To swap a 3800 and trans from a 93+ camaro into my 92 rs without major mods?

Is it possible, yes. One person here has done it.

w/o major mods? HA. It is a serious major undertaking.

i wouldnt have thought its difficult but that depends on your out look, lots of research and youl sus out wether you can be bothered or not. id go for it personally if i had a 3.8 kicking around......

the trans. has the same bolt patteren

its the postion of the engine that makes it hard we have 60* engines and i think the 3800 is a 90* engine other than other things that you have to deal with.i would say its problably as hard as swapping a v8 in our cars.the ideal swap is either the 3.4 or the 3.4/3100 hybrid that first firebird is doing

I got my 3.4 from a guy that was doing a 3.8 swap into a 4th gen and he had to change out the wiring harness and all. So I don't know if thats its weight in gold to you. Said he wished he had never thought of doing it. LOL

If you had an entire, wrecked 4th gen to use it would be time consuming, but not too difficult. Your new trans (the 4L60E since you already have an automatic) will bolt to the crossmember and torque arm just like factory. Same driveshaft and oil lines as well. After that, you need to fit the engine and mark where your 4th gen motor mounts sit, drill new holes, and then bolt it down. You can use the same radiator you have now. You will need to use the engine harness and PCM from the 3.8 to wire it properly. You can even re-use your tach if you want to!

I don't have it on my schedule, but if one drops into my lap it will happen. The last guy to make an attempt here that I have seen is Project:85 (or something similar to that) and if you search, you will find him. He did a lot of pictures and never quite got the PCM working...

Good luck and I hope you do it!

project85 is correct, hes the one that did it.

Dont forget fuel lines. Special connections.
ECM/PCM.. I just wired an LS1 harness into mine. Not easy and takes some wiring knowledge.(mines still not 100% complete)
Vats..(unless you have a 91/92) will have to be bypassed.
motor mounts.. full custom made
flex radiator hoses
air intake


Lots of stuff. Takes time and dedication to have something different when there are easier ways that produce more power.

Whew! That hurts!


Dont forget fuel lines. Special connections. (or you could use the salvaged 4th gen connections...)
ECM/PCM.. I just wired an LS1 harness into mine. Not easy and takes some wiring knowledge.(mines still not 100% complete) (patience, Luke......)
Vats..(unless you have a 91/92) will have to be bypassed. (It's a 92, but since he's using the 3800 PCM it's simply a matter of a little wiring at the starter relay...)
motor mounts.. full custom made (nah, you use the 4th gen setup, set the engine in, mark and drill the new holes and then bolt them down; worst case scenario you start with a flat plate bolted down to your crossmember to allow your 3800 motor mounts to sit flat in case they hang off of the crossmember...)
flex radiator hoses (nah, you can modify the 4th gen hoses, even if you have to put a rigid pipe in one or two sections to lengthen them...)
air intake (nah, you can use a firebird air filter housing used and fit it in the fender area like the firebirds do it...)

Just use a little imagination and some free time, you'll make it. Don't let the V8 guys scare you off.

Most of all, have fun! When you're done, you'll be happy!

Its only my winter car (350 tpi formula for summer)

I just wanted a reliable more powerful package for winter...

well youve got ten months then ;-) just do it, i was running a 3.8 97 camaro for a bit and was very impressed with it.
thats if you have your winter when we do which im sure you do????.....

Whew! That hurts! (just stating whats been said before. Ive done several custom motor swaps when dropping something bigger and more powerful in was cheaper... just to be different)


Dont forget fuel lines. Special connections. (or you could use the salvaged 4th gen connections...) 4th gen connections are different. But I guess by now there may be some adapters already made because of LSx conversions. Back in 02/03, I didnt have that access when I played with the stuff.


ECM/PCM.. I just wired an LS1 harness into mine. Not easy and takes some wiring knowledge.(mines still not 100% complete) (patience, Luke......) Correct


Vats..(unless you have a 91/92) will have to be bypassed. (It's a 92, but since he's using the 3800 PCM it's simply a matter of a little wiring at the starter relay...) Wrong. no matter what he does at the starter relay, he still wont get fuel. It not only disables the starter, but ecm fuel too. He has 3 options..
1. Wire existing vats into ecm.
2. Get the vats bypass box (about 50 bux)
3. See if there is software available to completely re-program the ecm.


motor mounts.. full custom made (nah, you use the 4th gen setup, set the engine in, mark and drill the new holes and then bolt them down; worst case scenario you start with a flat plate bolted down to your crossmember to allow your 3800 motor mounts to sit flat in case they hang off of the crossmember...) From what I remember, this wont work as thats what project tryed. The crossmember is different between the two cars.



flex radiator hoses (nah, you can modify the 4th gen hoses, even if you have to put a rigid pipe in one or two sections to lengthen them...) May work. But this is why they make flexhose.


air intake (nah, you can use a firebird air filter housing used and fit it in the fender area like the firebirds do it...)[/i][/b] He still has to adapt it to the motor. The TB does not sit in same position, or angle. And we already say the firebird one chokes a 2.8, what will it to do a 3.8?

Just use a little imagination and some free time, you'll make it. Don't let the V8 guys scare you off.

Most of all, have fun! When you're done, you'll be happy![/quote]

You dont even want to know what I got bouncing around in my head if I had a spare hardtop and endless money. It would make everyone on this board go

BMW V12? There's one in my junkyard that we're contemplating shoehorning into a Miata...

The motor would be a little off the wall, but its other things I am debating.


LS1's in RX7's
LS2's in Civics
someone here was putting a viper v10 in a camaro
Ive physically seen a northstar in a 4th gen camaro

north star would be one sweet running motor, i still want to do the supercharged boneville engine swap

ive seen a v10 viper engine in a cj jeep..

There was a guy on the Nissan 300ZX Club forums with an LS1 in a firstgen 300Z. Talk about odd.

Even though I see the 3800 as a waste of time to swap....

How hard would it be to use the 4th gen K-member in a 3rd gen? This would give you the 3.8 mounts, rack and pinion steering, if it would go in fairly easily.

You might almost be better to start with a tubular K-member, even if it is the 3rd gen replacement, as the mounts would probably easier to fabricate on that. I guess that would also depend on if you wanted to make adaptor mounts that use the original 2.8 rubber mounts, or use the full 3.8 mount set up.

When looking at engines to swap, it's not about peak power, at least it shouldn't be. Peak power is only one little part of the puzzle, and the engine rarely sees time there. Torque is also important. The most important aspect is area under the curve, or average horse power over the entire usable RPM range.
----------

There's quite a few LSxs in 240/260/280Zs. I had thought about going LS1 in my 240Z until I seen how many people had done that swap. I still might eventually end up with an LSx at some point, but it's not going to be an average swap.

ok i know the chevy small block is legend and its the most mass produced engine of all time anywhere in the universe ever and its an awsome machine that can do anything and blah blah blah
but isnt it a bit to easy and boring to look at a project and think hmmm yeah small block thatl do it????? because that hasnt been done before!!!!!!!
people need some imagination, a 3.8 3rd gen would be a sweet running motor and a joy to live with - after having the 4thgen so equiped - its such an easy powerplant to get along with so smooooth and refined and economical and has buckets of useable power..............................

well what about a 3.8 series 2 supercharged motor? has anyone ever put one in a 3rd gen? just sawzall a tube hole in the firewall for the intake and viola. 240 hp and 280 tq in a v6 would be fun. not to mention the blower whine...drool