How much money would it cost for me to put a carb'd 350 engine in my 1996...

[Fatdude427]

...Firebird? The original engine is fuel injected, of course. It is the 3.8L V6.

How much would it cost just to rebuild the 3.8 motor to stock specs?

How much would it cost instead to replace the V6 with a mild 350 Chevy engine with, say, 300HP?

Would I need to remove the gas tank to remove the fuel pump?

Would I need to use a different radiator shroud?

Would I be able to just bolt on the 350 engine to the stock auto transmission (I believe it is a 4l60E transmission)?

Would I need to change flexplates?

Would I be able to bolt on any of the accessories from the V6 to the 350, or would I need to purchase all new accessories? By accessories, I mean the PSP, the Alternator, the starter, etc. I know that I would need a new intake, a carb, etc.

What about the motor mounts? Would I require new ones?

How much would the entire job cost to install the 350 Chevy motor into my Firebird?

 

[ghinmi]

You will be money ahead by just selling your Firebird and buying one that already has a V8. If you can afford one with an LS1 that'd be ideal but an LT1 is still a great engine too. If you're set on a carb, they make intakes to convert the LS1 and LT1 to carbs.

 

[iDon]

You would probably need to talk to at least two different dealers to see what their mechanics would say. Then talk to two or three other independant mechanics to see what they would do about it. The advice of several experts will be worth it.

 

[Blazin]

First of all get the carb thing out of your head.
(1) It will make the car worth lees if you try and sell it.
(2) Fuel injection is better on gas, has better throttle response, and can be tuned to give better performance than a carb.
The 3.8 is a 305 missing two cylinders. Any one piece rear main seal small block will bolt to this transmission. You will need to swap the ECM for the one that goes with the V8, you will need a V8 fans shroud, possibly a bigger radiator investigate your car might already have the bigger one in it. You will need the exhaust manifolds and front section of the exhaust for the V8. As far as the accessories go the power steering pump should bolt on, as the alternator, the brackets should be the same but if not get the ones from a fourth gen V8 Camaro or Firebird.

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[Android V]

There is a lot that goes into swapping a V8 into a 6cyl car, but it is definately easier on a GM product than anything else.

The cheapest easiest way to go about this, is to find an engine/tranny combo from a scrap yard. Something that wasn't hit in the front so you can use all engine bay accessories.

Your engine accessories should swap over, alt, psp, ect. But it will take a small amount of fabrication and fitting to make it work.

If you are going to pay someone to do all of this for you, It may actually be cheaper to have them install and fuel injected 350 than fixing up an older carbed 350.

It all depends on how you go about getting the parts.

Building the V6 back to original performance is probably going to be near the same cost as a swap.

As for the transmission fitting onto a 350, I can't say for sure, so I won't say anything.


All the way around, its not going to be cheap. It would be cheaper to buy an older car and build that up for performance.

Thankfully there is a lot of aftermarket on your side and everything you want to do is very possible. Just not necessarilly cheap.