So, i think i will start one thread for my rebuild of my 1985 Trans Am. I called it subtle change cuz if you have seen a few of my other mods i've changed some stuff with the ultimate goal of making it look factory. so if you know these cars, like we do, it is NOT subtle at all..... All other peeps might notice a difference but may not know exactly what ive done. Anyway, im starting with the engine bay and engine build on this thread. The custom front bumper is already done and the custom rear bumper very very close. you will see those later as i get to them in this thread. if you want to see the process of the front bumper grafting and the rear bumper shave you can look them up under the body section.

So these first few pics are of the tear down of the engine bay. I am removing the old tired 305 and putting in a rebuilt (mostly stock) 350. I will be painting the motor also and will show pics as i get to it.

here are the links to the other mods so you dont have to look them up
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...per-shave.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...-grafting.html

 

Here are a few pics of the sanding and prep of the engine bay for paint.

 

and here are some of the engine bay painted.

 

OK... this engine! mechanics stuff scares me. A bit over whelmed. I have started painting parts on the motor and am scared I am not going to get it back together. I may be calling on all 89 350 tuned port stockers for some pics . I am mostly a body guy but wanted to do this to get a little feel of it. I did take a million and one pictures so I think I will be OK. I just look at it and say to my self, how am I going to get this running again!!!!

Ken

 

love the color man...I am a diy garage painter and I have tried metallic paints only 2 times..and both times the metallic started sagging/running...not the paint itself,just the metallic..like it was heavy and just started running down through the wet paint..lol..spraying it too heavy?

 

yes too heavy, and also maybe too much at first. I like to paint a "dust" coat or a quick tacky coat. That will keep things stuck on and when you put down a more even coat over that the paint looks less transparent so your not tempted to slam down a lot of paint at once. Do this coat right after you dusted, don't wait. You really want to make sure your doing a 50% over lay too. which means go halfway down your next pass. this will prevent "tiger striping" anyway I hope this helps. Let me know if this isn't quite what you were asking for.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken...exactly what I needed to know...I will have to remember that next time I try shooting a metallic..thats the problem I have though,I try to do a dust coat and just can't seem to get it right..I'm always shooting for full coverage on the first coat..lol..

 

yeah dont try to cover solid, think more along the lines of even spray. dont worry that you can see thru it. make it look even. not sure i typed that how i wanted it to sound

you want to lay down mutiple coats to get your full coverage. It will also help with the evenness of the metalic.

 

OMFG!!!! can i just say i realy am not a mechanic, and kind of dont want to be one!!! so frustrating!! K, now that that is out of the way, thought i would just post quickly what i ran into. Im sure all you gear heads already know this. So as you have read before im taking out my 305 for a 350. the 305 is an 85 and the 350 is a 89. Dont know if that even matters. so i go to put the intake on the 350, wanted to use my origonal one from the 305. They look just alike and from what i have read they are the same. Well there must be some model changes or something. cuz these two are not. the two holes on either side in the center on the manifold do not line up with the heads. heres some pics. Post some comments of what you know cuz putting this motor together scares me

 

here are some pics of the intake. as you can see the slight difference in the center two side holes. yes the realy prety one is the one that DOESNT fit!!! hehehehe so now i have to clean up the other one. oh well

 

the intakes are similar, but in 86(maybe 87) the angle of the center bolts changed.

 

man why cant i get luck on the good side!!! LOL. yeah the angle is most definatly different. put the intake on with cylicone at the front and back three times till i finaly noticed that. I guess i can chalk this up to learning something new. It is kind of fun, maybe it frustrating just cuz i dont know these motors realy well. I hope to paint this block this weekend!!!! cross fingers.

Ken

 

Ours was garage painted, pearl // metalic.
The guy put a couple steel marbles in the paint cup & swirled the cup every couple minutes to keep the metalic suspended in the paint.
No runs, drips, or sags.

 

yes!!!!! it fits!! maybe i can paint this thing today!!!

 

Alright, back to what i'm more familiar with. Got her all painted! Still have little parts here and there, but this will get the motor starting its journey back together. just a few snaps to look at.

Ken

p.s. after i got it all done i was sad to see it sort of looks like ford blue! but when i get all the stuff done and the car painted it will look more like a motor match to the car, and yes the yellow covers are going away.

 

Well,some people have modified the intakes to make them work on the earlier heads..you would have to drill the center holes larger so you can bolt it down..pain in the rear,(ask me how I know...lol)...but I see you have the other one painted now..so,you are good to go..but,on another note..I hope you are staying with the 85 injection setup including the wiring harness and ecm...because if not,you are going to need to paint the 89 tpi runners..in 89 they did away with the cold start injector..
Anyways,car is looking good man..can't wait to see it all together!

 

Timmy!! thanks so so much! this is the little tid bits I need to know. I am so clueless on mechanics. I have learned a ton tho!!! I will look into that. my 85 was a 305, and this 89 is a 350. does that matter?? I was kind of thinking I would have to change out the whole engine harness from the 89. maybe this wont work? I have the whole other car that I got the 350 out of, so I have everything on hand from both cars.

 

it may work but seriously,if you have the complete car the 89 350 came out of I would use the harness and ecm from it too..the ecm for the 85 would require at minimum you swapping the chip(memcal) other question is do both cars have the same transmission? auto or manual?...if one is auto and one a manual that won't work either..the engine harness is different for the 2 trannys..

 

K, that sounds good. I will change out the whole thing. and they both "had" 700R4. i swaped it to manual about two years ago. There was an awesome thread on here that helped me thru the wiring issues. It seems to run fine.

 

well crap Timmy!!!! your right! these plenums are a little different. I painted the 85 one and i probably should use the 89 one. under the plenum on the 89 there is one chanel missing. Do you think it matters if i use the 85? i only have the 85 runners. The 89 runners (tubes) were smashed.

Ken

 

I can't recall right off the top of my head if they will work or not..best thing I can tell ya is hold the runner in place and see if there is any opening still exposed through the cold start injector port..if there is you will have to either find a different runner or fabricate a block off plate.

Edit..the plenum I think should be fine..and if you still have the cold start injector you can just install it but not hook it up so it will serve as a block off plate..unless of course you stick with the 85 harness you had on your 305..the 350 will run with that ECM chip but it will run lean..I would recommend having a moated adapter programmed for it since a 350 with 5-speed chip does not exist.

 

K, that is exactly what i was thinking. just makin sure there wasnt any other little tidbits i may be missing. thanks so much for the knowledge!!!! it helps a ton, and saves frustration.

Ken

 

Check my edit too..

 

awesome!!! yes good info in the edit. thanks again!! this will realy help me.

 

Just thought of something else Ken..you may want to keep the 85 harness and ECM for this engine...2 other headaches I just remembered you will have using the 89 harness..1 is that 89 was the first year of vats..so you will have that to deal with and 2 is that windshield wiper harness was fed through engine side harness starting in 89 as well..

 

Ah, good to know. I still have the 85 in the car. I'll try it, and I can always change it later if I have to.

 

OK, sorry its been so long since I posted. my heater went out in the shop and it took a while to get it fixed. So I will post more pics of painted parts for the motor tomorrow. I have a question for the engine crowd. As I have said I have zero experience with engines. this is my first. I have started the re-assembly and am wondering what the deal is with the EGR valve on the top of the intake. should I put it back on? should I put a block plate on? if I block it are there other things I need to do?

thanks for all input!!!

ken

 

you can put a block off plate on, but if you do, you need to have the ECM calibrated for the change.

 

OK. thanks for the answer.

Ken

 

i got some pics of some of the parts. this is taking alot longer than i thought it would!!! there is alot to a motor! hats off to you builders, i had no idea how much it involves.

 

here are a few of the plenum and dist. cover, i hope to get some pics of it going together over the next week.

so one more question to the engine crowd again. are there any mods you would do to the motor? i just want kind of a stocker. if i put a monster in there i will have someone build it for me. so I am thinking just leave it how it is. But if there are any minor easy things you would do while its all out please give me your oppinions.

thanks !!!!!

 

Only thing I would say is maybe a little cam upgrade but you have it all basically together now so I would just leave it as it is..I would recommend doing a bench cleaning of your injectors if you haven't done so already..I watched a YouTube video of a guy using a syringe to simulate fuel pressure with some sea foam in it and a 9 volt battery to trigger the injector..works pretty good in my opinion..did it on my sons truck.

 

thanks Timmy! yeah I actually did a very mild cam. and yes I did clean out the injectors. sounds like I am on the right track. this has been a real fun ride learning a few engine tricks. I have never done this before. thanks so much for all the help!! I love the internet and these forums for stuff like this. makes it fun to learn when there is a whole group of people out there that share the same passions you do.

 

That is for sure Ken! lol..this site and the folks here have been my savior on more than one occasion..
Looking good man..and yep,sounds like you are def on the right track.

 

well...lately it seems im working on my heater more than working on my car! sort of pissing me off. I think it is on its death bed. I hope it lasts just a little longer so i can work on my car till the warm weather comes. I did get the valve covers done so i thought i would post a pic without those ugly yellow covers on finaly.

 

looking good, I hope the paint holds up on the block and heads.

 

yeah you and me both! hehehe, naw it should be fine. ive done this before and it holds up nice. I hope to be driving this in the spring, so we will keep an eye on it. Ill keep you posted and how it looks. here is kind of a mock up of it. still waiting for some parts as you can see.

 

Dang Ken! That is purdy! You going with some thermal coated headers to complement that sexy engine and engine bay?

 

id love to put headers on her. still dont know which ones to get tho. ive been reading a ton on this forum for this motor, learning so much. Its hard to decide on what to put on there, like what will fit nice, maybe what will fit easiest?? I dont know. maybe ill get some peeps giving some ideas for me??

 

lol...there is a ton of conflict on that subject...theres a hundred opinions on which headers are the best for these cars..I can only tell you what I know personally...my black GTA had hooker 2460's and y-pipe..I had no issues with them other than putting collector gaskets in them was a pain in the rear...they fit nice,didn't rub anywhere and was able to bolt them up to my flowmaster catback by myself in my garage..

 

yes your right about that. i've read a lot, and boy it all depends on a lot of what evers. i'm tempted to just throw the stock exhaust back on. I did get my mounting bracket for the other side of the motor today! yeah!! so I am going to paint a few more items and try to throw this together this weekend. if I am lucky maybe I will get it in the car. I really want to get this running again so I can work on the body work.

 

Here are a few more pics. Im a little closer, still fighting my little heater. This summer is a must to get my furnace up and going. Its a pain dealing with the cold. I think i have most my parts now. I am getting the trans ready to bolt up to the motor. I have some questions there also.

 

Alright, i got some pics of my clutch situation. Here are my questions: this was fairly new when i put it behind the 305. The 305 leaked everywhere there was a seal! and it leaked bad. So as you can see, oil seems to have gone thru my clutch prety good. Tward the end of the 305's days the clutch would slip a little at take off, im wondering if it was due to the oil going thru the clutch. My question is, what to do? so i need to surface the flywheel? buy a new clutch? can i just clean it all up? here are some pics of the situation at hand.

 

a few more pics

 

Flywheel looks like it got a little warm Ken..def need to see if you can have it turned..and try maybe cleaning up the clutch with some brake cleaner..

 

K, thanks Timmy! yeah this is all new territory for me. Ill try the brake clean on the clutch and have the flywheel turned if I can. Maybe see how much a new clutch is too, if its not bad maybe ill just replace it.

Ken

 

Looking good. I'm at the beginning or a all out rebuild on my 86 IROC. will keep watching.

 

thank you! yeah its coming slowly. the winter time isnt helping, but im realy wanting to get her running for spring. im hoping to put the motor in this weekend. cross your fingers for the wiring! after i get life into her i will be back into my comfort zone.

Ken

 

irocMB.. do you have a build thread started? would be fun to see yours being put back together as well.

 

Well I really wanted to get the motor in this weekend! looks like the fly wheel got so hot with my rear main leaking I basicy hardend the dam* thing!! so i have to wait for a new clutch and flywheel to show up. The motor is almost all put together, and im eyeing my wire harnesses. This is going to be interesting. Im seeing some big differences between the 85 and 89's. luckily I have both and am hoping I can make it work between them.

Ken