91camaro372

Hey everyone i'm new to the forums and recently just picked up a 91 camaro rs v6. Me and my dad are going to be working on it until I can drive and it will be my first car. We plan on pulling the 3.1 engine and tranny and dropping in a 305 (preferably a tpi). If anyone has any info on what we will need for the swap and if it would be better to go with a carb or tbi that would be great.

joshh44

why not a 350 engine and alot easyer to make aton of power.

91camaro372

I would love to put in a 350 but my mom and my dad say no. So I have to settle for a 305.

joshh44

gotta love the parents.
i say you can sneek in a 350 engine :P there the same size on the outside and they will never know :P unless your dad knows his stuff.
but i totally understand about the parent sistuation. my parents said i couldnt have a V8 car... To much hp!! my 305 has 170hp. oh so much. haha

you can get some decent power out of a 305. theres guys here that has strong fast 305s.

305 i still a V8. and has that V8 sound cant go wrong there.
i would also think youll save some money on the gas. wont go threw as much!

91camaro372

haha yeah I wish but my dad definatly knows his stuff... back when he was a kid he built a lot of cars.

Yeah at first they said no v8's at all but I finally conviced them into a 305 by looking into twin turbo v6 cars haha.

There are plenty of small add ons out there though that will give me decent power so thats a good thing

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Most of the basics of the V6 to V8 swap are covered in the sticky in the top section of this forum (the one that says to read it first before posting a new thread about it).

You will need to replace the computer and harnesses (computer and engine) under the hood. As the sticky says, the best way to go about this is to have a complete V8 donor car available to get all of the necessary parts.

91camaro372

Yes I did read the sticky a couple times through before I posted this. The main question here was mainly whether to go with carb, tbi, or tpi. Also I wasnt sure if I would have to switch out the suspension and any other body parts.

cameron7710

if its going to be a daliy driver i would go with tpi (easyer to deal with as far as driving around all day)but u could probley make more power with a good carb

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but, Carb is gonna give you a bit more power than most, a slight bit harder to dial in, a stock TBI is okay for reliability but the heads on TBI 305's kinda blow, and TPI 305's are small and pretty stout on the power end for being a stock motor. I think you should go with the tpi if you can find a complete motor and harness with computer. My opinion only though.

91camaro372

Thanks for the replies. It will be a daily driver so I want to get a decent amount of power but not have the car suck up to much gas. I was just searching and I found what looks like a really good deal on a 4.6l ford motor. Yes I know its a ford but I wasnt sure how much of a pain it would be to put that engine in there. has anyone ever done this before?

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

Dude, thats about as painful as an enema with hydrochloric acid. Go with the TPI and save yourself about 2g's in custom fabrication lol.

91camaro372

haha yeah thats what I was thinking. Now I just need to find a 305 tpi with pretty low miles for a decent price. Best one i've found so far was 300 for engine and tranny, and it has 90k miles

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

Not half bad, just do a gasket replacement and see if you can hear it run before you buy it if at all passible.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

If you dont call that low miles and a decent price, you're never going to get an engine for your car, because thats about as low as its going to get on both counts, not many thirdgens with low mileage any more, and $300 is a steal if it is complete.

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

91camaro372

I personally think that is a great deal but my dad says he's not sure so we'll see what he decides. He says it was probably run hard and not in the best condition so i'm going to ask for pics.

TPI-RS

iTrader: (6)

I've spent the past year and a half doing the same conversion. I wanted to get a 350 as well, but college funds wouldn't allow for it. I got a 305tpi with tranny for 25 bux, so I couldn't say no. I rebuilt the whole motor and it runs like a dream. Its loud and 'quick' If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, as I have just recently done this. Just an FYI, you have a LONG road ahead of you, but its rewarding in the end!!!

91camaro372

Yeah i'm going to ask him tonight we can take a look at it. I have the cash for it so mabee it will work out. Does anyone know if I have to replace the suspension or will it be fine with the v6 suspension?

cameron7710

i think u will need to replace it cause the 305 will be hevier then than the v6 but i could be wrong

TPI-RS

iTrader: (6)

Yes, the suspension needs to be replaced, I believe only the front tho. As far as I am aware, the part numbers for the rear are all the same.

91camaro372

Ok i'll have to add that to my to do list. Would a set of stock springs from an iroc or z28 work? Just ran into a new problem with the 305 I was looking into buying. I would need to pull it and I dont have the stuff to pull it with. I will talk to him and see how much it would be to have him pull it. We'll see though if it works out.

TPI-RS

iTrader: (6)

I used coils out of an 88 iroc, so to answer your question... yes.

While you have the front end apart dont forget to change your motor mounts and put v8 struts in it too! Its no fun doing it 3 times!!! be sure to check your ball joints and everything else down there as well... do it all at once.

midwest

anything wrong with the 3.1? Ill would like to buy it if the price is right.


Why not trick your pops. Tell him to let you get a 350, but you will put in a 283 crank, which will make the displacement only 302. he he only

91camaro372

Nothing is wrong with the 3.1. It has 131,7xx miles on it. It needs a new distributor so i'm going to replace that just to get it running and then we plan on pulling it and selling. its in good condition and has some new parts on it. We plan on replacing the distributor and coil as soon as we get a couple warm days around here. If your still interested pm me and i'll give you some more details.

What do you guys think of buying an engine on ebay? I was just looking around but I wasnt sure if it was a very reliable thing to do.

andrew5546

for the record... the tranny won't bolt up

Moonlight

Hey dude, just buy a 350 and tell them its a 305, the blocks look identicle so ur parents wont know the difference. lol, anyway cheers with the swap.

91camaro372

I would do that but the problem is that my dad knows everything there is to know about engines. He has swapped/built so many different engines its crazy. If it wasnt for him I probably wouldnt be able to make this happen. So this week I should be going to buy a 305 tpi. As long as the engine has good compression and runs well. I recently brought up the idea to my dad about converting the car to a manual so we might go ahead and do that.

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

selling my TBI 305 if you're interested PM me.