MarkV

ive been reading alot of the threads on this site over the past couple months, but couldn't find anything along the lines of what im hoping this thread becomes.

im looking to restore a 3rd gen camaro, and i have a $20,000 CAN dollar budjet for now. ~17,000~ american .

my plan is to make a nice street car that is fun to drive and cruise with, and pretty zippy too, but not crazy on the gas bill. i want to make somewhere in the ball park of 350-400 horses... (is that possible with my budjget ) i think i will never take it to the track, and it must be emissions legal.

what would you put the money into? im looking for some ideas to get the ball rolling on this project.

my basic wishlist is a 350 with a standard tranny, not convertable inside of the camaro.

im planning on doing most of the car in the upcoming year, and at a later date, after i go back to school, to finish it. so any ideas need not include rims, paint, ect. (basically stuff that is relativily easy to add later on with a big price tag.)

be as vauge or specific as you want, go crazy. just give me some ideas. o, and i dont even have the car yet, just ideas of what i want to do. thanks..... and have fun with this

mark

TraviZ

iTrader: (2)

17k should be very easy, pick up a stiraght body, rolling chassis even if u want, no more then 2-3k, then get a nice engine built, at most 4k for a nice streetable engine, and of coarse a nice lil tranny,manual or auto? each will run about 2k if u want it built up, and dont forget suspension and abeffing up the axle, no more then 2k if u have the work done by someone else, that includes springs shocks, sub frames, lcas and some axle beefing if its a 10bolt.

now get a nice paintjob for around 4k, and wheelstires for another 1500.

then get brand new carpet and seats and whatever else in the inside that needs replaced, another grand? maybe 1500?

that right thier is 14k and u got 3 more k to play around with...

Epro

Get a roller, and drop an LS1 in

Use remaining money for upgrades!

okfoz

If I would have done it this way from the start it would have saved me money...

It may be cheeper to get a car DONE, buy a low miles one to start with... then drop an engine it it.

If you do most the work yourself:
Paint/Materials/filler $1000
Interior-$1200 - $2500 leather or Cloth.
I WILL RECOMMEND getting Baer Brakes or larger 12" brakes if you put any power to it... The stock brakes SUCK, and an upgrade is necessary for safety. $2500
Engine - Call Hawks, get him to put in a LS1 for you, your looking at around $13000 the last time I spoke with him IIRC...

there ya go...

John

stitchop

I would find a nice roller, spend $2500-$3000 on body and custom paint, Drop in an LS1, then spend the rest on interior, and wheels suspension ect...

3.1EyeCandy

iTrader: (3)

Honestly - find the most pristine GTA/Z28 you can and go from there. They won't run you more than 8k anyway (for the driven ones at least). This will actually save you headache in the long run...finding parts for these cars is a nightmare sometimes. You may even be lucky and fine a pristine one with a blown engine.

MarkV

i know that since i want the manual tranny, its easier to swap to a bigger motor instead of changing the transmission from auto to stick and i like the idea of dropping a different motor into the car, but i dont know whether i should get a crate motor, build up a 350, or get an LS1? is $13,000 a typo? or is it $1300? that cant be right either......which route would be the way to go? the LS1 is found in the base corvette, right?

i will need insanly nice brakes.....i have too many accidents under my belt, stopping power is really really important to me. what are some really good brakes?

also keep in mind that rims and paint arent included in the budget, they'll come after i get back out of school again.

o, and im planning on doing the easy/moderate work myself. nothing to intense!

thanks for the input guys!

Cadillac

I'm thinking he should get a 1LE or be patient for the rare '91/'92 GTA. That would be a great start.

Rare and worth restoring.

stitchop

if rims and paint are not included in the $17,000 US budget, don't go with just an LS1, go with a twin turbo LS1 and complete C6 suspension. Is this do able for $17,000?

Spectre

If I had 20k, Id strip the '91, then get an LS2, or LS6+ 6spd+bullet proof rear end, get nice race style seats .. a vortec SC maybe .. 11" rear mags ..

okfoz

CAll Hawk, I am not sure but he might be doing restorations... I know he does the conversions, and he sells the parts to do it...

John

flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

i think i'd build a pro charged 383 (stroked 350 for it). Should be an easy 500hp on pump gas. No more than 10k in engine.

get a rebuilt tremek t56 or tko 500 which will be less than 5,000.

Redoing the full suspension with best parts out there will be less than 3k. After this you will want a 12bolt rearend or 9in which will run no more than 3k.

Anyways these prices are being very generous you could shave 5k off the tranny and engine pretty easily if you know people or check these boards much.

so i overshot the budget by 3k .

MarkV

i love the idea of a 6 speed, any other suggestions for a 6 - or 5 - speed tranny? mabey a bit cheaper too? 5g's for a rebuilt one is pricey still, its not like im looking for ways to blow 20000 on this car if i dont have to.

also,i dont want 500 horses, im used to driving a probe gt, with less than 200 horses under the hood. i think 400 would be more than enough for me for a long while. so is it possible to get 400 horses at the rear tires from a 350ci? or close to it? not a stroked or bored one, an actual 350?? i want to keep the engine a little bit smaller if i can because i hate paying for gas what parts would i need to get to 400HP if i did go with a 350? building a quality 350 WILL be cheaper than an LSx, right?

other than that i have a sound system picked out already thats around a thousand bucks....all alpine and rockford fosgate The interior of the car will for sure be re-done, so theres another thousand or 2 and after that im sure bits and pieces will eat up alot more money.....

this stuff just eats up the money

so to sum up....
whats a cheaper engine/tranny combo that'll produce 400 horses? assuming i have all the basic bolt-ons installed