Ok, so recently I've toyed with the idea of doing this swap here. I remember posting a loooooong time ago when I didn't know much and everyone basically dogged me about it (yeah I was gonna do a 305... I've learned ... lol not doin that)

But heres the scoop... I might be able to get myself a 1979 Camaro with a 350 thats in it. 350 has been rebuilt and has less than 100k ( forgot the mileage number). He says it runs excellent, if not totally perfect. The car though, has a decent amount of rust, but overall in decent shape as well. No interior to speak of.

So basically I'm thinking of buying this car for the engine, transmission and the drivetrain stuff. A donor car for my swap.

I know someone here has done this, I cannot for the life of me remember who, but did a 350 swap from a 2nd Gen Camaro into his 3rd gen, has it all wired up and such just like a 2nd gen.

Is there anything I should know off hand right now about this type of swap (engine, tranny, anything) using something other than the typical 350 3rd gen donor car (since I'm using a 2nd gen donor car)

Any tips/advice is greatly appreciated

EDIT: Let me also add I'm gettin this donor car for 500 bux, which is damn reasonable for a great running 350 with not too many miles on its rebuild and a tranny as well as any other goodies (like possibly positrac if the 2nd gen has it)

 

get torque arm mount adapter, sell tghe 2nd gen shel to pay for swap & extras, I'm 99.9% sure that even if then the old car has posi, it won't work w/the newer axle. I could be wrong, so .....

 

Howabout swappin out the whole axle?

 

Well you are just buying the 2ndgen for the engine/components and transmission. Nothing else will swap over from the car except or the wheels and steering wheel. Dont pay too much for the car it's useless to you and a near 100K engine is questionable at best so dont pay more then $600 for the whole thing.

 

Yeah, I'm paying 500 and according to him its a very strong running motor, he says it runs perfect. I'm going to check it out today hopefully.

EDIT: lol and yeah, actually those wheels will come in handy (I busted 2 rims and blew 1 tire the other day)

 

Do you know if the radiator from that 79 camaro will fit onto my 84? Since I can't use the v6 radiator anyways, due to connections issues.

Ok so for what I need to do this swap is....

v8 front springs
V8 sway bar
v8 motor mounts
radiator (if the one doesnt fit)

This is going to be non-emissions and no computers involved, so that eliminates most the steps in the V6 to V8 faq sticky.

And, just to clarify, a torque arm is the same thing as a Panhard rod correct? Can someone give me a parts number for a brand or a link to one somewhere to get me started? I'm currently searching for all the stuff I need.

EDIT: I looked at the car today and the engine ran so beautifully it was nuts. The engine alone is worth 500 dollars not counting the fact that the rims are in pretty good shape and are the SAME kind I need. Also has the center caps, which I can't say the same about my car haha

 

Are you sure that rad in your v6 wont fit? If it has the top hose on the left side (driver) it's the correct one.
The 79 rad wont work, it's around 3in taller.

You dont "need" V8 springs or the anti sway bar but they will firm up your ride quite a bit. My firebird came factory with a cheezy small ASB the same as a V6, my Z28 has a beefy one and handles slightly better.

The motor mounts you will need from a donor 3rdgen, the cradels on the 79 engine, the ones that are held on by 3 bolts to the block are fine for your swap.

 

Ok, I'll make sure to get a radiator then. I'll aim for a junkyard find on another thirdgen, but what about getting an aftermarket one? I was looking at some jegs radiators, and get a trans cooler with it (since it dont come with it already) something like this

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...14&prmenbr=361

obviously get the one that measures out to fit in my car (if any of the 3 do)

And is there no place to get motor mounts from a thirdgen? like hawks or something? Possibly from an auto store? I'm gonna call around to be sure, but I read somewhere that I can get a set of mounts from some store (searching but not finding argh)

 

Oh wow... I'm in over my head here for the transmission stuff. I just did a search about that torque arm adapter thing and I found some info on the th350 swap into a thirdgen and found threads in which no one answers, or they answer about some special "kit" where no one posts the link to buy. Then they argue about this kit and still no link. Only 2 links given to direct me to a kit were dead links

Lovely

Am I better off just finding a 700R4 to put in? So I don't deal with driveshaft issues and what not? I'm currently running a T5 so I really don't know what Im going to be running into there. I guess I could try a serach again... hopefully it'll be helpful lol


EDIT: Ok... well... would I be able to just use the driveshaft from the 79 camaro on my 84? Or is there mating issues?

 

Obviously you didnt search to hard. I have posted the link at least 25 times.
http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/me...ore_Code=MDITP

There is what you need. YOu definately arent doing anything new. Probably 1/3 of the people here on this site have a gen1 SBC from the 70s in thier car. Alot of us have the th350 too. The only thing that is different on my car is the rear end. I dotn see the point in swapping in a second gen. All that work to have another crappy rear.

 

Ok, well just to clarify, that'll work even though I have a T-5 Correct?

 

Also, is there a way to identify whether I have a short tail 350 and a long tail 350 without removing it? As in, were there certain years in which they put in long tails? This donor car is a 1979 Camaro Z28, same transmission I'm using and after doing some research I've come to the conclusion it has a TH350 in it for sure and not a TH400.

EDIT: Wow... ljnowell, I'm double checking that link you gave me and i see it says it includes "output shaft". Is that going to let me use my stock driveshaft? Again, I did do searching and I don't know if I got annoyed with this one particular thread but don't remember you posting that link (first time I saw it) because you were arguing there was a kit that allows you to swap and go and not change driveshafts. I'm to assume this is the one and is different from what Hurst and B&M offers?