ok well i've got an 88 T/A w/ an l03. I make decent money and have been considering all kinds of upgrades for my L03, but now i'm thinking about saving my money for paint/body work, then moving into an engine swap. I may finish up my headers/exhaust and some other small things to the L03 for the summer, run it at the track a few times to see what shell do and then come winter time park her, and pull the guts. Ill save the motor and trans since its all been rebuilt and save them for some other project down the line. Now i have a 383 stroker in the barn that has dyno sheets that came with it showing its pushing 515hp and 575 trq. It needs to be put back together as in need intake manifold, heads and the rest of the upper setup. Is that too much for my 88 T-Top? I know i will need to upgrade my suspension and run sub frame connectors, or should i just consider dropping a full GM crate engine from jegs or summit into my car. If i should go that way what would be the best setup to start with and build up from there? Ive been looking at 350hp 365 trq crate engines going for about 5,200. Now i know i could dump all the extra cash into my car and engine, but im still looking at spending about that much with just finishing the 383 and suspension... what do you all think? This is the engine i was looking at:

http://www.jegs.com/p/GM+Performance...10002/-1/10763

Not too sure on this. I will have all winter to do it and if im going to do it once im going to do it right. Also should i still run my rebuilt 700r4 with a b&m shift kit with the 383. A 700r4 came with the 383 stroker when we pulled it from the 33' ford 5 window. Please let me know whatcha all think...

 

I think your gonna need a 12b or 9in rear for that motor. I'd go for what you have. You could have a much faster car if you use the 383. Then just take the money you would have spent on the crate motor to buy a new rear, trans, and suspension components.

 

This is what i kind of had in mind. But i dont want to make my car into a full race car, only want to take it to the track when my buddies bring their camaros out, and still be able to make it a cruiser on the weekends and maybe a daily driver when its nice. I can get a rebuilt th350 trans 3 spd. tho, from a friend of mine for 150 bucks, that came out of his 70 1/2 camaro. And i have most of everything i need to put the motor back together, just need the carb rebuilt and possibly buy a new cam since i have a crappy edelbrock flat tappet crap cam. But a friend of mine has a dana 60 rear end hes willing to sell me for 100 bucks but i think that may be too much for a car.

 

Why would a dana 60 be too much for a car? What is it out of?

 

It came out of a 1989 Chevy 1 ton 4x4 pickup w/ a 454 TBI.

 

Yeah thats not a dana 60 unless it was swapped in. That truck would have had a 14b ff in it. Definatly way to heavy duty.

A car d60 non full floating is a good application for a car not a full floater. Too much drivetrain loss in it.

 

not too sure what floating and non full floating means... Care to explain? ive never heard those terms before sorry. Ya its been swapped in, he pulled the stamped numbers on the rear and its a d60. Not looking for anything too extreme but i dont want to go breaking a crap load of stuff.

 

Lol this is all the **** I have knowledge of from working on trucks...

Ok well a full floating rear means that their is a hub unit on the end of the axle shaft that retains the axle if it is broken. Instead of your axle being c clipped or bolt retained the hub holds the shaft in. Also the shaft is splined at both ends and your studs are not in your axle shaft they are on the hub.

Its kinda hard to explain without a person having any knowledge of 4x4 axles. The general principal is that if you break an axle shaft your wheel doesnt go rolling next to you. It is completely safe to drive on (even though without a posi or locker you'll just spin your broken shaft). This system accumulates to a **** ton of lost drivetrain power though.

 

lol ok i know what your talking about now. ya ill have to take a look at it and see if it is a floating or non floating rear. But my friend who owns the 70 1/2 camaro suggested selling me the motor that is in it now for 200 bucks, and he said its pushing around 280 hp and 300 trq. It only has about 5,000 miles on it. So i may even go this way but im very weary about possibly going with that old of a block because i heard alot of bad about the manufacturing of them and how weak they are when bored out.