2.8 to 3.4 or 3.1 in 86 Firebird

[86blackbird]

Hello all i am new to the forum here. I just inherited an 86 Firebird from my father and it is cursed with a 2.8. The car only has 99K miles on it and what im curious about is will the powerplants from the 95 and up firebirds and camaro's work with it? I want more power out of it and want to be different so im keeping the V6 config. I have read into using a 3800 supercharged engine but would run into too much crap in the swap. So will my PCM run a DIS? It's the factory pcm. If so will my stock tranny bolt to a 3.4 or 3.1? Or can i use the heads off a 3.4 or 3.1 to juice up the 2.8 a bit. I have read that using a fiero camshaft adds a nice punch in power. Been all over and found this forum where hopefully i can get the answers i need. The car is in extremely good condition and since its a memorial to my dad, id like to make it a sleeper with a 6. I can take a few pics and post 'em if requested. Its been a garage baby most of its life.

[86blackbird]

I would also like to add in that most of the search results generally pertain to FWD cars and mine being RWD and older, i would like some knowlegable input on the idea of changing engines. If i could get a 3.4 to work in there that would be a real nice leap in power as theres really not too much that can be done with the old 2.8 that i am aware of unless someone has some input on that as well.

[neo71665]

Its gonna be similar to swapping a 3.4 into a s-10. Useless to swap RWD heads to try to gain power, all 86+ ones are the same.

Just use the 3.4 and put your intake and accessory drives on it and it'll bolt right in.

[86blackbird]

hey thanks man. I like the idea of using the 2.8 intake and all who would know its a 3.4 under there plus the power gains from it would be substantial. Now i have heard that the old tarantula 2.8 intakes which is what is on mine flow better than a stock 3.4 intake. Not sure on that one. But i have seen aftermarket performance camshafts for the 3.4 that give it a nice shot in the arm. I'm glad to hear that it will not be a huge adventure in doing the swap. I am open to any advice to wring more power out of it as well. I have read about using 96 grandam GT 3.1 heads on the 3.4 as well as the intake and injectors from said engine really wake it up. Another article made mention of using "3400" stuff from 99 and up FWD cars can generate 200 HP out of the RWD 3.4. This interests me but would i need to use different pushrods due to the head change? Also i am wondering which head gaskets i will need in considering it. I will be installing a performance cam as well. Let me know what you all think