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So here is the deal. 80’s smogger motor. 2.8 lt low power V6 engine. Anyone who has ever worked with these knows the problems plagued with this motor. I have been lucky to have a motor that has been rebuilt once.. so many of the problems with the engine have been resolved. Unfortunately, when the motor was rebuilt I did not own it at the time. My father did. I mentioned to him at the time to add some additional power to the engine. He didn’t do it at the time as he didn’t drive the truck much. I have since inherited the truck, as it’s been in my family since 83. I have taken the task to restore it. May #1 issue with the truck is the lack of drivability. I know adding a solid 50 HP to the engine will put it where I can enjoy driving it. I live in an area where mountains are the norm. and having this thing pull a hill is like asking a slug to go over salt. It’s just not going to happen with out being in 2nd gear running 3800 RPM. SO enough with the History lesson. When it comes to this truck, I’m leaning toward the purist side of me and want to keep it as original as possible. many say just dump a 305 in it. As much as I love V8’s, I want to retain the 2.8 for the restoration. so here are my thoughts. I know there is a better cam for the motor. along with a roller kit. Rockers and lifters. I would like to scrap the choking intake and exhaust manifolds. However smogger laws say I need to keep the Smog pump to pass. :S So that dumps that idea out the window. I also know I can install some flat top pistons in the engine. Just need to rebore to make them fit. I also know decking the block and heads should put me close to a 9.5 to a 10 on the compression. with the roller set up and extrude honing the heads I should get a decent flow. My main question is this. Based of what I have provided, does any one know what kind of power gain I could expect? Has anyone seen a set up like this? Does anyone have any advice on what I should do different or anything they think I should change? Is this going to net me the extra 50 HP I am looking for? Thanks.
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You’re going to spend way more money to make that anemic engine move better than a 350 swap would be. You would be emissions legal installing a newer model year 350 that didn’t have a smog pump because you have to conform to the equipment that came factory on THAT model year engine. You can’t throw an 83 model in a 94, but you can go the other way.
If you insist on the stock motor, GM makes a few parts for it and are nearly the only ones who do. GMPP did offer a cam or two and an intake. I’d advise you to throw an ODB-1 350 TBI in it and have a reliable truck with great power that would make you happy.
I do believe GMPP had a better manifold that still used the smog pump provisions. But its not going to to be cheap.
Yeah I’ve looked in to the V8 route and it’s just not cost effective. a basic conversion over to V8 is around 4K. With some of the additional research I have done, may end up going with the direct bolt in 3.4 crate GM has. It’s 160 HP which is where I wanted to be and is the same 60 degree engine as I have now, just stroked out a bit. I came across it monday and I am excited. Thank you for the reply though. If I ever decide to do another S10 It will be a 350 conversion. Again Thanks for the input.
you would be surprised where you can pull 50hp from. and its really not that much when your starting from stock… however fully modified, gaining an extra 50 hp becomes quite a chore. but there is a few things you can do outside of the motor. such as making sure the exuast is non-restrictive, a free flowing catalyct converter or true dual exhuast with an h-pipe or x-pipe to retain backpressure, deleting or changing pulley size on you accerories. you can grab an easy 20-30 hp just from that alone. be sure to adjust your thermostate if your altering pulleys though, a smaller pulley on the waterpump I think will cause it to pump less volume so a cooler thermostate would be a good follow up. these motors should only be in standard cab short box 2wd s10’s and even then its a crap shoot as to if they are satisfactory or not. also body wight can make a small difference. finding a cheap aluminum hood or fendors at a local swap meet or on a certain barter site could be useful. Remember the little things add up, even if they seem extreamly marginal. A spacer for the carb/throttle body may not add much as far as measurable horsepower, but it can alter the torque range quite a bit, making the engine feel more responsive and liven it up a tad. I am well in doubt that with your inital plans of a cam and bore and possibly an aftermarket intake/carb, along side these other “mods” will get you where you want to go. but horsepower is a drug and 50hp is never enough. it may make you happy for a week, or a month, maybe even a year…but eventually it will grow tiresome and you will want 100hp instead!
btw, the one in my avatar is an 87 and went from a stock 2.8 to an 89 2.8, and then to a 93 4.3 vortec out of a blazer… boy is it a fun little toy, yet mild enough on the pump!
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