As a few know, I been wanting to do a engine swap onto my camaro. Trying to find the best bang for the buck I thought about even a big block swap. I looked at a few pics of bbc swaps and liked the way it looked. Since I looked at summits crates on there website and seen the prices i got a little jumpy and wanted to know more.

The information that is going to be giving is the parts considered into this swap.

454 HO crate from GMPP 435hp/500ftlbs of tor.
Manual Transmission (would like to stick a 6spd trans behide it if it can handle the torque Viper spec maybe?)
Serpetine belt system
12bolt Strange or Moser Rear end
sumbframe connectors
strut tower brace (if it will fit)
completly new suspenion (street driven car on highway no all out drag car)


First question i have is concering the difference between the Marks on the BBC (Mark IV V VI etc) I figured one has a two peice rear seal and the other has a one peice. Another question is, according to the stick, a couple of the guys had to do a little banging against the firewall to allow the distributor to move freely. Other than this has anything changed as far as fab work to allow the BBC to fit between the strut towers of this car. If its a simple drop the motor bolt it to the motor mounts and hook everything up then thats great. Someone made the comment they only had 1 1/2 to 2 inchs of clearence between the pulleys and the radiator, was that using a v-belt system or a serpetine belt system. Of course Transmission and rear end swaps will be used im defintly aware of this. so, which manual transmission will work best for my needs. Ive also heard Lemon headers are the best ones used for the swap because they fit alot better compared to hookers. Any and all persons that have done a BBC swap please put input into this please.

Please give any intel you have and hints on your swap that would give me idea on what i should consider, weather it be suspenion exhaust or drive train. I have my paper ready and pen is on stand by. Dont worry with my budget cause its not the greatest but considering im going with the BBC a 12bolt and all new suspenion i know im gonna spend a pretty penny. This car will not be started on til I'm finished with my tour in Afghan. I will have nearly 12k saved if not more during this tour. for your help. Would love to make this car the dream i been lookin for all my life. ready to make this a defintly a show and go car.

 

The Mark IV is considered the old style blocks. They're still the most common for hot rodders. The use a 2 piece rear main seal and the majority of the aftermarket is geared towards the Mark IV block.

Gen V is a short lived block that came out in 1991. It's very similar to the Mark IV engines. You can't use Mark IV heads on the block because of how the coolant passages were redesigned. It has a one piece rear main seal. The block doesn't have a provision for a mechanical fuel pump plus a number of other changes.

The Gen VI engine is considered the Vortec big blocks. Just about everything changed on them from a cast aluminum timing cover to a full roller cam.

When I first dropped a 454 into my car I had no problems using a large cap HEI distributor. The engine fits between the frame rails just as easily as a SBC. Using typical Hooker Supercomp swap headers, you still have some clearance. It's when you get into large engines like mine with raised port heads and huge header tubes that clearance really becomes an issue. I use Ed Quay headers but mine are also race headers. Large tube headers are not cheap. The Hookers are the cheapest you'll find. For custom headers, spending $1000 isn't uncommon.

Any engine not originally designed for the vehicle will never be a direct bolt in swap. You'll always have to do changes and modifications to make it work. If you're not willing to experiment or modify stuff to make it fit, just install a SBC.