4-speed v-8 engine swap

Fellas,
My 2.8 has died on me for the last time. I want to do the swap before November. I have seen a mountain of info on the swap for the automatic tranny and there are many sites out there of guys that have done this type conversion. I have not found anything on the manual tranny V-8 swap. I have seen a few advertisments for the book JTR has, but I haven't seen much talk about the manual tranny there. So I have a few questions.

1. What is the best year V-8 carburated to put in? Do I look for an 86 Chevy PU engine or what?

2. Are there any problems associated with the clutch linkage?

If anyone has a site dedicated for the V-8 swap with a manual tranny I would love to check it out. I will document my transplant with video and many pics to help others...but for damn sure...this v-6 has got to get the hell on!

Kenneth
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What 4-speed are you planning on using? Is that what you have now behind your 2.8? If your planning on using your stock tranny I would think twice. They aren't built to handle much torque. A T5 from a 4.3 would be better, but still not that stong for a healthy smallblock.

What 4-speed are you planning on using? Is that what you have now behind your 2.8? If your planning on using your stock tranny I would think twice. They aren't built to handle much torque. A T5 from a 4.3 would be better, but still not that stong for a healthy smallblock.

No fear of him using the stock transmission, I believe that the bell housings are mounted permantly on these transmissions and there are no adaptor kits that I could find for that bolt pattern. Although I didn't look hard.

I believe that the easiest swap would be use a full sized pickup's running gear and sell the rest off.
The most fun would be use the running gear from a mildly tuned comaro or corvette.

yeah a 700r4 from a F body would be a good choice. Make sure its a '87-'92 so you don't problems with it like some of the older 700's. I put a TCI streetfighter 700r4 in my camaro and I am extremely impressed with it. I have never felt a tranny shift so hard, and unlike a junkyard one you know what you are getting, If you don't mind spending a little more I would consider it.

yeah I forgot you got a stick, but I would consider switching since it would simplify things, you'll have plenty of other things to worry about with the overall engine/tranny swap. Unless you have to have a manual...

First, dont got carb. Go TPI or TBI... That said to convert from auto to stick, find a wreck with a clutch and pull everything for it... You will have to drill the firewall and fab a few things. It's doable if tedious... One of your best resources will be www.v8s10.com a lot of the guys there have done this.

as for not running a carb, I can't think of to many reasons not to. For one thing and probably the most important is it greatly simplifies things. I don't know what you are planning on as far as buying a used engine and just dropping it in or rebuilding one and waking it up a little. If you wanna go all stock running a TBI or TPI wouldn't be a bad choice, but your not going to get any more performance compared to a decently set up carb/ HEI setup. I have done both- TBI 350 on my S10 and had way too many headaches (even though I had a TBI 4.3 and reused the stock wiring harness), and had a custom chip made and it still doesn't run nearly as smooth or reponsive as my camaro. I am so glad I ripped out my computer in my camaro and ran a carb and a HEI distibutor with mechanical and vaccuum advance. I can actually adjust stuff easily and if I have any problems, I don't have to test sensors or chase wires. Now if you have to run fuel injection because of emmisions in your state thats too bad. And I was talking about switching over to an automatic, he already has a manual if you would have read it closer rlith. It would also be nice to have reasons backing up what you think instead of just saying just "don't go to carb".

I have the JTR's books on V8 S10's and TBI/TPI engine swapping and have read and still look at them often. They do have a good section on running a manual in a V8 S10 and list several trannies that can be used and the pros and cons for each of them. I would pick up the book before you make any decisions or start buying parts.

Thanks for the information....I dont need a big boost in power...I need to be able to go to work about 80 miles round trip highway driving...I have been working on my ride more than driving it...It seems like the engine cant take the 70-80 mph drive daily. I have rebuilt and changed oil at about 1000 miles and this thing just cant take it. I hate to throw money at it some more to have the same results. I have no emmisions problems here in Alabama...its run what you brung. I just need to be able to drive to work and hunt in it....there is not a buch of mud I will be trying to negtiate and I know when you are stuck....Buy a winch....Thats why God created EBAY.

Ken




I have the JTR's books on V8 S10's and TBI/TPI engine swapping and have read and still look at them often. They do have a good section on running a manual in a V8 S10 and list several trannies that can be used and the pros and cons for each of them. I would pick up the book before you make any decisions or start buying parts.

hitting the gas on a carberator is like watching a toilet flush... gas costs more then water, why let it flush away, if you dont want a big boost in power, but need a slight boost to get you to n' from work, put a 3.4l v6 from a camaro into it, simple and easy, cost may be a little less, but the amount you will save in gas over a carberated sbc moter will be tremendous