V6 swap ('82 Camaro) questions

[AAustin]

Hi all,

Haven't been on the boards in ages. It's nice to see so many familiar faces still here. :)

I reluctantly sold my '87 RS a while back because I needed a truck. A couple weeks after selling it, the RS was totalled by the kid I sold it too. :( C'est la vie...

Anyway, recently bought my 16-year old son an '82 Camaro (his first car) for a couple hundred bucks. It's in need of a little TLC but it's in great shape. The body/interior are in excellent condition, remarkable condition actually considering its age, but the engine is shot. Pretty sure the main bearing is toast because it's got a nasty knock. The rest of the car is in excellent condition.

We pulled the engine/tranny and are now shopping for another engine to put back in it. Would like to get another V6 but something a little bigger. Wanted to ask the board for recommendations on what would be the most sensible engine to get for it as I'm not very knowledgeable on what all the options are and what can be done to it. The car has a 700R4 automatic that we're going to have gone over as well before we reinstall it.

I'm sure the 2.8 could be rebuilt but don't know what kind of condition the rest of the engine is in. Not sure that I want to mess with it. Looking for something that has decent gas mileage and is fairly reliable, but with a little giddy-up. Also, not sure about what's available that wouldn't need to be converted to fuel injection. I think rebuilt 2.8s from GM run around $1900 or so if I'm not mistaken. I'd like to be able to find something cheaper from a salvage yard but I'm not sure what to look for or what would be a fair price for a suitable V6 in good condition.

Any help or pointers you'd care to offer would be most appreciated. We want to get moving on this car soon and not have it sitting around too long. He's already spent a lot of time detailing the engine bay and getting it ready for another engine. It'll definitely be a nice car when we're done with it. It seems like nice older 3rd gens are getting harder and harder to find. But, it does appear that the ones that we've seen lately are taken better care of. I guess folks are finally starting to appreciate them?

Thanks in advance.

[SillyWabbit]

Couldn't give you much assistance in prices, but I know that a 3.1L swap from a later model RS would be the only way you'll easily get more motor in there without boring/stroking the 2.8L. If you go the 3.4 or 3.8L route, you might as well swap a V8 in as those two 6's are both in a 90° configuration.

[AAustin]

Thanks for your reply SillyWabbit. I think what we're going to do is rebuild the 2.8 we pulled out of the car. Will probably be cheaper and will keep his insurance affordable (more or less...).

[Nate Dog 69]

find a 3.4 from a 93~95 f-body, and jsut use the long block. Not sure what emissions crap will need to swap over, but you can get a bigger engine & make it look like the origonal 2.8 ;)

The 3.4 fromteh 4th gens are 60* engines, so are the 3800's . I had/have both in my car. The 3.8 from the regals/TT/A are the 90* type.

[MagRockwilder]

I have a complete '88 Firebird Formula for sale, and it has a good drivetrain with a rebuilt 305 TBI, 700r4, and all necessary parts to install the engine in your son's car. It's only 150hp, so it won't get him in trouble, and it gets near 30mpg. You could also install the parts necessary to get the Firebird on the road, and then sell or scrap the Camaro.

here's the ad:

http://www.3rdgen.org/bb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27003&highlight=firebird+parts+whole

[1981z28]

i will make this real simple my friend has a 1989 firebird v6 with the gta body kit factory upgrade :cool: and he gets about 25mpg(his 2.8 is cherry with low miles) the same friend has a 1987 trans am 350 L98 tpi that get 23 mpg . so a v6 with power is not going to happen the v6 model 3rd gens are at best a high 16sec car.


im saying you should just up grade to a v8 tpi system for about 1000 bucks you can get a motor trans and wireing if you look around..also the 305 tpi gets about 23mpg to good fuel econ with power.but i would not give this to a 16 year old new driver :eek: bad things might happen .


to give it a good motor with a little power get a 305 tbi out of a late model rs 3rd gen