I have a '89 Pontiac Firebird with the 2.8 liter MPFI engine. I want to get more power out of the car, however, it is also my daily driver and my primary road trip vehicle so I need to keep the gas mileage decent. I would personally love to do a big v8 swap but the gas would just be killer. Also, v8's are just nowhere near as crazy. I guess the main question boils down to my thread topic, is it worth it to swap in the 3.4 liter v6 from the gen 4 firebirds? I can pick one up for about 300 dollars at my local junkyard, but it would be my first engine swap and if it does not provide significant benefit I'd rather not. If you do not think it is worth the swap, do you guys have any recommendations on how I can pull more power out of my 2.8?

 

The swap alone will add 30Hp to your car. IIRC 2.8L is 130 3.1L is 140 and 3.4L is 160.

You will feel a 30Hp difference and the gas milage will stay about the same.

If you ever really want to get creative a turbo is a way to add some serious Hp and still keep the normal driving Mpg the same as stock. Or just add a nice 50 or 75 Hp wet shot of N20 for a nice little kick that is easy it install and doesnt require any real fabrication.

 

I plan on doing a turbocharger no matter which route I go. I want my car to be sort of a homage to the old '89 TTA's, which in my opinion, was the best firebird ever made. If I could easily slot the 3.8 in I would but since that is probably above my skills I thought the 3.4 would be more feasible.

 

3.4L will be a nice engine for you and its not too difficult to make a respectable turboed V6. Just takes trial and error.

 

I did a 3.4 into one of my cars and I would do it again in a heartbeat if the 3.4 was for sure a good motor.Not realy all that hard if you do what they say.tag,label and take pics

 

3.4 is worth it. But I went from a 175k mile tired 2.8 to a fresh 3.4. Its quick, but nothing to write home about. It's getting yanked in favor of a V8 later on, but it has been good to me.

 

I ran my 3.4 in my 88 for 8 years. It was a great swap, i loved that thing. I just got to the point where my mods were costing too much to be worth the power output, so I'm going to a V8.