OK, I'm putting a 350 in my v6 camaro. I'm about to start building the engine as I have most of the parts for the build. Now, I'm wondering about the accessories from the v6. Besides new brackets, can I still use most of the accessories? I mean, like can I use the alternator and poweresteering pump? I know GM does silly stuff like put the same accessories on v6's as they do v8's, but I need to know for sure. Just lemme know what I can use and what I can't. Thanks a ton!!!

 

any or all of the acessories would work

 

I've actually done this. Very pain in the neck...

First of all, you have to move your motor mounts, you'll see additional holes next to your present one.

You have to upgrade the suspension...mine dropped a lot and dragged along the ground.

Fuel Pump would cut out when I stepped into it....

You'll need headers. With it offset, the passenger exhaust manifold is too close to the firewall to mount an exhaust.

You'd be better off selling the car and getting a 305 with a blown engine.

My $.02

 

Hmm, sound like ur car was a piece of crap... The fuel pump cutting out has nothing to do with a conversion, unless u chinced out on the regulator... The car rubbing on the ground makes no sense unless you had low a$$ ground effects... And lastly, u gave answers to a question i didnt even ask. I know plenty of people who have done this, and I'm full aware of the simple problems (IE headers and motor mounts) All I wanted to know was simply what ENGINE ACCESSORIES I could use and which I couldn't. Not if the cars going to drag on the ground. Obviously the motor mounts need to be changed... You can't add a totally different engine and keep the same ones.

Just my .02

 

What accessories are you trying to save?

With all that needs to be changed, it makes more sense to get a factory V8 donor car. It will have the accessories you need.

 

I'm currently workin on a V6-V8 swap. i went from a 91 3.1L- 89 5.7L

i was lucky and the v8 donor car had all the accessories. You'll need to Switch the motor mounts and fuel pump but you know that already. If you're not running a heater, you can stick with the V6 radiator.I dumped the AC but i'm running heat so i had to get a new radiator. You have to change the transmission crossmember. You can keep the alternator i believe. I bought a whole new PS pump because mine was bad so i don't know if the V6 one will fit. The A/C compresser and smog pump are different cant interchage those.
Are you getting a TPI or carb 350? If you go carb, you don't ahve to change the fuel pump, just put in a fuel pressure regulator. You'll need a v8 tranny of course. Gauge cluster is questionable depending on what year your V8 motor is. 85 speedos are cable driven right?

Alot of people say the swap is a PITA, mine is going pretty smooth. The only things left for me is headers, exhaust and MAF sensor. I was told to change the front springs too but i'm going to wait and see how it drives. I heard the V6 springs will help us launch better

 

yeah, thats what i hear Yeah, I've been getting nice deals left and right. I got my block, brand new federal mogul pistons, heads, crank, and cam for $250 and my t5 5 speed trans with driveshaft, crossmember, clutch assembly, and bell housing for $120. Then my friends selling me everything to make it a roller motor, roller lifters, complete heads, roller cam, etc for $200. Not bad, everythings coming together... I ordered some nice reconditioned rods from Powerhouse and then all I need is rings and I'm ready to do the build. Next I have to have the machining done and the block cleaning. I'm going with a SBC 350 ci 4 bolt main. It'll be .30 over once I get the machining done. One thing I wanna mention is when you do the headers, theres a common problem. My dad's friend did the same swap and ended up with the headers not fitting because of the heater assembly. He had to take the dam out for the heater thing and cut a chunk out and then fab up a new piece that cleared the headers. Ah well, still should be easy overall. Keep in touch with me man, we can share info about what we find and stuff. U got email er AOL er something? Lemme know, thanks!!!

-Jordan

 

Not true.

My V6 alternator was completely different than the V8 type, and would not go on any V8 brackets I've seen. But, that was an '82.

What are you doing about the engine half of the motor mounts? Wiring harness? Accessory brackets? Accelerator & transmission cables?

A V6 to non-emissions V8 swap is much easier than an emissions-legal one. Definations of "easy" and "smooth" vary from person to person (someone who has put a 500 cube Caddy in a Chevette would probably call a 3rd gen V6 to V8 swap "easy", for instance).

A factory V8 donor car is still the smart way to go, whether you use the engine or not.

 

I'm going with an non-emissions engine and im doing everything with factory parts as much as i can. My t5 trans is factory, made for a v8 in a camaro. So it will all just drop it. As for the crossmember, in my case, u do need a new one. The t5 sits a lot different than most transmissions.

 

My 87 Camaro was a V6 MPFI car, and is now a 305 TPI car with a 92 serpentine belt setup. I was able to re-use the A/C compressor and the power steering pump. Of course I had to use A/C lines from the 92 donor car, and the power steering pulley was smaller on the V6 setup, so it was swapped for the larger V8 pulley. The alternator clock positions were different between the two setups in my case. The bottom line is depending on what year car you have, and what year setup you go to will determine what accessories will swap over.

 

So, where are you getting them?

The crossmember for '82-'83 4-speed manuals and 3-speed automatics was different (longer, farther forward) than '83-on 5-speed manuals and 4-speed automatics. But, the crossmember for all 5-speed manuals and 4-speed automatics were the same, regardless of engine.

Unless your T5 came out of something different than a 3rd gen, your current crossmember will be the same as a V8 T5 or TH700 car.

 

No, trust me it's different. I have the 2004r er whatever in my camaro now, and the crossmember from my donor 1990 z28 is different. All my parts are coming from various sources. I've been getting very very lucky... I found a kid with a z28 he's parting out and he selling me stuff dirt cheap. He's just trying to get rid of it, so even stuff I don't need I'm buying to sell on ebay... I figure why not? I mean dirt cheap to, like all the GFX fer $20 and like the trans with driveshaft, clutch assembly, bellhousing, crossmember etc for $120. I know for a fact I could turn around and sell the trans itself for like $500 easy. I've seen rebuilt t5's for like $1500 on average. The latest things I need are piston rings and connecting rods. I ordered connecting rods, should be here within the week. Then I need rings and I'm ready to start. I'm having all the machine work done as soon as i get my parts, then I'm going to build the motor first, get everything set, get my car to the shop, strip it, paint the engine compartment, drop the motor in, and then do the rest in phases. I'll have to do the stuff as money comes in. Like, I'll be running open headers for a while til I get exaust money, and I need to take my car to another place where I'll install subframe connectors. I'm worried about driving a t-top car with *****. I mean, my friend's 79 was fine without subframe ties, but it wasn't ttop. So, hopefully all goes well. My biggest worry is the engine block. It's been magnafluxed b4, but I'm worried a crack will be found and that would be a major setback.

 

What year is this V6 car? The only info I can gather is '85, which would not have a TH200C. No 3rd gens had a TH200-4R (although I'm not sure about the Turbo TA).

That's the first you've mentioned a donor car as well.

T-top cars are the most needy of subframe connectors. Non t-top cars are just very needy of them.

 

yes its an 85. I'm pretty sure its the 2004r as its the 2.8 liter v6

 

hehe, for me being a girl and doing an engine swap for the 1st time, it's been fairly easy. Yeah i've gotten help from my boyfriend and his friends. Since we had everything from a donor car that made the swap a lot easier.

I tried fitting an SLP 1 3/4 header on the passenger side and everything clears. I got the non AC box, it's like a space saver. It gave me a lot of extra room.However I'm worried about the driver side where the brake lines are. I think i have to reroute them somehow.

 

That would be the V6 version of the TH700R-4.

The crossmember is the same for that engine/transmission as the '90 (or at the very least, the transmission you put in will mount to it).

 

its a 700r4 with a different bellhousing then? I can get some moola for it if thats the case, everyone wants those.

 

there's plenty of those transmissions around. they're not adaptable to small blocks due to the different bellhousing.

tim, the turbo ta models did indeed come with the 2004r transmission.

on my 84 sport coupe, the swap carried over the v6 bracket and power steering pump. as far as i can tell, it's the brackets that are different, not the pumps. i had to use washers and longer bolts to space my ps pump out enough to line the pulleys up.

it is possible to space it out if you're patient enough, but i suggest using as much as possible from a v8 donor car. don't even ask me how many times i cussed this out while i pieced it together.

 

erin.... didn't you guys have to move the brake lines for the motor mounts anyway?

and yes, the non a/c heater box is very nice indeed.

 

The crossmember for a V6 700R4 is different from the V8 version. It will still work, but it will throw the pinion angle of the driveshaft off a bit. This is because the V6 crossmember is not one flat piece of steel. It is made up of the lower piece, and has an upper smaller piece of steel held on to the lower by 2 rubber bushings. In effect it pushes the tail shaft of the tranny up higher in the tunnel than the V8 crossmember. I believe this is because the V6 engine actually sits slightly higher on it's mounts. But on a V8 the front of your tranny will sit slightly lower, so you need the proper rear mount to keep the correct geometry. Ask me how I know. I did 2 V6 to V8 swaps. One on an 87 Camaro and one on a 89 Firebird.

 

yeah we did. Instead of being bolted on top of the crossmember we bent them down and back. That worked ok for the passenger side but they are still in the way on the drivers side. I might be able to bend the lines down on the drivers side. as long as they aren't kinked(say like 90º bend) they should be ok right?

 

i'll have to look on my car and see how the lines are run. i have to get the snow and such scraped off anyway sometime soon..

 

All I had to do was move the lines back on the crossmember,,,the were holes for the clips already there....

 

You could reuse the V6 block, thow it in the hatch for extra traction.

 

haha, good one. Nah, im gonna put some subs in the back for that OK so someone please recap. What can I use total? Everyone keeps giving differing "opinions" on what I can use. I figure the alternator should work, the power steering pump probably, so what else. Thanks!!!

 

If you have a MPFI camaro and you want a TPI or MPFI engine, you can repin the ecm for the V8 version, extend a few wires and add 2 injector plugs. Instant TPI harness.

 

im doing carburated anyway

 

Cool, carbs are for real men anyhow

 

ROTFLMFAO
thats exactly where i put my V6 block when i had my Z28 parts car towed away!
junkman who took the car saw it in there but didnt say anything

 

Wow, there's a lot of good info here... and bad info here. A new V8 crossmember is $10 from the GM dealership. It's so cheap just go get the right one and be done with the hassle.

 

iF WE ARE talking x-member for the motor...the v-6 is drilled for the v-8 mounts,,,they are the futher most holes on the x-member..only 3 of the mount holes are used.. The v-6 cross member (tranny) worked just fine in my swap....I also used the drive shaft from the six. for the 700r4.....

If anyone wants I can take a pic of the v8 mounts on a 6x-member,,,I motor is out right now,,,just starving to be fed my 406...inches awaay from the car...

 

Okay, I have to know something and you swappers are the place to find out. I need a pic of the two 700R4's side by side (V6 and V8) to prove that the V6 unit cannot be used for a V8. Yes, I am going V8 (for free... grad and birthday present I suppose. Sorry all of you V6'ers) and can I also keep my existing wiring harness, even though I am going carb? I hate carbs (really-fuel injection is much easier to fix!), but this engine is from a pickup (I guess) and I will be going for a TPI setup in the future. What exactly do I have to add to the existing harness to make it usable on the V8 other than the two injector plugs?

And how in the universe can a tranny crossmember be $10? (I think you made a typo) There is basically nothing other than hardware from GM that is less than $20 as far as I know (maybe spark plugs as well)....

 

The v8..Will Have a raised 8 right on the bellhousing passengers side of the tranny...they by no means look alike side by side...The v-6 bolt pattern is much closer together....Do what I did ..Go to the bone yard and take a look.....I could provide a pic of the v-8 but I got rid of the 6...and if you shop smart..you can find a lot of gm parts for under 10.00. You just might have to clean them up a bit

Searching this topic would be a great Idea....Thats what I did as a lot of others, If you cant fid the answer, Ask a specific ? and the answeres come faster.

 

Ya know, there is one thing I hate about searching.. you type a term into the search box and get three million threads all of which have a little tiny bit of what I am looking for, and it takes two days to search through them to find anything useful.

I looked on eBay two nights ago and found that the V6 trans can bolt up to any engine. (that's what the people say who have done it) The problem is that the upper tip of the V8 pattern and the two side mounts are left bare with a V6 tranny in place. Supposedly I can use the same mounts with a little movement of their positions on the frame rail, but how to get the nuts is a mystery... All the rest is right here ^.

 

You can not use the v6 700r4 in your v-8 swap....no way no how.:werd:

 

Well, if that is what the people say who get their transmissions straight from GM themselves, then it has to be true, correct? I can see the only difference is the missing top and side bolts from the V6 bellhousing for the V8 engine. I suppose I will find out when it comes time, sometime in the next three weeks.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think a trans from a large truck will fit in our tunnels, right, because it is too long?

 

Um, from what I recall, the V8 90 degree version of that 700r4 trans has a different amount of splines. The v6's used in these cars are 60 degrees, and use a 60 degree bell housing. So even so, it won't bolt directly up unless you switch the bell housing. Even if you could get it to bolt up, your going to blow it up with the torque that v8 can produce.

-Dan

 

Splines don't matter as long as you keep your stock torque convertor. And it is only temporary (having the V6 trans) until I can install the one my neighbor has (have to be able to buy it first-not in bro's budget I guess).

Also, the V8 trannys are backwards-compatible with the V6 engine if anyone has a V6 and is looking for a beefier trans...

 

just promise you will let us know how it turned out..obviously you arent going to listen to any of us with with experience in the info. you are asking!!



Im outa this one...

 

Look, I personally have not done the swap, but my bro has for several vehicles, but I don't think that a 3rd gen F-body was one of them. We'll know when it comes time. It is not like I can drive it or anything until at least summertime (no money or job, no ins) and am only going to put it onto a trailer to bring it back here with the V6 trans. My neighbor has one from a V8 for when I have the money and time to do the trans swap.

As for the engine harness, I still need to know if I can tuck it out of the way, completely remove it (getting carb most likely, don't know how to remove the harness... help) and what extra connectors I need besides the two injector connectors and the knock sensor for a TPI V8 conversion....