My sister is selling her 95 Camaro V6 for $500, motor is trashed i believe. Exterior is decent and interior is pretty nice. I was wondering if buying this car and starting this project would be a bad idea. Im tired of messing around with my daily driver, this is the only car i got and would definetly love to have a weekend only car.

Any resources on a swap like this, im searching the forums and finding some stuff but if you guys got anymore info i'll be glad to hear it.

Overall, bad idea or cool idea?

-Robert

 

Nothing bad about it - but nothing cool IMO.... The more you read, the more you will be persuaded to starting with a V8 car...

 

If you could find a used combo LT1/T56 it would probably be worth it. The problem is with all the money you will end up spending you could probably have just bought one that was already a V8. You can pick them up for 6-7 grand in good condition.

 

for 500 bucks the donor car is worth it. you can build a nice lt1/t56 and swap it in.

if your competent it should be a straight forward swap as long as all the parts are there. unless ofcourse you dont have the mechanical know how then buying a v8 car will obviously be easier.

other option would be to drop in a ls1, LOL

 

You will NEVER be able to get your money of it if you decided to sell it. (and chances are you will)
It will be worth significantly less than a normal Z and these can already be bought for a cheeseburger and a coke.

After it's said and done, you will also end up investing more than if you bought a Z28. Sure you may get an engine/tranny package for $1500 or so, but when all the little things add up, you will be looking at twice that number, at least + all the work involved.

 

It will end up costing more money to do the swap then you think it will. Even if you get a good price on a engin and tranny, you will still have to by little things here and there and they add up. You'll be $4-5k into the car by the time the swap is done, and that's if you get good deals on the parts. With $5k you can easily get a Z28.

 

I agree, I almost did a swap like that in my firebird, but once I realized the cost and hassle I just opted for the car I'd always wanted anyway back in the day, a Red 95 (OBD I and vented opti from the factory) 6 speed T topped Trans am, so thats what I went looking for and ended up getting instead.

 

Unless you already own the LT1 and the ancillary parts, you're better off getting a Motown engine.

 

Ya, if you ditched the lt1 and just went with a real basic 350 based carb motor and th350 tranny with a 12 bolt, you could make that car really move.

i dont see why you couldnt get out of it for fairly cheap that way, i just saw a complete 350 with some good heads and a cam go for 750 and about 400 for good th350's. throw in 1000+ for a 12 bolt and your at around 2150 + 500 for the car. throw in 1000 for misc stuff (headers, wiring, ignition, alternator, etc) and you've got yourself a real race car. you'd be around 3650, which i dont think is too bad.

-James

 

When you say Trashed??? If you can get it for $500.00 and use it as a project car to put it in good working order and turn around and make a couple of grand, you can use your profit to pick up a Z28 in good conditon.

On the one hand you learn stuff and on the other hand you make a profit.

Since it is a 6 banger, there may be a good market for it by those teens who can't afford the insurance on a V8.

That's a lot more than you can usually get for $500 these days.

Besides, you can always buy the car on the contingency that you get it fixed a resell it, since if she cant sell it, she owns it.JMHO

 

Another vote against the swap.

 

do the swap

You can have a z28 clone for around 2500 which is waaaaaay cheaper than 6-7 grand for a z28. I wish i had paid only 500 for my sixer. I jsut bought a wrecked z28 with all teh drivetrain for 2000 and just finished swapping it into my sixer and it roars.

Buy the car for 500, Buy a wrecked z for about 2-2500 and ahve a perfect car. and with teh 3-4 grand you save you can put in some upgraded suspension parts and spend it on the gas you'll be needing :P

Go with the swap, there is absolutely no reason why anyone should be telling you to not do it. I did the entire swap in 2 days with NO EXPERIENCE. Aside from doing some small suspension stuff i had no experience and was able to complete the task with just 1 friend helping my line up the k member. Its really simple to do, just take your time and research it. If you decide to go through with it, you can email me and i'd be glad to help you with it all, as in just 5 months time i've gone from never rtaking an engine apart to building them up for a job.

 

That is so untrue, i bought my entire z28 that was wrecked for 2 grand and it had every single part that i needed. Of course the person started parting it out, but if you get one thats not parted yet, then thats still money in your pocket from all the **** you can sell off it.

 

I like this swap...would be cheaper in the long run...and easier to do...with no wiring headaches...well not as many at least...also you can have whatever the hell you want...

 

just buy my 96 formy with a t56 for 3grand youll be happy.

but seriously dont do it not worth it.