Hey guys, I'm starting a new job soon so I'll finally have enough money to go where I want to with my car. I have a few questions about mods, and I would search and get the answers individually, but this is mainly going to be a "how much would I get with ___", and "what would work best", so they're kind of specific-to-me-questions.

Now for a quick rundown: I bought my car alittle under a year ago from a friend of the family. He was a early-mid 60 year old man who used it as his daily driver and it was his only car for about 7-8 years I'd say. Its a 3.4 with 164,000 miles. NEVER raced, daily driven probably 85% highway, 10% backroads, 5% city. Body is in great shape, interior is almost spotless (normal defects for a 1995). I picked it up for 1000$. I was fine with the 3.4 until my stepbrother got a modified '87 Mustang 5.0 GT, which can absolutely destroy my ***. I was planning on doing SOMETHING before he got it, I just hadn't decided on what I was going to do.

Well, now I've made up my mind. Keep in mind this is going to be one of those ULTIMATE wishlists, I won't be going out and getting everything tomorrow. I'll be picking it up slowly and living on ebay/the for sale sections for some good deals and make the car slowly come together.

What I mainly want to do is do as much as possible with the 6 still in, then get a LT1, and stroke it out to 383 with low compression internals and some form of FI. Sorry for this incredibly long post, I'm almost done.

#1: Appearance. My first project will be appearance mods. I would like to convert my appearance into a 93-97 SS, getting the hood, spolier,and chrome 10-spoke SS rims. Then a Wings West body kit. What SS hood would you guys recommend, the fiberglass replicas, or a real one? Why? What would you say about a body kit, any suggestions, problems you've had, etc. If I were to get a body kit, could my car also be lowered and still be "daily drivable" (speed bumps, etc) or would it even look right lowered with a body kit on it? I was thinking only like a 1" drop, nothing major.

#2 Suspension. If I were to go with the lowering springs, would the V8 springs fit with the V6, and work until I can get the V8 in there? What lowering springs would you guys recommend, out of experience? I've pretty much heard Eibach thrown around alot, but I'm not sure on their quality. Now onto shocks, what shocks would you guys recommend? Just regular Bilstein HDs, or should I get something specific for a lowered car? I plan on getting SFCs and a Strut Tower Brace installed, would both of those work (more of a question aimed at the STB) in both a V6 and V8? Which brand would you guys recommend, out of experience?

#3 Exhaust. Ideally, I would love to get GMMG with oval tips. I'm prepared to drop the large amount of money for it, because I've fallen in love with it. I've heard that you can get V8 exhaust like flowmaster, loudmouth, etc built for the V8s and put them on the V6's using a S pipe. Would this be the same for the GMMG, and would it sound anything remotely close to good?

#4 Driveline. How strong would an alum. driveshaft from a newer SS be, how much power have yours taken? I'm defiently going to upgrade mine, I'm just not sure how far I need to go with it. Also, to convert the back into 4-wheel disc brakes, instead of discs on the front and drumbs on the rear, would a newer (2000) SS rear fit back there, or would it need alot of custom work done?

#5 Engine. The good stuff. Since I'll be doing this spread out, money won't be as much of a problem. Ideally, I would like to go the FI route with the 383 and low compression internals. From experience (not necessarily from 383-only guys, I'd like to hear your opinions too, 350s) what would fit better in a daily driven application, Tubro or Supercharger? What brand would you recommend? I've heard Vortech thrown around alot, but I've also heard of ATI. With the engine work done, what kind of boost numbers would you think I could run, and total how much power would you guys think I'd be pushing? Also, before I forget, how agressive can I go with a cam for street driving?

Don't worry guys, I promise I'm almost done. I'd like to hear your opinions, and I welcome a "I wouldn't do this, ___" if it has an alternative. I have my heart set on some form of engine swap mainly because this is a hobby I want to get into more, and this is something I'd like to do. I have 2 mechanic friends, a mechanic aquatiance, and some car-crazy friends so I won't be going into this alone. Gas milage won't be that big of a deal, for the power its a hit I can take (as long as I won't be getting like 2 city, 4 highway). Anyway, thanks in advance to whoever took the time to read this..yeah, I've been meaning to do it for awhile and everything just kind of piled up.

Cliff notes: My cars getting a make over, what brands have you used and you would recommend, how much power would a 383 low compression with FI be pushing and would it be street drivable. Alternatives. Thanks.

 

That is a very ambitious plan. However, I think for the money it would cost to transform your car to a clone SS, you could trade in your car on an older REAL LS1 SS and have most of what you want to start with. It would be several years newer, have all the suspension, brakes, driveline, hood, spoiler, wheels and tires that you plan to purchase. You could add a body kit, if you choose. You could put long tubes, heads and a cam on the LS1 and hang with all but the most hardcore LT1 383s. Do a search on v6 to v8 conversions and you will find alot of info on what is involved. There is alot. Wiring harnesses, ECM, plus all the stuff you mentioned and even more neither of us thought about here. People have done it.

Make a list of all the stuff that you will need to buy. Then go to the sponsor sites on here and put a price next to each item. When you are done, total it up. Then go to autotrader.com and do a search for 98 and newer v8 Camaros. you will see what I am talking about.

Good Luck with your project,

Just saw this thread http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=333647

PJ

 

I did that totaling thing a month or two back, and it came to alittle under 6000$, overpricing the exhaust and hood/spoiler, and about 4500$ for the engine work. I would really like to have "instant gratification", I guess, with modifying my car. It would also be easier to stay on track doing little by little, make things alittle easier to see thru.

I'm also considering is selling this and getting a LS1 TA WS6, LT1 SS, 94-96 Cobra, 87-93 Fox Body, or wait alittle bit and grab a Supra. I'm still in the very early stages of figuring out what to do, so I guess I'm just wondering what everyones opinion on each route would be.

After re-reading your post, I'm not sure if my post came off as a clone SS post. I really don't care about completely converting it into an SS, the only things will be the hood/spoiler. Everything else would just be high performance...so my goal isn't to convert it into an SS, just have the same kind of styling.

 

I understood that a clone was not your goal. I was just suggesting that would be what you would end up with. I just edited my previous post with a link to a v6-v8 post that is currently active. Since you haven't really committed to anything, take your time and decide what is best for your situation.

Here is what $1000 less than your estimated cost so far will get you

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...p=y&cardist=60

PJ

 

Oops, I said that wrong. 6000$ total, giving it 4000$ for the engine work, 2000$ for everything remaining. I wasn't sure how much the suspension mods would cost, but I've been seeing wrecked LT1s going for 2500$, which would give me some more room.

Edit: after making another list, I came to around 7000$. I probably couldn't get an LS1 for that cheap, but I might end up just saving my money...or getting a loan and grabbing a 16k Supra or something. Right now there's just so many directions I can go in.