Engine Swap: The Beginnings

[cooltc2004]

It all starting in a Junkyard titled "Mikes Auto Salvage" which is off of 306 near Mentor. They get third and forth generation Firebirds and Camaros all the time, as well as Mustangs. I'm stripping parts off a 1991 Firebird Formula, when I notice a 1987 IROC Camaro. Me and my buddy look at it, and admire its rotting corpse. It might be in bad shape, but we knew it has kicked its fair share of ass in the past. So we pay for our parts, and head home.

Time Lapse to the Middle of July

I'm coming home from Broadway and Fleet (Third Federal Savings, I had a Summer Internship there) and I notice my temp gauge is climbing VERY fast, so I pull over as soon as I could. By this time smoke is coming from my hood. I pop the hood, and antifreeze is just pouring out of the motor like there was a hole in the side of the block. I had no cell phone, so against my better judgment I drove her home at 280*+ (OMG I cringe everytime I think about it). Get home, me and my dad go out and try to find the problem, and the car starts acting normal. We fill her up with antifreeze and she holds it all in (this isnt the first time I've had a 3.1L and both engine have done the same thing). So I drive her to work, and she acts like nothing happened. Hmm...

Time Lapse to August 25th, 2005

Me and my buddy are back in the junk yard, and the only FBody they have left is the IROC. My buddy recently aqquired a 1982 Camaro with a 2.8L V6 (109 HP OUCH) and we were looking for some appearance parts for him. We get the taillights and gauge cluster off the IROC, and while hes fiddling with with gauges, I pop the hood. DUN DUN DUN Small Block Chevy 5.7L TPi L98 (or so we thought at the time). Im sitting there drooling over the motor as hes STILL fiddling with the gauges. I close the hood and dream...

Time Lapse to August 26th, 2005

Coming home from bowling and notice my bloody tempurature gauge is climbing faster then my RPM tach! One thing that was different is that it stayed around 240*, which isn't that bad. So I get her home, and the next say me and my dad take a look at her, but with a different result. We pressure test her once again (forgot to mention that everytime she pour her coolent on the ground we pressure tester her) and she held pressure. So I start her up, pour in the coolent, and notice that its pouring out just as bloody fast as I pour it in. WTF? Take the hose and wash off the passenger side of the engine after shutting her down, and start her back up. Long and behold its pouring our from between the head and the block like there was a hole. BLOWN HEADGASKET. Fuck, well, that ends my fun with this car for this season. My dad notices a smell that reminded him of quick seal (or something like that), so we figure that it was doing this when I bought the car, but they fixed it quick. Those bastards...

Time Lapse to August 30th, 2005

Im about as depressed as you can GET, when a crazy idea came to my head. What about an early V8 swap . Nah, knowing my dad, he'll just want to rebuild the V6 because of my lead foot. I run the idea by him, and hes all go for it. w00t! So we look through the Pace catalog, and see a Small Block Chevy Longblock for $1200. My dads like "thats a pretty good price". So we are figuring out what intake Im going to use (Edelbrock Intake and 4 Barrel is what I wanted) when my dad said "You know what, remember that IROC in the junkyard you were telling me about?" "Yeah?" "Why dont we buy that motor so we dont have to register the car out in Astabula for emissions." So I go there, ask about the 5.7 in the IROC, and we settle. $750 I get the 5.7L 350, all the wiring, and the computer. Awesome.

Time Lapse a few days

We head over to the junkyard to give him a deposit to pull the motor. I get there, we look at it, and they were suppose to have it running for us. Well turns out someone stole the computer out of the car, thefts. Anyways, we deside to get the engine anyways because $750 is a damn good deal for a running engine. We checked the oil, and since it was holding oil, and the oil doesnt smell burnt, we gave them the $100 to pull it. We drive off, and I get the idea to run the VIN on carfax (which I have a 30 thing on, so if you need me to run your car, let me know). We go back, make up an excuse to get the VIN (not that we had to, Im just good like that). I look at the VIN, and from being on ThirdGen.org for a while, know that a L98 has the alst character of the VIN as an 8. I get the VIN, last number is an F. DARN, what the hell is this motor then? I start going over ideas in my head about what it is, and I get depressed again. I get home, run it on carfax and it turns out to be a 305 TPi HO. I do some research, and it turns out to be (besides the TTA) the second fastest engine available in the FBodies. So Im happy again. My dad desides, for the hell of it, to call the junkyard and let him know. He calls, turns out the owner didnt know it was a 5.0, he figured since it was an IROC, that it had the 5.7. He appologizes and offers our $100 back. We tell him no, but how about a better deal? :-) He says he cant do that, for the top of the motor is worth the $750 (which hes about right), but how about I give you the transmission, the radiator, the dual fans, all the hoses and wirings running to the engine, and unbolt parts instead of tourching them off? CHA CHING. Deal. We went today, and picked her up, and here she is. Please feel free to comment. I still have that 350 block in the front driveway so Im still goign to have it pressure tested, and if its a good block, transfer everything from the 305 over (305 and 350 have the same stroke) to the 350, and badabang.

In case you were wondering:

LB9 - 305ci TPi - 190 HP and 295 FT/LBS Torque (Auto Trans)
LB9 - 305ci TPi - 215 HP and 295 FT/LBS Torque (Manual Trans)
L98 - 350ci TPi - 225 HP and 330 FT/LBS Torque (Auto or Manual)

I figure, either route I go, on getting around 350 - 400 FT/LBS Torque.

Pictures:

[supervisor1886]

First its not cool to drive a car with a BLOWN head gasket. Smart.

Nice pick thoug, but I think you could get the engine cheaper.
Whats the mlg on it?

I would rebuild it while its out of the car. Just some rings, bearings, some honning,some cam, lifters, head job and cleaning if the cylinders are still good.

[cooltc2004]

First of all, we didn't find it was a blown headgasket until after the fact. Once the second overheating happened, we washed off the engine, and saw what it really was. Cant diagnose an engine that doesnt do the problem a second time, now can you? We do know what we are doing, and I wouldn't drive a car that had a blown headgasket intentionally. So I have no idea where that comment came from.

I dont think that we could get an engine, trans, all the wiring, all the accessories, engine mounts, radiator, dual fan setup, and all the hoses for any cheaper.

We plan on rebuilding the engine. It was a high mileage car, so not rebuilding the eninge would not be smart.

[Rally Sport]

Very nice dude, although the engine looks ugly.. but that will change soon.

[supervisor1886]

Still expensive, I can get a great low mileage wrecked IROC with pefomance stuff in it for about the same.

[supervisor1886]

or damn I forgot that you also got an extra tranny.

[1986Z28]

sounds like a good buy, cant wait to see it in the car

[cooltc2004]

Of course the engine looks ugly, it came out of a rusted 1987 IROC.

Tuesday I will start marking the harness connectors and hopefully Thursday Ill be able to get the TPi unit off.

[88camaroproject]

damn nice work. hope everything goes smooth.

[supervisor1886]

I hate the people that sold you the car with a blown head gasket.

[Rally Sport]

Yeah my car was sold to me the same freaking way, pisses me off. My car was not kept good at all, when I did a tuneup to it, it still had the original wires/plugs and everything else.

[Genopsyde]

Nice catch, I'd rebuild the 350 and swap the tpi over to it, but if you don't you'll still make a lotta power out of that 305. and since you're already a member of TGO there's no need for me to refer you to their for info. Good luck and I hope to line up next to you at Thompson Drag Strip sometime next summer.

[blindeyed]

Wow, nice story there man. Sounds like you got a sweet little deal there. Good luck with the swapping. So, just to clear things up (I got a little confused)... Are you going to swap out all the TPI stuff from the 305 to the 350 (that I'm assuming you've already got)? What about the tranny? Are you gonna use the one that came with the 305? And is that a stick or an auto? Whichever route you go I'm sure will be badass. Congrats on the find man.

[cooltc2004]

Thanks everyone, and geno, hopefully next season Ill be at Dragway 42 and Thompson alot, so maybe I will line up with you, should be fun.

blind: I do have a 350 block sitting in my driveway, I need to have it pressure tested to see if its a good block, if it is, all the stuff from the 305 (intake, crank, etc) will be transfered. With the engine I got a 700R4 Automatic 4 Speed transmission, so that will be the tranny that goes behind the new V8. I really wish that I could have gotten a manual, but now I just gotta save up for a T56 swap (Id really like a ZF tranny ).

[blindeyed]

Originally Posted by cooltc2004

blind: I do have a 350 block sitting in my driveway, I need to have it pressure tested to see if its a good block, if it is, all the stuff from the 305 (intake, crank, etc) will be transfered. With the engine I got a 700R4 Automatic 4 Speed transmission, so that will be the tranny that goes behind the new V8. I really wish that I could have gotten a manual, but now I just gotta save up for a T56 swap (Id really like a ZF tranny ).

Aw man, sounds like she's gonna be one sick bird when your through with all of it. And yeah, a T56 behind that bad boy would be sweet. Good luck with her man, sounds like you're gonna be having a blast.