New Project??

[thenuge876]

Hello All - Been a while since I have posted here, I sold my original T/A that was in my sig and have been looking for a 3rd gen camaro for my new project car. I am almost finished with school and will be doing a co-op at a nuclear power plant and have the money to find a project. Saw this one in NJ today for 800 and thought it looked like a good candidate.

Currently has a V6 runs and drives (rough).

Plans are to take the LT1 I have, stroke it to a 383, auto-->manual conversion, and other goodies. Take a look and see...but I think I've officially been bitten by the f-body bug again.









The links should work, let me know if they don't! Thanks for looking.

[markd79ta]

Hello All - Been a while since I have posted here, I sold my original T/A that was in my sig and have been looking for a 3rd gen camaro for my new project car. I am almost finished with school and will be doing a co-op at a nuclear power plant and have the money to find a project. Saw this one in NJ today for 800 and thought it looked like a good candidate.

Currently has a V6 runs and drives (rough).

Plans are to take the LT1 I have, stroke it to a 383, auto-->manual conversion, and other goodies. Take a look and see...but I think I've officially been bitten by the f-body bug again.









The links should work, let me know if they don't! Thanks for looking.

If it was me, I would start with a Z28.

[Trash man]

yea a nice clean 91-92 Z28, they look the best imho but if u dont mind having a 6 banger car base go for it

[thenuge876]

Yeah, I am already planning on redoing the whole suspension and performing the necessary chassis stiffening, so starting with a V6 base wasn't too big of a deal, and the computer/fuel system would need to be changed anyway as the project I am looking it should yield some decent HP and torque #'s, so all I really needed was the body.

I also like the look of the Z28's as well, but I am pretty sure that I can find the ground effects/front bumper to add-on. But if anyone knows of a 89+ Z28 for sale....

[thenuge876]

welp,

of course as soon as I get home I see this

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/793355260.html



This might work out better, and its much closer....I guess I got a little excited and need to make sure I find the right car, I'm sure you guys understand though.

[markd79ta]

There is more to going with a Z28. When you do an engine swap, you start dealing with bureaucratic red tape. Given that an LT1 was not offered in the 3rd gen, you already are facing an uphill battle, but you should be fine. If your VIN indicates V6, you will be turned down in many states. If your VIN reads V8 and you have the ECM programmed with your VIN, you will more then likely fly under the radar as long as all the emissions equipment went with your engine swap and is in working order.

Oh, and the bumper, ground effects, and hood add to the cost of your project when you don't need to add that cost. If your project has an L98, then you can sell the engine whole or in part and offset some of your cost.

[Trash man]

plus the 91-92 only Z28 gfx are worth alot of money cuz everyone pretty much wants one

[thenuge876]

That is interesting to hear about the all of the emissions and everything, I will definitely keep that in mind when looking at cars, and yeah, i would prefer not to have to incur the extra expense of modifying the body.

If you do perform an engine swap what kind of documentation needs to be made if the goal is to keep the car street legal, with the necessary emissions in place?

[Trash man]

kno somebody or get an classic(not sure of rules in PA but CT 25 and older doesnt go thru) but if u do it right and have it tuned right i dont see why u cant pass. there are tricks to tricking the system

[Wild Willy]

Dunno about where you are, but in NY the car has to complay with the year of the VIN and chasis/body- you can put a newer, cleaner ingine in an older body, but it is almost impossible to put an older (say, non-smog compliant) engine in a newer car-

Sounds like a good project, I have done a couple motor swaps myself- they usually don't stay stock for very long- once you get that much wrenching into a car, you will start to feel the need to add improvements- Good luck!

[markd79ta]

That is interesting to hear about the all of the emissions and everything, I will definitely keep that in mind when looking at cars, and yeah, i would prefer not to have to incur the extra expense of modifying the body.

If you do perform an engine swap what kind of documentation needs to be made if the goal is to keep the car street legal, with the necessary emissions in place?

...check with your state!

If you go with a newer fuel injected V8 of the same manufacturer to replace a fuel injected V8 with all the emissions equipment transferred, all you need to do is reprogram the ECM with the VIN. It is highly unlikely any screening system will know the difference because the net result is cleaner and the car is relatively unchanged. If you go from a 4cyl/V6 to a V8, you will go through all the paperwork that is mandated in your state...if it is even possible. In some jurisdictions you can do an engine swap to a newer V8 if your vehicle manufacturer offered a V8 in your class of car. For instance, a Hemi from a Jeep Grand Cherokee could be placed in a Jeep Wrangler legally in some states. Or a LT1/LS1/LS2/LS6/LS7 could be placed in a Camaro/Firebird...you just need to do your homework. A 6.0 from a Silverado could not be placed in a Camaro because the emissions requirements are very different from a truck to a car...this sets the requirement that your proposed swap must come from the same class of vehicle. Since there are thousands of project Camaro/Firebird V8s out there, why go through the brain damage if you are still hunting for the project? ...start with a V8 car and go from there.

[thenuge876]

After reading through all of this I will take your guys advice and keep on looking. I am not in a rush or anything so I'll just keep looking until I come across the right one. I'm going to check out a 91 RS with a 305 in it on friday and try get some more info and pics to check out. Thanks again for the advice as always.