Tom P's '89 Camaro's 2.8/2.8 Swap: Pictures
 

Hi!  As promised, here's the pictures of the 2.8/2.8 swap I did for my friend (also named "Tom"), in his '89 Camaro.  John, another one of our friends, also helped out- but was never around when I had my camera!

Tom's 2.8 motor froze due to a cracked oil pan.  He found another 2.8 V6 (from 1986) for only $100, and stripped it down to a short block.  We changed the head gaskets and timing chain, and put the block back together.  Then, we stripped the Camaro down, pulled out the frozen engine, and swapped the "new" 2.8 in.  The swap was done in March 2001, and took us three weekends (Saturday & Sunday morning), with a weekday or two thrown in.  I think the swap took another $150 of additional parts, such as head gaskets, timing chain, vacuum lines, thermostat, oil pan gasket, etc... definately a "budget" swap!

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Sorry there aren't more pictures; I intended to take shots of every single little detail, but once we got rolling, the camera was forgotton!  I'll start working on getting my "daily swap logs" online.  But, for now, you can find the original messages at  http://www.thirdgen.org .  Here they are:

  http://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/Forum16/HTML/001194.html        "2.8/2.8 Swap Update, work as of 3/11/2001 ... "

  http://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/Forum16/HTML/001226.html        "2.8/2.8 Swap Update, work as of 3/18/2001 ... "

  http://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/Forum16/HTML/001300.html        "2.8/2.8 Swap Update, work as of 3/26/2001 ... It's IN!"

  http://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/Forum16/HTML/001381.html        "It's Alive!  The 2.8 is In and Running!"

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The 1986 2.8, disassembled to a short block
My friend Tom with one-headed 2.8
Myself (Tom), 2.8 with both heads
The 1986 2.8, stripped to a short block.  All the gasket areas were scraped, the heads are about to go back on. My friend Tom, after we got one of the heads back on. Me, after both of the heads are on

 
Now the intake manifold's on...
The '89 Camaro right before the pull
Tom's pulling the frozen 2.8
The 2.8 by itself, now wearing an intake manifold.  Next, we put the timing chain, front cover, and water pump on.  Then, we started to take the Camaro apart. Tom's '89 Camaro, right before pulling the frozen 2.8 out.  I almost forgot to take this picture!  Notice the injection, accessories, a/c system, and radiator have been pulled to make life easier. Here's Tom lifting the frozen 2.8 out.  Notice the torque convertor is still on the engine.  Yep, that's my Firebird in the background...

 
Me (TomP), with both 2.8 motors
The 1986 2.8 goes into the '86 Camaro
My girlfriend Tina helping us out
Here I am with both engines.  Check out the rag plugging the torque convertor on the frozen 2.8, and how "hot" the good 2.8 looks with Tom's paint job! Tom, dropping the good 2.8 into his '89 Camaro.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the empty engine bay!  It would've shown the 700r4 transmission, propped up on a hydraulic floor jack. My EX-girlfriend even helped us out!  Here, she's tightening the engine's ground bolt, while Tom works on the tensioner brackets, and I try to figure out how to rebuild the vacuum lines.  John's off to the side, working on the previous owner's "hack job" of the engine's wiring harness. Someone remind me to edit her out of this picture.

 
The 2.8's installed!
Tom, Tom, and a running Camaro!
We're finished!  It works!!  We'll drink to that!
The 1986 2.8 V6 all hooked up and "finished", after it's initial run.  Notice the red heater hose on top, used to replace the plastic TB-to-intake-to-PCV vacuum line. TomP (left) & Tom, after the last night of putting the Camaro back together. The "celebration" shot- Hey, we're done- and it runs!
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