Someone I play hockey with is going to cut his ties with his old firebird that has been now sitting for 5 years. Has the shaker hood, t-tops, discs all around, posi, however it's housing a very tired 301.

I thought he initially mentioned it was a trans am.

He said it'll need work, which I'm not afraid of.

What would be a good choice to drop in this car? Could the transmission already in there be used with a couple of different motors or would I want to change the whole thing?

My goal for this car would be something to take for weekend cruises and the occasional rip at the track. I would like a motor that has the potential to lay down some power to put it in the high 13s (or faster if there's the right combo to use)

If there are some good links for me to start with, please forward them.

Thanks fellas.

 

Bro, I am selling the engine in my Firebird. It has only a couple thousand miles. Let me know if you're interested.

 

I'd change the tranny as well if you're gonna change the motor. 350 (possibly bored out to 383 if you can do that) with a turbo350 tranny is probably your best bet as far as a budget build. you can get 400 and up but then you start getting into more money. another tranny option (especially if you have a killer rear end) is to put a 700R4 transmission so you have that overdrive gear when you're doing your weekend cruising. 200R4 is another option, albiet harder to get and probably more expensive. It has a steeper first gear though and is generally somewhat tougher than the 700R4. Nice thing about both of them is they aren't controlled by the ECM so you can straight swap them into it. So there's a few options to think about. I think regardless of the tranny you go with I'd go with a 350 because it's a good, solid motor that you can do a lot with w/o going too extravagant on the money side. Any more questions let me know i'm fixing up a 79 Camaro myself but i think i'm gonna go a little higher budget with it. I try to check this as much as i can but if you need an answer quickly then just PM me and i'll see it then. Good luck!

 

I'll certainly keep that in mind! I don't have the car yet and I'm trying to not get too excited incase it falls through. What kind of horsepower is that motor pushin?

 

The car is a little bit quicker then my LS1, and weighs a few hundred pounds more, but I've never dyno'd it. I'd conservatively guess 350hp, it also runs on 87 Octane.

If not mine, then I'd still build up a nice Pontiac for it, perhaps a 400 or even a 455. If you need a hand let me know. I may just sell the entire car whole depending on the offer I get.