was already deciding to just swap out the 2.8 v6 for a chevy 350. Seemed easy enough, but after reading the forums, I am finding myself not sure what to do. The v8 swap will take a great amount of time and money to purchase all of the essential parts to make it work correctly. The easiest swap from what ive read was up to a 3.1. I was looking at the 3.4 as well since it wont be as expensive as a v8 swap but will still be difficult as there was no 3.4 originally made for my 1989 firebird. Then TheScaryOne informed me of sticking with the v6 but to get a 3.8 and to turbo it. I really enjoyed that idea, but as I said I am still new to working on cars and my job won't help me reach my dream car for probably another year if all goes well.
Also another question for turbo'ing, What the difference between turbo and twin-turbo and whats better? assuming that i stick with a v6 (not sure of which one exactly I will be keeping). Hopefully i can get the 3.8 V6 but I have no idea where life will take me

-thanks in advance for the help guys, this will be used for future reference as I am currently focusing on just making my lil 2.8 working optimally. Gotta start from the bottom up -

 

OH and I almost forgot, in most cars i've seen where they worked on the interior I always see different colored interior and what not, and I was wondering how to do that and where to get the equipment for it. I really enjoy how people make their interior their own.

 

forget the 3.8 swap it will be more work then a v8 swap and just as costly

if u get a 3.4 the only thing that needs to be done is to swap the intake off the 2.8 onto the 3.4 , along with swaping the timing cover and oil pan from the 2.8 to the 3.4

at most this swap should cost 4-500 bucks

the other swap is the 3.1 swap on this swap u only have to swap over the intake form the 2.8 to the 3.1 , this swap should cost around the same

2.8 to 3.1 will net u 20 hp and the same in tq i belive
2.8 to 3.4 will be 45hp and im not sure how much tq


any of these engines can be turbocharged for around 800 bucks for around a 100-150hp gain if u want more then that u will spend around 1,400 bucks


this also depends on u being able to weld , if u cant weld or know somone that can do the welding for u it will cost more.

if this is true buy a 90$ flux core mig welder from ebay and teach urself, to be honest anyone with half a brain can learn how to mig weld fairly fast its not hard


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no matter if u keep ur stock engine and turbocharge that, or if u upgrade the engine and turbocharge it
u should also upgrade the ecm in the car from the maf system that it currently has to the 7730 speed density system of the 90-92 cars , or buy a megasquirt standalone ecm for around 350 bucks

the maf system on the car now will allow u to run around 7-9 psi without much trouble it just wont make as much power as it should

 

theres a half dozen 3.4 f bodies at pic a part on lamb road, and a few 7730's

 

there is no reason to put twin turbos on the v6, u could if u want to but its just 2x the amount of plumbing, for a first timer i deff recomend a single turbo

 

Wow, hopefully the prices are right
but that makes me feel MUCH better as to what I want to do. Those prices fall within my price range and hopefully i can get this car up to performance level within at least 6 months and not a year

 

there are deals out there to be had on 3.1's and 3.4's
in ur area i bet u can come up with a good 3.4 for around 250 bucks and if u can by the time u buy the intake and oil pan gaskets i bet that swap can be completed for around 300-350 bucks

as far as turbocharging the price is right around 800 bucks if u do ur own work
theres a few threads at the top of this forum by me and fastedi on the turbocharging subject , and everything is layed out pretty much step by step

lots of smart guys here that can help u along the way no matter what u decide to do with it

 

man.....after reading all this I just wanna do all of it now!
but, like i said, for now im going to focus on doing the tune up and making sure there are no problems with the car as it is.

 

man.....after reading all this I just wanna do all of it now!
but, like i said, for now im going to focus on doing the tune up and making sure there are no problems with the car as it is.