hey guys i am about to start my swap. i have a 91 rs with a 305 tbi and am swapping a 355 with a weiand 6-71. me and my buddies have done swaps before but i was wondering if any of u "swap veterans" had ne helpful tips or tricks. thanks.

 

uh should bolt right in, dont worry it wont hook so the trans should be ok.
you will need to change the front springs, blower is heavy. whats you fuel system look like? puney 305 pump wont feed that engine. ever had a blower before? also the way the engine sits in there it will look silly, stock exhaust will choke the engine alot.

 

no i got a holley 170gph pump with a automotive regulator. two mighty demon 650s i got headers but the springs i havnt acounted for. this is my first blower motor. what would u suggest for the tranny? i plan on a turbo 400 and leaving the rear stock for now b/c it wont get traction ne way so there wont be ne stress on it. haha. its a street/strip car. mostly street
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o and what kind of springs would u suggest? and i was just gonna put some higher performance pads on the front brakes for now.

 

a turbo 400 should be ok, like you said, it wont hook lol
are those carbs supercharger carbs? they are diffrent. you will probably need springs for a big block, with a supercharger it will weigh about the same.
you are going to have a bitch of a time with the distributor, but i guess you will see that. is this a running engine that you bought?

 

yes the carbs are tuned specificaly for a blower. and no i built the motor. all forged and mechanical roller with a blower cam from comp. who makes springs for a 3rd gen like that?

 

im not shure, it will be kind of a guessing game, i would wait untill the engine is in and running, then weigh the front of the car and guess from that, or you can get moroso trick springs, they do have a bbc spring for a 3rd gen, its a drag spring though. mechanical roller, you are a glutton for punishment. since you built it do you have a small diamiter dist.? you will need one to clear the blower anyway, what ignition are you going to run? what percent drive are you running, over under? did you put a hub and second key in the crank? or at least a really good crank pulley bolt, and make shure it isnt bottomed? I really hope you have a good radiator, that thing will make some heat. You bit off a big chunk here lol

 

no i dont have a small diameter distributor. i dint know i needed one. and its a 12 percent underdrive nothing to serious. an engine builder put the crank and the pistons in. im not sure about they second key. it is a forged crank though. and like i said itll be a weekend car and wont get driven hard alot. and since the engine will be in vacum most of the time, the stock radiator with a 1 1/2 in hose will be fine so ive heard. i know its a real big chunk haha but it can be done! have u built one before?

 

havent botherd to put one in a 3rd gen, too damn heavy and look weird, you will see what i mean soon. underdriven it will probably be ok without a hub. In your best intrest leave it underdriven. and with a blown engine, there is no not driven hard. it takes more power to drive that damn blower than move the car at times. you can lay the intake on and put the dist in (just testing no need to time it or even have the heads on) and see if the blower fits. if it does you are ok, if it hits start pricing small diameter dist's
3rd gen cars are cooling challenged, thats why im a little concerned, what water pump are you planning on using, i would not use an electric or a stock pump for street use. use a good high flow unit, prefferably with balanced flow, sbc's usually have more coolant flow to one side

 

i got a high volume racing pump. its aluminum. i also have an aftermarket radiator in order. i called some people and they have used regular msd distributors behind a 671. i think if u go up to an 8 or 10 u need one. but this guy builds them for a living. he build a 911hp 364! whith no nitrous. but hopefully he is right. im putting it together tomorrow. do u recomend putting the blower on first or after its in the car? i was thinking after so its not so hevy and its less to deal with but i dunno.

 

I was guessing you might try an hei , msd fits fine though, glad to see you have some advice locally too. definitly put the huffer on later, also get a throttle cable meant for those things, or a morse cable(overkill) otherwise the throttle cable will break. good choice on the water pump. electrics arent good for street use, they dont move enough water. should be a fun car, and you will get to know the local law enforcement pretty well lol

 

haha thats true. my dad is dating the chief so im ok! haha. but it should be pretty fun. i cant decide to leave the 700r4 in till it breaks or go ahead and swap another in...

 

if you leave the 700 in it you will have a problem with the tv cable, you could get a constant pressure valve body, but why lol. the torque from that engine on a mild 700 will ruin it pretty quick, they make alot of power at low speeds and that is when a 700 has low line pressure and allows the clutches to slip, and it goes to hell from there, the overdrive would be nice though, a properly modified 700 might hold for awhile, otherwise i think a 400 or a stout 350 long tail (easy swap that way, just need a torque arm mount if you dont have a subframe mounted unit)

 

yea i was leaning towards the 400 b/c of overdrive. do 3rd gens take a long or short tail without replacing the shaft?

 

uh 400's dont have overdrive....and with a turbo 350 you would need a long (12 inch rings a bell they come in three lengths, you would need the really long one) tail, and a 400 has a diffrent output shaft, so you will need a new slip yoke at the minimum, at that point you might just want to look at a driveshaft anyway. if you wanted an overdrive that can hold it, a 4l80 would do it, but it is big and heavy, and expensive as far as i know, it is mostly a turbo 400 with an overdrive unit added to it, so alot of the parts are pretty good, uses quite a bit of power, though that shouldnt be a problem. what kind of hp are you thinking with this engine?

 

ook i thought wrong on the 400s. i have heard of the 4l80s but they are expensive. u need a stand alone control unit for it aswell. ok i guess i need to read up on the tranny output shafts. rnt 400s stronger? the heads on my motor have 220 runners so it will move quite a bit of air. 8.5:1 compression with 3 to 5 pounds of boost should put me over 500 possibly close to 600 so ive been told. have u used either tranny b4?
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o and would a th350 bolt right in without ne mods?

 

well

that has a turbo 350 in it, and about 900 hp going through it. i dont know how , or for how long it will last. with what you are looking at, i think a turbo 350 will work ok, and with the long tail will bolt right in , the only thing is the torque arm mount, if yours is still on the trans, i would reccommend an aftermarket bar that doesnt use that mount there are lots of them around, and thats another discussion entirely.also there is a non electronic 4l80.
but yes 4l80's are expensive and will need lots of other stuff to go with it. whatever trans you use, put the largest trans cooler you can fit in front of the radiator, and run the fluid lines so it uses the cooler in the radiator, and after it comes out of the radiator run it to the external cooler, then back to the trans. heat kills transmissions.oh if you get the long tail 350 the stock driveshaft works with it. I think you will have a fun car though

 

wow that thing is awesome. i found a used cooler but how much would a new trans cooler run? and i found out that much mods are needed for a th400.

 

a used cooler could have debris in it, that would get in new trans..not good. i would guess about 65 bucks for a good one, that is lage enough. like i was saying the 350 should hold up to a mild engine, you shouldnt be putting out 2000 hp yet so try it , they are reasonably priced too