Hello my good fellows. I have a question about my first engine swap. I have a 82 MC with a 231 in it. I have a 350 in the garage waiting. I was wondering how the switch from the v6 to the 350 would go. What could stay. What i have to remove. I can't seem to find much info on the trans i have. Rear end? AC? Also what would you guys recommend as a good swap. If i had my choice i would go with 400 but the 350 is available right now. Its from a 71 blazer. I believe the engine i have now is leaking oil. Also my choke light stays on and even after new spark plugs the engine has sort of a putter to it. It hesitates and vibrates badly. I want to swap it for a bigger engine and a better Carb. I don't need a detailed explanation on how to swap it. I would just like to know typical results I'm looking at and what type of job it is. Any info is appreciated really. And as always thanks in advance

Monte82ppe

 

the rears in all the g bodys are 7.5s with exception of the 442/gn theyre the 8.5. i believe the 86 and up got 3.73 posi the older SSs were 3.42s. the other montes came with a variety of gearing mine originally had 2.70s or somewhere in that ballpark. the trans idk. if its an 82 and a 3 spd it might be a 350 trans which would be fine. the swap should be fairly straight forward. idk about the choke light since ive never run one, but if youre doing a motor swap im going to assume that youre going to run a different carb at which point that can be diagnosed.

 

okay so my three speed transmission will bolt right up? and also what kind of performance can i look for out of this swap?i want enough power to be able to keep up with most of todays "muscle" cars but i do not intend on racing this car. i want this car to be able to hold its own. eventually i would love to drop a big block in it but that comes later when i pull the trans and rear end and come into alot more money. this is just a temporary fix because the little v-6 i have dosent cut it. chicks dont dig small engines...

monte82ppe

 

ok this is what i would do before removing the v6 out of the car is with the other out and waiting to be put in i would go over the engine top to bottom. and start changing all of the gaskets like the rear main seal the front main the oil pan gasket the valve gaskets and the intake gasket. before the intake gasket and the valve i would check thurow the lifters and uper part of the heads to see if there is any gunk to clean out of the engine before install. also are you wanting to cam it also change the intake and carb to make it breath it better??? also look for a four speed for the line up to have a overdrive for it as well so it be more of that dd you are looking for to keep up with majority of the up to date vehicles. it should be staight forward install but with the a/c lines i would see if there is a ac shop that can make the lines for you to match up to the different ac location to make it feel better than just having heat. i have already met some monte owners that have the engine you have and they love the engine in it. the only draw to one of them was not having the four speed to put in it during fitting and line up

 

alright monte07 so i have taken into major consideration your advice about building and checking the engine while it waits. after some research i have decided to FOR NOW go with a cam, intake and head job. i wasnt going to build this engine but after research on the 400 i wanted to drop in it i found that not too many people are fond of it and the 350 is a better choice. my question now is what is a good cam, intake and head combination that would give me what i want? its going to be a daily driver. im a college student so once i get my bike it will take the place of college transportation instead of the monte. but for now it will be the daily driver. also, after i do the mods to the 350 is there anything else to the car itself i can do to add more hourses? and sort of an oximoron question but is there anything i could add to the vehicle to recover a LITTLE of my lost gas miledge? im getting around 18 mpg now so im a little spoiled in that department


monte82ppe

 

well if you want to compete with todays muscle cars youre going to need 400 or so horse to do it. youre going to want to swap your gearing unless the car already has gearing in it and a posi. especially if youre going to be doing a cam swap. youre also going to want to get a deeper stall convertor. once again because of the cam. that is of course if youre doing a cam swap thats going to put you anywhere near the 400hp mark. and at that point with a 3sp and deep gearing say bye to that fuel mileage. id say you would be lucky if you get 10-12mpg.

 

well my goal is actually around 350 horses. and ill explain my "wanting to compete with todays cars" thing as this: i live in a university city so ALL the snoby rich kids get benzs and chargers and challengers and **** like that and try to show off. im not into dick measuring or anything like that but it bothers me that its not too much real muscle goin on with younger people these days. i drove one of those chargers with the 250 horses and had a little fun but i figure 350 would be perfect for me. so im reading that a heads, carb, intake and cam combo would get me there. and i have no problem changing the gears. ill have to look up what i have. so all that plus my gas milege being destroyed is not a problem- it comes with the teratory. my thing is, can i run a potential 350 horse setup on my trans without it haveing difficulties? ill change it once i find one and save the money but i need to know should i wait to run the new engine or is it safe to run it now. the one engine i have now is a lame :-/


monte82ppe

 

at 350hp the car should be decent, but not really going to beat srt8 cars ss camaros, or new 5.0s. 350hp in that body should put it in the 13s in the quarter if it hooks. if it has a 350 trans in it it should be able to handle it, but if your doing a cam and heads youre going to want to do a convertor, and a shift kit. also with a cam youre going to want some gearing in the rear to go with it. most important thing is to have a good combo. everything has to work together cam, heads, carb, intake, convertor, and, gearing. hp numbers are just part of the equation. with out a different convertor the car is going to surge on idle, and you wont be launching it where its making power, and with no gearing in it its going to take time to come up into the motors powerband. 1hp per cubic inch is standard and a good goal for a strong reliable motor. just do your research, and make educated purchases.