I did the swap in my 96 Camaro. I bought a fully rebuilt tranny from Six Speeds Inc (no longer in business) for $2000, so I didn't need a core. My total cost came out to around $3500, but I used a lot of new parts that you could find used. I did all the work myself, and it was very easy (it was my first time pulling a tranny too). Just do a lot of research and reading like I did, and you shouldn't have any problems.