3.4 in a 86 blazer

[Classiclunatic]

Alright im new to this sight, Ive been looking around here searching for a few hours for the info I need. I have found a lot of info about the swap im planning but I still need more and cant seem to find the answers in other posts.

I have an 86 s10 blazer with a trashed 2.8 in it and a 700r4. I have access to a junk yard full of 90-98 model front drive gm cars and some trucks, but very few rwd cars. And zero 93-95 3.4 camaro's. The thing is, before I go any further with this post, I can get an engine out of one of these junk yard cars extremely cheep. At the highest price maybe 300 bucks if i just dont take any of the brackets and odds and ends off the engine when I take it out of the car (its a pull it yourself place).

I have read about the fwd engines being different as far as starter locations, and motor mount holes not being there. I dont think that any of that is going to be a problem for my application.

What I need to know is:

Which vehicle should I look at for the best possible doner if another s10, or a camaro is out of the question?

Can I get a 3.4 out of a fwd car thats going to allow me to keep my blazers factory injection system and computer? Also need to be able to bolt my oil pan to it if at all possible. If so what makes and models am I looking at?

I see this as an oportunity to upgrade from the tired 2.8 to a 3.4 and not spend a fortune. I dont mind doing a ton of work to save the money it would cost tracking down a 3.4 from a 93-95 camaro, around here that engine is going to cost a huge amount of money. There just arent any of them around here that dont get rebuilt when they blow up.

I guess I just need an answer to my questions thats going to put my mind to rest. I dont want to put another v8 in an s10, and id kinda like to do something different anyway.

Keep in mind at the junk yard im talking about I could in theory swap and trade heads and intakes off anything i wanted onto the motor im buying before I actually buy it. The people running it just dont care cus they like me. Just from what ive read alluminum heads are out of the question with my current fuel injection set up, and swapping computers and wiring harness just doesnt seem appealing to me. The junk yard guys also seem to think that stuffs worth a fortune too, go figure.

Thanks guys for any help you can give, and I am sorry if i missed the answers to my questions in some other thread, I did look around alot before making a thread.

[bszopi]

If you want/need to keep your FI setup, then you need an iron head motor, period. There was never a aluminum head engine with a carb and distributor setup, so unless you custom fabricate an intake for the heads, you are stuck with iron heads. This then basically limits you to RWD engines, or pre-88 (??) FWD engines. And as far as the oil pan, it will be incompatible with any of the 3x00 engines (basically anything 94+), as the bolt locations are different and the newer pans also have provisions for side bolts that go into the main bearing carriers (a 4-bolt main type setup).

[geoffinbc]

Well since you are so limited in choice you might consider grabbing a 3.1L crank (which includes 3100 and 3400 engines of any year) and slapping it into your 2.8L which you could freshen up with just a new set of bearings and pistons. If you can afford some machine work you could give it a .040 over bore and squeeze a few more cubes out of it. This combo would yield a 3.2L and the same power as a 3.4L

[Classiclunatic]

I could get a 3.1 crank pretty easy, and very cheep. What rod, main bearings would i need? getting the engine bored would end up costing pretty heavy since I would have to have an entire gasket set and a set of pistons..wouldnt I need the rods out of the 3.1 as well, or am I thinking about this wrong? If its just a crank, It could be slipped in without fully ripping the motor apart.

[geoffinbc]

Just the crank and the matching 3.1L RWD pistons. That's all the rods and bearings are the same.