I have an 1981 firebird with a small block chevy in it I want to change it to a 350 pontiac motor....what kind

Question

k changing engines had a chevy 350 putting in a pontiac 350 and the motor mounts won't work because the engine sits about 4 inches too high anyone know what motor mounts I need or how to go about getting this engine sitting down in the car so the hood can go back on ? Any help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

You need motor mounts for a Trans Am with a 400 in it.  You can get that at the auto parts store.  You'll also need the Trans Am engine brackets (the part you can't get at the store).  That might be the reason your engine is sitting so high.

Answer 2

Get the motor mounts for the Trans am and the frame mounts for the same car. The bosses in the side of the block should be the 3 bolt type because that is what the older 78 &79 TAs had. Honestly, the 350 Pontiac engine like my Pontiac 350 are harder to build to make good power than the small block Chevy motors unless its a 305. There are alot of upgrades that will just bolt onto the chevy to make big power. Some of the Pontiac 350s will not accept the large valve heads with the 2.11 & 1.77 valves because the bores are too small. You also cannot put a large lift cam with 1.65 rocker arms because of pushrod clearance issues. read up at the sites like

http://www.firstgenfirebird.org/

http://www.classicfirebird.com/

http://www.outlawpontiacs.com/main.php

http://www.sdperformance.com/

http://www.pontiacserver.com/

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginem...

with the last link being a 640 horse Pontiac 350.

Answer 3

i don't know why you would put a pontiac 350 in it. you have to mod. the motor mounts. unless you have money and time into the pontiac 350 i would build the chevy. parts are cheap and a dime a dozen.  

Answer 4

There are plenty of aftermarket suppliers that have what you need. Year One comes directly to mind. The mounts from any '70-'81 Firebird that had a Pontiac V8 should work except maybe the 301 engine. The others are all the same on the outside.

Good luck and have fun with it when it's finished.

Answer 5

The 350 Pontiac engines that I know of from possibly 1970 on, and especially the 1977 and ups were the same except for maybe intake manifold height, carb or air cleaner style.