Ive heard of people doing this, putting a 454 or any other chevy big block in a third gen camaro, but what needs to be done to do this. I think you need a cowl hood. You need stiffer springs. Do you need to cut out the wheel wells? How much mod is it?

 

Oh I left out a few things, that I planed on changing anyways like cooling system and exhaust. Im just worried about hood clearence, motor mounts, oil pan.

 

The big block will physically drop into place. Besides normal hi-po mods that have to be done to any car (chassis, fuel system, drivetrain) the only real issues are,

(1) Hood clearance. Especially if you have any type of a motor that requires a tall manifold (and what would be the purpose of a big block if you didn't?).

(2) Wiper motor clearance. If you have tall valve covers you may or may not have clearance issues with the wiper motor. Some guys do and some guys don't. I have a '89 Firebird and I do not have clearance issues.

(3) Cooling fan. You may need to change your cooling fan(s) or even use a pusher fan depending on how you set up your pulley system.

(4) Exhaust. This is by far the most annoying and most difficult issue. There simply isn't anything decent available for those guys wanting to run full exhuast. You can use iron truck manifolds but I don't consider those decent. The Hooker SuperComp headers don't fit worth a crap and dump the exhaust at the rocker panels. Unless you're in to side pipes these are not acceptable. Sanderson used to make street headers but they claim they don't any more even though the pictures on the web site look the same as before. My solution was to have a custom set of tri-Y headers made by Lemons Headers in California. My tri-Y headers are far superior and have bigger tubing size then the SuperComps. Frankly, the SuperComps are way too small for most hi-po engine buildups. The only other solution is the have a full race setup that wraps around the frame. This is usually not a viable option.

 

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/5604/

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86 Camaro Sport
383 Speed-O-Motive Crate Engine, Raptor 700R4 Tranmission, Trick Flow Twisted Wedge G2's, 58mm Accel TB, 3.73 Auburn Pro, SLP Cold Air Induction and Headers, Hooker Cat-back, Serpentine Belt Setup, Dual IROC Fans, Jamex springs, 16" IROC Rims, 36mm/24mm Sway Bars, Global West Steering Brace. Hotchkis Rear LCA's,Panhard Bar and SFC's.
My Camaro Project

 

All the info you need is on my page. I did the swap about 3 yrs ago. There are lots of little things too that are not listed.

Exhaust is definately the biggest issue though. I run a pair of 3 chamber flowmasters under the front seats, then into a single 3in pipe out the back. I modified the floor pan to get some extra clearance, but it's still low.

Miles

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88 427 Camaro
12.18 @ 113mph 1.75 60ft
Currently installing 3.73's into my 9 bolt (YES, it is a 9 bolt & YES they are 3.73's, not 3.70. I currently have 4.10 gear sets and new series 3 carriers in stock for 9 bolts )
www.koolmeister.com

 

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is about the oil pan. It's pretty common for hi-po engine builds to use an extended sump pan, such as a Moroso. If you do so you'll need to drop the bottom edge of the crossmember 2-inches to protect the pan. What I did was order up a tubular front crossmember from PA Racing and they make them to your specs. They've made litterally hundreds of those crossmembers and if you just tell them what pan you're using they'll know exactly what you need. They can also move them fore and aft and raise or lower the motor mount position if you really want to get fancy. It's all the same cost either way.

 

My deep sump pan fit with no clearance problem except when it came to install the headers. I had to pull the pan off (with the engine lifted all the way up) to get the passenger side header on. A regular depth pan would be no problem.

Putting the supercomp headers in is easier with the engine out first. However you won't know where to notch the frame for the headers until they're on the engine. It's a catch-22 thing.

The cooling system will depend on just how much HP the engine produces. I run a simple 3 core rad with the dual electric fans. I doubt it would be enough if I tried to drive on the street but the car has too much HP for the street.

I run V6 front springs just because of the amount of weight removed from the car. Standard V8 springs should be fine especially if they're the heavier IROC or WS6 springs.

Other than that it's a straight bolt-in. Even the engine mounts line up. It's recommended that you use a smaller distributor. The large cap HEI is a tight fit.

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Follow my racing progress on Stephen's racing page
and check out the race car

87 IROC-Z SuperPro ET Bracket Race Car
461 naturally aspirated Big Block (times are for the current engine)

Best ET on a time slip: 11.447 altitude corrected to 10.99
Best MPH on a time slip: 119.42 altitude corrected to 124.86
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP: 493
Best 60 foot: 1.586

Racing at 3500 feet elevation with a typical race day over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car, 91 454SS daily driver, 95 Homebuilt Harley

 

I didn't have problems with the deep sump pan clearning either. The issue was that the pan is the lowest object under that car and will get ripped off if you don't protect it with a lower crossmember.

 

I'm looking at doing this swap as well. Would a side "kick out pan" work? I want more oil capacity without being worried about ground clearance, seeing as it'd be a daily driver.

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Arian Boy
'86 IROC-Z (Stock)
Gotta save the cash 'cuz 155 HP ain't gonna cut it!

[This message has been edited by Arianboy (edited October 01, 2001).]

 

The only way you could use a side kickout pan is with stock cast iron exhaust manifolds. The hooker headers will never go on with that type of pan. I don't know about the Lemons headers.

 

I'd highly recommend you build a strong small block stroker instead unless you plan on breaking 500+ Hp and you still want to drive it on the street. The big block just ain't worth it for what you gain compared to what you lose.

 

It's all a matter of opinion. The only thing I would run (street or strip) for performance other than a big block would be a small cubic inch turbo. Again, only my opionion.

PS Anyone want to buy a big block Camaro so I can build a turbo? Seriously though, it might be for sale next spring.

Miles

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88 427 Camaro
12.18 @ 113mph 1.75 60ft
Currently installing 3.73's into my 9 bolt (YES, it is a 9 bolt & YES they are 3.73's, not 3.70. I currently have 4.10 gear sets and new series 3 carriers in stock for 9 bolts )
www.koolmeister.com