my first car was an 84 monte ss. the charcol blue with all the goodies. i bought a trans am gta, and lent the monte to my family to use. big mistake... it didnt get the care it needed, and now is in a heap. my father was going to junk it, but i just couldnt resist. i told him i would take it back. cant pass on my first car!!! anyways, i have a buddy that has a 86 TA, with 305 tpi engine, trans and posi rear. i was hoping to swap the TA drive train into the monte. will it all fit?? bolt up ?? the motor, trans and diff??? or will there be a lot of cutting and welding trying to make it fit? also, i have a late 70's 4 bolt 350 sittong in my garage. would the 305 tpi unit fit onto the 350??

i used to work in the mechanic buisness, but its been awhile, i have forgotton a lot of knowledge. i was just going to take out both engine wiring harnesses, and put the tpi harness into the monte. is this going to be a chore? i wasnt to try to kep this build to a minimum dollar amount. i have a 1 1/2 year old and another on the way, and a lot of body work to be done. does this sem feasible, or am i getting myself into a pickle?? thanks a lot guys, brian

 

The T.P.I. manifold should fit if it is a 1986 year manifold. I think Chevy slightly changed the intake bolt pattern in 1987 except on the Corvette. As far as swapping the transmission, the Monte should have a 200-4R where the Trans Am has a 700-R4. It will fit (I have one in my 1983 Grand Prix) but will require modifying the crossmember, getting a driveshaft cut or made. The 200-4R is a good transmission with a few upgrades ( check out www.ckperformance.com ) For T.P.I swapping check out http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Che...I_TBI_V-8.html

 

the motor and trans will fit no prob in the monte but the rear end will not you should keep the one from the monte anyways(better gears )
you will need to change the ecu and wiring harness to run the tbi as well

 

i was wondering if the rear out of the monte was better or not. it is not posi, but i can change that!!! also, as to the wireing harness. do i need to buy one of those painless harneses, or can i take the one out of the firebird, and transplant it to the monte??? i would like to do the latter to try and save 500.00$ or so that the painless harneses cost. the monte has been rebuilt a long time ago to do away with the ECU. so removing whats left i nothing hard. i am guessing all i need to do is transplant the firebird harness and PCM and supply the PCM with power and a good ground.... right??? that should take care of the engine, and the rest of the car shouldstay the same as intended form the factory.... is this correct? thanks guys, brian

 

not really sure if it would work this way or not but when you remove the ecu out of the monte there is a harness that comes from the hood and one from under the dash (when i removed my ecu i removed the harness from the hood but left the one from the dash as you did not see it )
now i did not check this but maybe they are the same plugin and you can get the power you need to runn the ecu from there i would just use the stock firebird ecu and harness and put it in the monte
and another thing about the rears they wil not fit because the monte has a 4 link setup and the firebird has a panhard bar set up nothing even comes close to bolting up

 

okay. i have dug out the 350 4 bolt bolck and a set of 2.02 heads from the ngine rack at my grandfathers place. now, this brings me to my next question....

the 86 tpi comes with a MAF unit. will i need to change the computer at all? like maybe get a prom from a same year car with a 350 tpi motor, or will the mass air flow unit compensate for the air coming into the intake with new bigger motor???does thismake sence??

and... since were asking questions..... will the posi unit in the differential on the TA fit into the differential in the monte? i believe there both 3.08 gears, but the monte is an open rear end, and the TA rear end is a 3.08 posi. (i will probably rebuild the posi unit and end up installing taller gears, say 3.73, or 4.10-11) i just dont know if the parts are intercahngable?? brian

 

The biggest gear you will want to go with is a 343 maybe just a bit more.Thetpi will be out of its powerband to quick if you go to much more.You will need a knock sensor for a 350 22lb injectors better fuel pump Iknow there is more but cant think of them right now.For more info about tpi go to thirdgen.org they are real helpful.Oh one more thing you will nood thechip from a 350 car it will have to be from a 87 to 89 car they didnt put a 350 in camaro or firebird until then.

 

the monte is a 7.5 diff that came with 3.42 or 3.73
and depending what year the camaro is it came with a 7.5 or a 7 3/4 and the gears will not fit and i would leav the monte gears in it anyday over the crappy camaro gears look on e-bay for cheap limited slip units

 

heres my idea for now, (until it changes later ) rebuild the three speed trans, and rear end in the monte carlo. if the posi will fit into the monte rear with a rebuild kit, we'll do that . if not, ill try to find a monte rear end limited slip diff. (guts) put the 350 4 bolt and 2.02 heads with the TPI and harness, and a computer from a 350 camaro, or TA. hopefully there MAF engines.... (87 to 89...ARE THEY?) anyways, then all i should have to do is some body work, and should have a nice running/looking car.

do you guys think that the three speed trans would be better than the 700r4? i just figure that i could leave the driveshaft and trans mount alone if i reuse them. if the 700r4 would be better, i could replace it later. would like to know what you guys thought.

 

The 87 to 89 camaro and ta with 350s are maf.You can use the 3 speed trans but I woulddeff do the 700 later if your going to put some miles on it due to how much it costs for gas now.When you do the swap check out thirdgen.org they are full of good tpi info.