Hey guys. My friend is parting out his 91 caprice 305 tbi and I'm gonna buy the whole car since the front end is kinda messed up. He wants 450 for it so Im jumping on it. I wanted to know if everything from the engine will work in my car. I wanna get ride of my 6 and this is the way to do it. would the radiator work,tranny,etc... please guys if you can help me out that would be great. thanxs.

 

What kind of car do you have?

 

I have an 88 SC with the 2.8 mpfi. will it work?? and later I plan to change the tbi (if the engine swap works) to a TPI.

 

save your $$$, you can get an L98 off ebay for the same price or less

 

I say buy the car...

Sure you can get a motor off e-bay.. but will it already have everything this car has on it now? Besides... it will still have to be shipped!

The problem with your car, is that you have to decide now if you want to remove your computer, or try to adapt the computer set-up from another thirdgen to work with your car....

You could try using the computer set-up from the Caprice, but I'd suggest getting parts from a junkyard f-body first.. for compatibility sake.

Yes, that 305 in the Caprice (is it TPI or TBI?) will bolt directly into your car.. and the Transmission will TOO.

Things you will need after getting this motor..

1) New driveshaft
2) New computer

The radiator should fit just find, but you'll need new brackets.. etc...

If you have the place to keep the car, then get it.

Todd

 

The Caprice transmission will not have provision for the torque arm mount. And, your V6 transmission will not help any.

You'll also be short all of the parts that are different between the V6 and V8 3rd gens that make the engine work. Many, many trips to the junk yard - in fact, the best way to do this is with a complete 3rd gen factory V8 donor car (even if you don't use the engine).

The driveshaft is one thing that WILL work from the V6 car...

Best route of all is to sell you V6 car and buy a factory V8 car. You'll be $'s ahead doing it that way.

Obviously, I'm $'s behind because of what I did (and I had a running V8 donor car).

 

Thanks guys. Now comes the hardest part... deciding what to do buy the car or get one off ebay and saving trips to the junkyard. Damn I thought i had it in the clear. and I dont wanna sell my car. So i guess back to the drawing board. oh 82-T/A its a tbi and I wanna change it over to TPI.

 

Get the Caprice!!!!!!!!!!! If the motor runs in the car it is a great deal. You do not need the F-body computer. You can pull the harness, ECM, and all the sensors from the caprice. I have done many TPI and TBI swaps. Here are the big items you will need for starters.
Radiator hoses
Trans cooler lines(maybe able to salvage your old ones)
The rear 700r4 tail housing of an f-body ( I picked one up for 50)
Fuel lines ( I have done may succesfull inline setups for 400HP motors for 100 or less).

Do not let these guys scare you. To be honest not many people are going to buy a 2.8 f-body, so you would bite the bullet on that and then have to buy a V8 car. Your ahead buying the Caprice 450 plus another 200-300 and you will have a fine running v8 car for the price of a good stock SHORT BLOCK 350.

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

 

And don't let Dave and his type fool you by over-simplifying it.

If you really like the car, then the economics aren't as important. The Caprice will give you only some of the parts, though - you'll still need a lot more than Dave has in his list. I don't know this for a fact, but I seriously doubt the engine harness from the Caprice will fit in the Camaro, for instance. You can be sure the engine mounts and exhaust won't. I assume you also have emissions inspection/testing, so whatever you do has to be emissions-legal. And, it is only a 305 - if it was a 350, then it'd be a great deal.

Make sure you understand what you're up against before you dive into this.

 

Well being the fool type I am I know for a fact the ECM and harness will transfer over and be emissions legal. As far as the exhaust goes he just needs to retain the exhaust manifolds on the Caprice motor. The half of the engine mount that bolts to the k-memeber will have to be purchased. They are approximately a whopping 20 dollars brand new from the dealer. If you would like to know how I know what I know..... It is because I have done this swap twice now.....oh and a BS in mechanical engineering doesn't hurt either. If you would like to check my facts on the ECM side of things go to Autozone.com and compare the part numbers between the 305 caprice and camaro.

 

I'll accept the first-hand experience, but not the BS. I saw too many classmates, who couldn't find a spark plug if you gave them a map, get hired by GM. I had to settle for aerospace, myself.

If the Caprice engine harness from the ECM fits in a 3rd gen, bully. One less thing to worry about. The chassis harness from dash to rear was different between my '82 and '86 donor, which is more typical of GM than this case.I'll also grant that the V6 tranny may also be able to donate it's tail housing for the torque arm mount. And, I'm sure autozone.com is 100% reliable...

You're still over-simplifying. Radiator? Hoses? Throttle cables? Air cleaner? Tachometer? AC? Just replacing those cross-member half engine mounts is half a day's work. Exhaust isn't going to be cheap (and I hope you wouldn't suggest using any of the V6 stuff).

I'm not trying to scare anyone (or impress anybody, for that matter). But, making it sound like a walk in the park isn't fair, either.
Besides, it's still just a 305.

 

I think as far as the carpice goes I made a mistake and it is not a 91 its a 90. And for the exhaust i currently run a full catback system in my six from an 8. so im only worried about is hooking it up from the V8 exhaust manifold and back. As far as the other stuff the engine from the caprice comes with all of that ac,radiator,air cleaner,throttle cables etc.... I would like to know if i have to change my steering box or not??? and can I use the caprice spring,struts,and shocks??? if not thats cool i can get some anyway.

 

id keep the 6 over the 305. i had a LG4 305 and i was ashamed i had a v8. either keep saving to get a 350, or spend the money you were gonna use to buy the caprice and other parts to make it work, on a turbo for your 6(i think they are available for you 6 cylinder guys)........but i wouldnt mess with the 305, your just gonna wish you had a 350, and in due time your gonna swap out the 305 and drop in a 350. but its your car, your money, your time...do what you want. ohh just to let you know, i did the 305 to 350 swap, and it was NO walk in the park. i couldnt imagine doing a 6-8 swap unless i had another thirdgen v8 donor car on hand.....also my moms got a 86 305 caprice and i simi used her car to help me hook some wireing up in my 84 TA when i did my swap. wasnt much help cause alot of the stuff was differant.

 

You will need a 3rd gen y-pipe and cat. The Caprice stuff won't work. Sounds like a good excuse for some nice headers & y-pipe to me.

I haven't looked over a '90 Caprice in detail, but I seriously doubt the radiator will fit. If it does, another good situation. Front springs and struts - no way (V6 struts are the same a V8 struts, by the way).

Throttle cables - maybe. Air cleaner, probably too tall, but again, maybe. Steering box - no need to change, but the power steering pump brackets will need to come from the V8. You may need to get different hoses to go from the pump to steering gear. The AC may swap over (the engine mounted brackets shouldn't be a problem), but hose length and what not could be another issue.

Without a doubt, you'd be better off with a 3rd gen as a donor car. But, it can be made to work.

 

iv got 305 exhaust manifolds ill sell you cheap if you need them....well that is if i can get them off

 

The exhaust manifold off the caprice 305 wont fit or what??? cause if they do then I wont need them. But if they dont I'll think about ur offer fattie92.

 

crap i forgot that i broke the air tubes on them i think....ill have to look.

 

deimos, lemme know if you end up getting or not getting ther caprice for donor, whats left of the car as far as body parts ?? does it have 5 on 5 truck wheel pattern or the cvilian common 4 3/4 pattern hubs(8.5" axle and 12" brakes) ??
good luck

 

I have an 85 Camaro that had a v6 in it. I Just got done swapping in a 79 Caprice 305. Grand total in buying extra parts, around $200. I also put the th350 tranny that was with the 305 in. (swapped out a 700r4).
I had to buy a driveshaft (junkyard $50) and a fuel pressure regulator($80 from Summit). I used the v6 radiator (wired to a switch) and I bought the bracket for the torque arm mount. Moved the motor mounts, and used the stock air cleaner off of the Caprice. I didn't have any clearence problems with it. The exhaust manifolds from the Caprice did fit, but I ended up buying a set of headers and custom y-pipe. I used the tranny cooler lines from, I can't remember which one, but all I had to do was bend them a little. I went from multiport to carb. It took me some time to do this, but I learned a lot and it was worth it to me because I can say that I did that.

 

Hey fast68 I think they come in the 5x5 wheel. Im thinking of not getting it cause I'm investing in the CH-C headers,bigger injectors, and porting and polishing my intake manifold. But Fast68 if u wanna buy some parts from the guy with the caprice let me know man.