I have a wrecked 2wd 2003 2500hd in my driveway and a 1991 camaro in my garage with no engine trans ect.

I also have a 2005 LQ4 and 4l80E trans on stands

Now time to decide to another lsx swap or be different for the power levels I want the duramax can do quicker and cheaper but will be alot of work which I enjoy doing

I am no stranger to swaps the car got its LT1 back in 2003 and I had to make my own harness and figure it out becuase there wasnt much on the internet to help


I have everthing well most of what I need to do the duramax swap and I have the skills fabrication and time (to get money) I do like doing something different and having that unique car there is no doubt in my mind that with tune and few boltons in the camaro it will be in the 11s then 10s with alot more upgrades the duramax does weigh about 200lbs more than a big block and thats been done

 

duramax would be very different and interesting

 

I have everything there and I read a story awhile back where they did a 60s camaro and it ran a 10.5 and got 30 plus MPG on the way to the track I am away from home right now but I have both options available to me so its not an issue of finding the engine ect because its either a 6.0 turbo setup with the 4l80e or be different and interesting

 

do the duramax. I think pimp my ride did one in a chevelle, the only worthwhile episode.

Banks does a very nice turbo kit for those motors too.

 

if you pull it off, you'd be one of the first to be successful. it will definitely take some skills with the torches and welder, but best of luck. and make sure to get a ton of photos!

 

past torches got a plasmacutter last year the swap itself should be easy enough just alot of braceing and custom fab

 

plasma =

 

This will be good!

Score another vote for the diesel project. I'm dying to see it done...

 

so close

 

For me to decide whether I'd do an LS or a Duramax would come down to what's more important: Uniqueness or turning. If I wanted the car to retain good handling, the LS would be a no brainer. If I wanted a straight line car and had the desire to be different, then the Duramax. Between those two, for me personally, it's LS by a landslide.

 

duramax with a good suspension should still be a pretty smooth ride

 

it will feel alittle heavier but ill make up for that and possible move it aft in the engine bay to distribute the weight better

 

That and correct me if im wrong but due to the v8 suspension and that an ls1 weighs less than a v6 the front would sit higher as where the duramax would cause it to ride a little lower

 

It will ride lower but I would be building new front suspension with coilovers and heavier duty springs

 

I'd LOVE to see the Duramax conversion! Please do it and post lots of pics! Awesome!

 

do it....subscribing!

 

Sounds like you are leaning diesel!

Awesome!!

 

Would be very different seeing a third gen pull up to the diesel pump at the gas station

 

It was the initial plan when I got the truck then I came across the LQ4 and 4L80E and wanted turbo then got sent to afganistan and Im there for one more month but when I get home I will definately get cracking on it

WHY NOT Its so much more apealing knowing that it would be the first and hell maybe pick up some sponsors to help out with parts

 

If you do the Duramax, I'll come down and get the LQ4/4L80E off of you.

 

Do it.

I remember reading through a thread a long time ago of someone who put a diesel into a third gen t/a, but I don't remember what type of diesel or any details..

 

Won't the Duramax oil pan basically be touching the ground? They are deep.

 

I have a duramax cc/lb 1 ton. Blows the doors off my 89! Its not stock. I would volunteer to help on this if I was closer. If you do it, exit the exhaust through the hood. Like the pulling trucks. Besides, good luck getting 5" exhaust under there. This is a lb7 duramax your talking about right? DO IT!!!!! You'll get great gas mileage.

 

you're in the best spot with the whole truck to your self, no going to the jsnk yard for a certain pigtail or sensor.

 

It will be for sale when I get back

 

the truck was running when I bought it I actually drove it after we jacked the roof up enough I think it will be a fun project and I am going to fit the exhaust under and try to keep it looking as normal as possible

 

IN! This ought to be wicked if you got the patience to pull it off!

 

well I guess I can call this the planing stage and de some research ill be home in a month and ill start a new thread with the build

I wonder how many times ill get yelled at when im getting diesel "hey look at this idget pumping diesel into his camaro"

I might have to see about bringing back AC because if I start getting 30 Plus MPG it will become a DD lol

 

Im really going to have to look at it when I get home because the one thing that will stop me is If I have to hack the hell out of my car to make it work already found out the duramax has the same bolt pattern as every sbc so I can stick with my 4l80e and its cheaper to build that up than it is the allison trans

I want my car to be show and go and to not be the everyday swap with the LQ4 I was planning on building my own hydroboost brake mounted inside the firewall to clean up the engine bay and to build my own K member with a arms with a rack and pinion steering setup
YES I did the research and found a rack that has the correct throw and is 2.25 turns lock to lock so better than the Iroc boxes

To do the duramax there is alot of fab but one major goal of mine is to get my car into the 9s in the 1/4 mile and this can be achieved on youtube I found vids of chevelles with duramaxs stock running 11s so with a turbo system upgrade proper gearing and tuning it can be done


Still 50 50 on it and right now I can sell that duramax and trans and have the money I need to build my turbo project

 

I might leave it to fate Ill test fit it when I get home if it looks good ill go with it but Ill put it for sale IF it sells then its sold of not then ill start the swap thread lol

 

It has been done on a 4th gen, why not a 3rd? Personally I would go Lsx, theres a reason why their the swap to do but this makes me very interested and well I want to see more

 

I heard that the allisons are known for holding up to 800 HP, but you just might have a hard time making it fit in the tunnel.

what's the steering rack that you were looking at? just curious, i hate parrallelogram

 

Definitely gonna NEED the S60 axle for this.

 

the mustang rack with modification is 2.25 turns lock to lock and theres another one that is 2.0 turns but I dont know if I can get 6 inches of throw out of it yet

 

I was going to go with a fab9 from midwestchassis

 

Feel free to send it my way

Id stick with the 80E in a 3rd gen. A car is light enough that you most likely will never break an 80E, no reason to try and cram an allison in there

 

3rd gen Diesel power!!!! Sounds like the best idea yet. I'm defiantly going to follow this thread.

 

If I end up sticking with the 6.0 or the duramax it will still have the 4l80e

 

So..... have you checked for oil pan clearance?

 

not yet Im going to place the engine in and check clearences hieght it the issue to worry about

 

You should do the deisal out of the fpure uniqueness. you can get real power out of those, with a mini tub and strong strong strong rearend and all other drivetrain i bet you could hit your 9s 1/4 mile mark easy. Turbos on it would help. Goodluck with the fabrication dude

 

You gotta do it and then tour the country to show each of us in person, how it looks!!!

 

 

I vote the duramax. Simpliy cause it will be awesome, not only that but you can get soooo much torque out of a diesel. I will definetly be watching this. Just a reference but did anyone else see the chevelle with a twin turbo duramax http://www.dieselpowermag.com/featur...lle/index.html pretty sure it had like 1400 ft lbs. Would love to see a thirdgen with that much, but thats even more work. I am guessing your duramax has roughly 630 ft lbs right?

 

they say that they are 640 tq and 320 hp stock but with a tunner alone i can get that to 520 hp and 1000 ft lbs of tq then it will be money just like anything else

I want to do this but these are the things I have to get past this is my highschool car so I dont want to hack it up to where its unrecoverable if it was another car this would happen in a heartbeat and I may look for one to do that

My goals are someday get a feature in a mag Diesel would def do that Turbo 6.0 been done

run 9s diesel alittle tougher but can and will be done turbo 6.0 alittle easier for me

show and go both are just as good but the diesel is one hell of a turd to polish

Like I said im going to put it in there and see how it fits to decide if im going to go with it or not

I REALLY WANT TO THOUGH

 

Would it fit? It has to be alot wider, and the turbo, I think is in the back.

 

the turbo is in the back top part of the motor its not much wider than a sbc the hieght is what i need to check because the oil pan is deep and there alot on top but they have been put in chevelles and someone did a diesel in a 4th gen but i think it was the 6.5

 

Anything can be done given enough time and money.

 

Need a favor from you guys can you measure your engine height and engine bay height to fender/hood line

I am asking this because Im still in afganistan and they dont have any camaros here just MRAPS(badass trucks) hadji vans and hiluxes


Quote from a duramax forum
Big problems

I got the frame, Duramax, bell housing, and trans. All ready to start the mounting process. I bolted the drivetrain together and placed it in between the frame rails to test the fit. Motor fits well, tight but it fits. There is only about 1” of clearance between the heads and the upper frame support. I would have to figure a way to secure the motor so that would not roll too much; but that is the least of my problems. The up/down position of the motor is dependent upon the front sway bar/rack and pinion. I placed the motor so that the front of the oil pan was about 1” above the front sway bar/rack and pinion. It could not go any lower. Also in this location the back of the oil pan was now the lowest point for ground clearance, which was definitely not optimum.

At this point I stood back and looked at it and it looked huge. Huge as in very tall. After taking measurements from body mount locations I realized that the heads of the Duramax were going to be 4” above the fenders.

I now have some interesting facts to share. The Duramax is significantly taller than a BBC. Close in weight, but taller. The ’65 Impalla from PPE has a larger engine compartment, not only wider but taller. And they still had to run a 4” cowl. I wish I had realized that earlier.

In conclusion, the Duramax will not fit in a first generation camaro. Unless you drag it on the ground or run no hood. The camaro has a short front end. Even if you run no hood I don’t know if you could see over it. Even if I bring the motor way back into the car I don’t think I can make it work. I have been defeated for now.

 

Just in case you havent seen for all that subscribed to this one

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...dgen-swap.html

I started the swap for the first diesel thirdgen