Hey im 15 1/2 and im getting a camaro soon. My dad used to race hillclimbs and has a 350 block and heads and my grandpa has a huge shop, i was wondering what would be a good choice, what to build from the block and what model/year of camaro would be the best. Im 15 sp money is an issue so i want a fairly cheap car. What would be the best? If im putting a new engine in it wouldnt it be cheaper to get a v6 or do they have a different tranny? What would i need to do to my engine im building up to make it run under 11? Also what else would i need to beef up to handle the power? Anything else i need to know to get into camaros? Any models that are better than others?
Thanks,
Jake

 

Well, Thirdgens aren't too expensive, but they arent exactly cheap anymore. In my area the cheaper ones are the older carb'd ones. Maybe you should start there. As for an engine, everyone thinks different, Everyone likes something else. I say, build what you got, and build it the best you can. Yes, the V6 has a different tranny, but I guess if you were to get the manual with a V6 you could change the bellhousing (have to talk to some guys here with manuals). As for going under 11, forget it if you are on a cheap budget. HP cost money. Its as simple as that. There are a lot of mods that you can do that are cheap or dont cost a lot of money, but there are somethings that you just simply have to buy. I would sit down with a piece of paper and do some research. Find out exactly what it will cost for machine work and all of the parts that you will need to accomplish what you want. DOnt forge the little parts that cost, gaskets, fuel pump, belts, hoses, etc. You may be better off just to find a V8 car and drive it will you mod it. Good luck, and welcome to the world of Third gens

 

I would set a budget for the car itself.. Decide if you want auto or manual.. then find a V8 car.. If you find a couple, see if they have been mod'd at all.. You may find a carb or intake or something on the car's existing motor which you can use on your good motor.. Check the tech data on the main page here.. You will see that certain yrs came with better gear than others.. for eg.. 373 rear ends .. Do the research on the RPO codes.. Know what to look for and where the codes are.. that way if you find a car.. get the codes then you know what you have.. Unless it's like my car and no RPO sticker .. And alot less headaches with a carb setup rather than FI.

 

not to be totally rude, but 16 and wanting to run -\+11's?

driving that speed requires alot of *****... knowing what to do at that speed if something happens requires alot of tallent. 99.9 percent of 16 yr olds have no clue what to do if they had a blow out at 20 mph let alone 60-110 mph. and then theres alot of older drivers that wouldnt know wtf to do either.....

id love to have my car be able to go that fast, but i know im not ready for it. ive driven at 120mph before and its scarey as hell, fun but scary. and i know if my car did that easily id do it all the time and id end up killin my self cuz i love to make things go faster. from gopeds to pocketbikes to cars.....

if you do have the driving experience, then by all means go for it, but since your on a budget i really doubt youve had any racing experience, no offence
just my 0.02$

herbd

p.s. and as far as the other stuff goes..... buy the car, make sure it works and will continue to work for a while b4 ya start to do stuff to it. cuz with a budget when sumthin breaks your gonna be screwed for while... gl with it

 

Talking budget and going 11's are like mixing water and oil. They just don't mix. I'm kind of with herbd in that I would screw together a nice 385 to 400 horsepower 350. The problem with going 11's with a 3rd gen (and any car for that matter) is the motor is just one element. You will need to upgrade the rest of the drivetrain (rear end, transmission, etc), suspension, and add subframe connectors. Those upgrades are not cheap and will cost as much if not more than the motor. Aim for the 13's if your on a budget and upgrade as your money and skill increases.

 

i work for a racing school... anyways whats the best year/model would u think for my car, like what had the best stuff, also i wouldnt think 11/12's would be as hard as u guys think. I already have a race 350 block from my dads race car, heads, manifold, complete msd, and discounts from my grandpa. So wut would be the toughest model that would have the most parts i would need for the new engine? A 5spd, a 350 tpi? Any yr better than others?
thanks a lot!
jake

 

i hate to be rude, but working for a race company doesnt mean that you have the skill of the race drivers... you may know alot about cars and what it would take to get it doing 11's theoretically but doing it is another story.

i still doubt you for having the ability and skill to drive a car like that. ive been driving for 2 years now. i went from a civic with a motor approx 3/4 the size of a 2liter to one just ofer a 2 liter lol. but the power difference is amazing and im still learning how to handle it.

like i said before if you have the experience go for it. but to have a car that does 11's and be on a budget,,... its either gonna take along time, or you have a hell of a budget.

herbd

 

Just because someone is 15 yrs old doesn't mean they have no driving experience.

There's guy in the car club I'm in who's 12 yrs old and has 4 yrs of driving experience in the Jr. Dragster series. As soon as he was legal to drive (8yrs old) he's been tearin' up asphault.

Plus look at all the go cart racing circuits there are.

Age has little to do with it. I'm 32 and I don't have any experience driving an 11 second car.

 

Age and experience aside, if your bent on starting with a 350 block, I would go stroker and build a 383. Third gens are a little heavy and could use all the torque you can give 'em. Use the lightest reciprocating assembly you can afford. I personally would use a 6" rod. A 6" rod will allow you to use a shorter, hence lighter piston. 5.7" rod pistons are typically heavier, all things being equal, in the skirt area. The skirts have to be longer to support the rod angle of a 5.7" rod, therefore heavier. Go light as you can afford on the valve train also. I would go solid lifters, be it roller or flat tappet. The light weight solid lifters will allow you to ease up a bit on the spring tension, freeing up some HP and saving your cam. Better invest in aftermarket heads for 11's and go by the spring recommended by the manufacturer for the cam your going to run. Cam choice? That will depend on how much street duty, what you can put up with, transmission choice, and the flow capability of the head with respects to not only the measured flow but the flow ratio between the intake and exhaust...just to mention a few things.

Man, this is real sketchy !! There have been books written on stuff like this.

And all above is for 11's on the motor. If your up for a NOS hit...then your investment in some parts would change. I would think about NOS if you are leaning towards a more street worthy motor with some nice driving qualities and juice it only when you need it. Just a thought.

 

This is really strange to me... in every other thread in the "engine swap" board, all you hear is "replace that 305 with a 350". Now why are you guys trying to discourage that?

What I suggest is you find one of the performance models first (IROC, Z28, Trans Am, Formula...) and avoid the basic or luxury models (Firebird SE, Berlinetta, RS...)

After that, if you do want to replace the 305 the car probably came with with a 350, do it!

When you do the 350 up though, don't shoot for 11's right from the start. Start with a healthy 350, put it in, and build it up as you go. Thats what I am doing with mine.

They are right though, 11s is VERY fast to start with. Most people who go mid 13s think that is fast.

Start with something that will do around mid 13s or so, and build from there. Thats what I'm doing.

 

thanks guys, so far i have a gm performance 350 block, a hp manifold, full msd kit, some good heads, and ill prolly make some headers. What tranny would i need to handle the power? How much power would a 5 spd hoandle? An auto? What model/yr had the most heavy duty stuff or w/e i would need, im leaning toward like a 1992 z28 or some kind of firebird, what do you guys think would be a good car to work on?

 

TH400 would be your best bet IMO. But I don't know how much power you are actually making, because your description is pertty vauge.

If you want a manual though, look for a T56 6-speed or a Super T10 4 speed.

 

def need to get a new rear end
ford 9 inch or chevy 12 bolt to handle that stress of hard core raceing, i like those 92's thats be a cool car, but like a iroc would do nicly for anything comes with enough good stuff that you wont have to get later like sways and wonderbar and stuff like that

 

The ford axle is a 9-Inch... not 9 bolt

Anyway, I agree.. you are gonna need an axle with alot more meat than the 10 bolt you will probably have.

 

what you get depends on what you want, duh
you want all go, get a piece of junk, more messed up the better, cause you grab some 35$ summit racing seats and junk the rest of the insides and rip off every thing form the car like motor tranny rear ac smog computer heater everything, drop in your dads 350 and get a t56 if you choose manual and make sure the car is manual to start with, auto if you want auto id go with a well built th350 or th400 the latter being the stronger one. get the 12 bolt or 9 INCH my bad (tired i swear) and a heavy duty 3 or 3.5 inch steel drive shaft and upgrade the suspension like rear sway bar, front if you like it to handle well on the street, get a wonder bar if its not the iroc, good torque arm good panhard rod and lower control arms, stiff rear springs and shocks, and relocation brakets welded on for the lca's, and last but not least sub frame conectors, this is all i can think of at the moment research some of the thing i brought up and you will be well on your way to a good idea of what this stuff requires doing.
later
-doug

 

im lost here are you asking what year car to make into a 11 sec street car or just a race car ????

 

street car

 

Sub-11 sec cars that are true street cars are rare.

Sub-11 sec street cars powered by a 350 are even rarer.

For a reason.

Be reasonable and start off with a street car that you can race. Work your way up from there.

 

Dude good luck in getting a 350 to do 11's with a stock f-body drivetrain I'm 17 and i'm working on getting my car into the 13's but its more work than you think. also if youre on a tight budget your pretty much screwed if you want to hit 11's dosn't matter if you have a racing 350 block you still need a lot of stuff plus is it gonna be EFI or Carb and have fun getting your 11 second car to pass emissions. Youll need a better Cam, headers, sfc's, tranny, fuel pump, fpr, maybe injectors, crank, pistons esp new ones if you bore it and stroke it which will cost a grip, better valves and rockers in the heads, and a lot of time and money and then youll prolly get tickets for racing so why shoot for 11's? 13's are good enough then you can run with WRX sti's and Cobras,etc. so who gives a damn if you run 11's