im planning on swaping out my beat up v6 and put in a 383. this will be my first swap and m pretty new but have more exp in body work than motor work. if you could tell me what tranny to use and what would be the best set up for the motor. its an 86 ber an its all stock i have already begun striping the interior but have no idea where to start with the swap. and i want to save money and do it my self. so please help. it would be helpful
p.s. i will be geting the motor from the local junk yard and be rebuilding it .
and im not sure if i need to get a ne comp for the carb i will be running or even if the whole car will need rewiring.

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Basically you're talking about a V6 to V8 swap. So, read the sticky in the top section of this forum first.

But, getting a 383 from a junkyard isn't very likely. GM never made a production 383; they are specially made from a 350 block bored .030" over and a new crank with a 3.75" stroke (305 and 350 stroke is 3.48"). This also requires different pistons. 383 kits are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, so finding a 350 engine in the junkyard that you can stroke to 383 with appropriate machine shop work is a reasonable approach.

No, your V6 computer isn't a good candidate to run a V8. You'll have to decide what you're going to do there; get a junkyard V8 computer computer set-up, or do an illegal swap. You don't have to rewire the entire car, as the computer harness can be removed as a single piece from the donor car and put in your car.

 

should i get a 350 comp from a v8 model camaro and fine tune it or somthing from like jegs or summit .and for the block should i look for a allready carb or a fuel inject i know i have to find one with low milage but its going to get machined any way. but i want the least amount of wear on the motor it is going to be raced but i want it to be street drivable. and what kind of trany i hear that turbo350s cant handle the tourqe is that true and if so should i get a 400turbo or even a 700r4.

 

TH350's are excellent on the street. At the track they are less reliable than TH400's or Powerglides. The last TH350 I broke was in a 12.35 second Camaro bracket racer I campaigned for 2 years. I won my first heat, returned to the pits, then couldn't get it back into gear for my next race. No drama, just died in its sleep. I have seen TH350's with cracked cases, which seems to be the more common failure.

I can't see any reason to race a 700R4. You wouldn't need the overdrive and it probably weighs as much if not more than a TH400. If your car is light enough, Powerglide is the way to go. I believe the generally accepted magic number is 2800 lb. or less.

Rule No. 1: Never lift!

 

the power glide is way out of my budget this is just a rebuild car most of the parts will be from the junk yard i know i cant skip on the quality of the trany or motor i just cant buy it new i will have to build it from the ground up. i realy need advise on what to rebuild as my tranny like i might find a 400 which is starting to look like the best trsnny for my build but if its rebuilt will it beable to contain the torqe im a little quick off the lne and stay on the pedal ,

 

Engines that came with EFI tend to have less wear of the cylinders, and I seldom have to bore the EFI 350s more than 20 over. If your budget is that tight, then buying a crate engine probably isn't your best option. Now, what are your goals for the car? Running 11s? Pump gas or race gas? Nitrous?
Sure, you can get a stroker crank for not much more than having your stock crank reground, and sure you can run reworked stock 350 rods. Where you'll be spending your money is the heads. But what you'll need depends on your goals.

 

my budget is about 3-5 thousand but that is over time i havent saved any cause i shop around for parts like if i have the money for it i go get it. i dont really need acar that runs 11 but that would be nice i just want to be faster than my brothers trans am 99ls1 and i dont want to use nitrious cause it will be driven on the street ragularly i am using a 17in rim with streetperformance tires so its not an all out drag car but i will strip the interior to min. the trnnys i was looking at cost 999 and up so i figure if i get a 350th i can just use that but i think the 400 i a better choise cause its stronger im my case
and as for the block if i get a efi should i keep it efi or go to carb cause im not using nit i think i could get more out of the engine power wise