One of my buddies bought a 91 RS to pull the engine and tranny and put them in his Mazda RX7. I have a shop and we are going to pull them out there and I will keep the Camaro (minus engine/tranny). I plan on putting in a very simple carborated 350 with a T5. I'm not interested in trying to get a direct replacement or any FI setup.

My plan is a simple rebuilt 350 V8 with Edelbrock performer intake/carb and headers. I wont be connecting A/C or anything. I will also need to get a tranny (from what I've read, I will be getting a T5) including all new linkage. This is a project car, something to take up space on and off in my shop as I rebuild the suspension, add new engine/tranny, redo some interior, etc.

Although I know a lot about cars and have even pulled engines before, I've never done anything like this (getting my own motor and tranny that are different from what was in there). Is this a dumb idea? I'm getting the Camaro for free and its in pretty decent shape with all new exhaust with flowmaster muffler.

I've been reading about engines/trannys for this for a week on the net and there is so much out there I'm getting confused. I'm thinking this wont be too hard a job, but I don't want to go buy some engine and find out it was some special one year only one that wont match up to some T5 I bought.

So, I've got a few questions before I fully decide to tackle this project and tell my friend I will be keeping the car.

1) Is this a stupid idea? Should I spend money on a car with an engine/tranny already? Or is getting the car for free and having to buy an engine/tranny with no core a good way to go too in this circumstance?

2) What kind of problems am I going to run into trying to find an engine and T5 that will just bolt in?

3) Is finding shifter linkage hard?

4) I'm confused from what I've been reading about reverse flow coolent systems. Do I need to worry about that for this car? How do I tell if the engine I choose and the radiator thats in the car now (I get to keep it) are same type?

5) What kind of trouble am I looking at getting the stock gauges to work with my new engine? I'm not toooo worried about this as I may be more inclined to put in after market gauges if its too much trouble getting the stock ones to work.

6) Am I going to have trouble getting a T5 that will mate with the stock drive shaft (I get to keep it too)?

7) Anything else? Tips? Ideas? Suggestions?

TIA!!!

 

With a 350 Carbureted engine, you can push these cars to be as fast as anything being manufactured new today. I would say go for it. Look to pay around 5K (after its all said and done; wayy cheaper than down payment on new car) and you will have a very quick car. The T5 is for the most part a good tranny. However, if you plan on racing at the track, or shifting hard, I wouldnt reccomend this tranny. I know for a fact that this tranny can and will hold the power of this higher HP motor, but will not handle the abuse of a violent driver. Dont get me wrong, you can step on it, but Im talkin track abuse here. I saw go for it. The third gens still look way sexier than the new ***** camaros 93+, so plop that engine in there, and have a sweet time.

:lala:

 

I think I am going to do this. I just checked Washington state's emissions laws (what I could find on the net) and I can't seem to find anything about removal of emissions equipment, as long as it passes actual emission levels for year of the car. Someone let me know if you know otherwise!

From what I've read, it looks like getting a T5 wont be to hard, just need to make sure it came from a V8 to get proper gear ratio? Also looks like the bell housing needs to be from a simular year camaro.