It is a long, long story whose details are unimportant at the moment. But my '96 T/A was stolen BY a local speed shop. The car was found, but stripped. My insurance company has after 8 months, finally come up with a figure they are offering.

I need some real general advice - what kind of money am I looking at to buy and install an LS motor an M6 tranny in this LT vehicle? I know there is a huge 'what are you missing' factor, but largest dollars... what kind of money do I NEED to buy a motor and tranny?

I am deciding whether I want to keep the hotrod I had intended to keep for the rest of my life or just walk away and buy a Corvette and be done with it.

I appreciate any numbers and advice
Mark
Houston, TX

 

the motor varies from $1500 on up depending on how hard you look for it and if you want to pay shipping across country, otherwise id ballpark it at 5-7 for both. about keeping the camaro vs getting the vette, well, what do you really want?

 

So $5-7K on the motor and tranny and to be safe double that to actually get it installed and all the other 'stuff' that will pop up on a car that hasn't been on the road for over 2 years. X 3 would probably be even better. So call it $20K to get it actually running and nowhere near the 450HP/torque range yet.

What do I really want? That is a much harder question. What I want is for this ordeal to be over with! I had this car in the shop for over 2 years. The first year I did a stroker, tranny swap, rear end, etc, etc, etc. Then I was waiting on Bret Bauer for a year (yes a whole year) to finish my custom intake and cam so I could put it all back together. Before he was done, the shop closed up and the guy stripped and sold off 8 vehicles.

The worst part is probably that the Sheriff won't arrest and prosecute him because of lack of evidence. Idiots.

 

I got this for ya. You can buy my vette for 3k and take the rest of the money and have it running 10s in no time.. lol.. but seriously you can get a high mileage lsx motor and tranny for around 2k (in pennsylvania), but for a low mileage one you are looking at 5k plus.. So its really up to you.. I work at a shop were all we deal with is gm products and such..