So I need to buy the 98 Camaro from my father. its a 98 a4 v6 Camaro with 97k on it. I figured why not take out a bigger loan and throw in a new engine and tranny. if I were to buy a new car, insurance would really be out there.

Im just wondering if getting a new 350, or a used one with low mileage with a 6 speed is smart. I dont know every little detail, but its been adding up in my head and there will be a lot of work involved. if I were to go through with this I was also looking into an LS2. whats everyones advice? have you or know people that have done this and could point me in the right direction?

 

Sell it and buy a Z. That, or buy it and buy a wrecked Z. The swap is cost prohibitive if you ask me....

 

werd... that's a lot of dough and a crap load of work. It can be done, but it'll probably be cheaper (and way easier) to just buy a Z28 in the first place. No matter what you decide, good luck to ya!

 

If you don't have donnor car to pick pieces off, you'll go broke in a hurry.

 

As a point of reference, I did some research and estimating, just replacing the LS1 with a brand new service LS6 crate engine was starting to look in the $8-10k range. Basically, about half of it was the engine itself, 1/4 for paying for labor, and 1/4 misc stuff.. There's a guy that documented his ls1->ls6 swap, and he ended up spending $8000 himself in the end (with a few extra upgrades along the way)

And this just swapping engines.. So figure an actual conversion V8 manual will be more costly and time consuming... If you do it yourself, you don't have to spend money on labor.. but time requirements may increase. You can save money getting used parts. but then they are used parts.

So I also vote for the route of just getting a Z28 to start with..

You'll probably hvae a harder time selling a converted v6 auto -> V8 manual.. Cause the first thing people will ask is, "why does it show up as a V6 on the Vin?", "what hassels do I have to go through for emission testing?", and finally "can I trust the work done?"

 

Or you can stop down to New Era Performance (thats in Roch, NY..[url]www.neweraperformanceparts.com) and talk to those guys and they can take you through the prices and what you are looking at.

Also I'm sure those guys wouldn't mind putting an STS turbo kit on your 6 and then you would see some solid 300+rwhp out of that car. It might run you 4 or 5K to get off the ground, rather then doing the swap.

Like stated before unless you can get your hands (litterly) a wreck Z to grap every part off of you are looking at some coin. But if you have a good bank then getting a fully built motor/tranny/rearend you will have alot of car on your hands.

 

I did the ls1 - ls6 swap in my Z28 and by the time I did a few upgrades, I had about $8000 in it. I bought the LS6 longblock and was able to transfer my ls1 accessories over to the ls6. If you're starting with a V6, you're going to spend WAAAAAY more than that if you go with a new ls6 longblock. If I had just done a longblock swap, I could have done the swap for around $6000 and then sold off the ls1 to make some of my money back.

You can see pics of my swap at the link in my sig.

 

There are a bunch of other things you get when you buy a Z28... it's not just a different engine and trans. The rear end has different gears, the suspension is different...

Unless you really want to do the project for the experience, and unless you can throw $10,000 at this project without blinking an eye, I wouldn't do it. Sell the V6 and buy a Z28.

 

Bbc Ftw!

 

Not worth it man, by the time you spend all that money and endure some headaches you'll wish you had traded it on a Z28. Your not only looking at drivetrain and suspension mods but electronics as well. Not to mention possible title and regestration issues.

 

Just a thought, why LS1? 3.8 Series II are awesome engines, and can be built very nicely

 

Not as nicely as LS1s can be built.

This coming from someone whose driveway contains a 3.8L turbo, a 3800 series I, and a 3800 series II in addition to an LS1. I love all of my cars, but the LS1 has by far the most potential.

 

I have an idea...

Give me your 787 rear end