I have a 1995 Camaro 3.4 5 speed wrecked.
I bought it for $300 bucks, would it be best to fix or just buy another camaro 3.4 auto and do the swap.

 

Why would you want the weaker 5 speed if you can pick up an auto?Yet again,the fable that the manual is better prevades modern thinking.The auto tranny will withstand higher HP applications and get you quicker ET's down the 1/4 mile.The manual will get you slower ET's but higher MPH.The manual also usually has a better highway gear so you get better top end on the interstate.Anyway,my vote is to get the car with the auto,you'll be quicker Also get a stall converter in there and you'll be faster Back to the original question,how bad is the car wrecked?Is it frame or only body damage?Any pics?To do a tranny swap will take a lot of effort even if you have a donor car.Good luck.
Kevin

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1998 Black Z28 A4
-------1/8-------
8.584 @ 83.64 MPH
Pics
Camaro/Firebird Birthday Bash

[This message has been edited by nikkev (edited August 23, 2002).]

 

Thanks for your reply. I just like to shift my own gears i also find it more fun to drive a car that has a stick shift. About the wrecked car i dont think it's that bad, it's just body work that needs to be done. It needs a front clip, rear quarter panel,two front fenders, steering gear. That's about it. I'll try to get pictures of the car if i can.

 

hey nikkev i have a stock '96 firebird automatic...are you saying that it's faster than the stock manual version of my car? or are you saying that automatics are better after upgrades? also, whatever the case is, why do you say they are better?

 

http://web.camaross.com/bb/Forum14/HTML/012875.html that post will probably explain the auto vs manual thing pretty good

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Red '95 camaro. 3.4l M5
Crane compucam2030 K&N FIPK. Flowmaster catback. Hurst billet plus shifter. ASP crank pulley. !cat !egr !air TB bypass. 1pc. D/S. Taylor wires. Fan switch mod. urethane Tranny mount & TQ arm bushing.
Red painted interior and brakes. Tint. Flat black rear "camaro" panel
Alpine cda7863
Planet Audio 6 1/2 components.
mtx thunder 102
16.37@84mph<==1st time at the track
here she is

 

Hehe,I just read through that long and somewhat heated debate link posted above.What I am saying is that if you have a manual you will dyno higher numbers and usually have a higher top speed.You will also have a higher trap speed in the 1/4 mile 9 times out of 10.However,! if you run an auto and a manual at the track all things being equal as far as HP goes,the auto will get to the finish line first,9 times out of 10.Say you take your 3.8 and run a 15.1 @ 90 mph with an auto tranny.Now,magically snap your fingers and you have a manual tranny.You might ruun say a 15.3 @ 92 mph.That's simply the way drag racing works.A lot of manual guys hate to admit it,but us autos are faster at the track.Later.
Kevin

PS
Those numbers were made up,I have no idea what a 15 sec run would be mph wise.

Edit: Here's an example I posted in the other thread;
Anyway,the auto's usually are faster at the track and between 2 equally hp'd cars,the auto will have the lower ET.Why?If you look at hp numbers you always want to look at trap speed and not ET.That's because ET can be affected by a lot of little things.So an auto (mine for example) may run a 8.5 @ 83 mph while a friend's M6 with almost the same dyno numbers (My 275 to his 273) runs an 8.8 @ 84mph.I have yet to see a perfect shift out of anyone and I spent that past 7 months at the track every Friday night.You might get more HP to the ground on a manual but the auto uses it better

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1998 Black Z28 A4
-------1/8-------
8.548 @ 83.64 MPH
Pics
Camaro/Firebird Birthday Bash

[This message has been edited by nikkev (edited August 27, 2002).]