I love in Florida , my dad lives in Pittsburgh. He is a retired and older master technician of over forty years. He has build many gen1 SBC and BBC cars.
Question is how do I convince my dad to help me do the LS swap? Not financially, mechanically. He doesn't think my car is worth putting in a new power plant my camaro is a very clean 56K mile Florida car with zero rust. What would be the best way to encourage my dad to help me out? Should I start the project myself and ask him for advice via phone and email at first ultimately (once I get to a point I can't continue) send him a plane ticket down here? Or should I have my camaro transported to his house to kind of put him on the spot? I don't mean to sound pushy I just have tried to get him to help me for such a long time reminding him how it would give us father son time too. He always reverts back to talking about his projects and how my car is a dime a dozen and not worth it.

 

take your dads advice

 

This car was given to me by my mom and they are divorced so that doesn't help things a lot. My camaro really is straight, no rust, no accidents...My mom bought her in 1990. This car is definitely a great LS swap candidate.

 

Look at what you are doing now. You do not like the response that he is giving you and here you are asking questions. The same thing is going to happen during your project if he doesn't have a solution, you will end up here asking questions. You can do it with advice off of this site just like so many others have. Just do it and when you run into issues call him and pick his brain and if that is unsuccessful there is always plan B. You never know he may come around.

 

post up a pic of the car and current engine

 

There is no good reason NOT to swap one of these cars to a LS motor, in and of itself. TTAs maybe, a few others like that maybe; otherwise, the car itself is irrelevant. IMO your car is in fact a dime a dozen, and its "originality" is of no value whatsoever.

OTOH, there might be any number of good reasons why YOU should not swap YOUR car to one. Or to anything else for that matter. These reasons have basically NOTHING to do with LS motors, or swaps, or the nature of YOUR car, as such. They would have more to do with YOU than your car.

If he won't help you, you can do it yourself. You can get other people to help you. You don't need "his" particular input into it. While YOU might have a vision of this as a father-son project, if he's not interested in it, that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes... I can't begin to tell you how many times it works the other way. (i.e. son isn't the least bit interested in participating in father's projects)

That said, WHY won't he help you? How old are you? Are you independent, adult, employed, etc.? or are you a student, teenager, or otherwise NOT financially independent? How much money do you have/make? Is motor swapping a thing you should be making a priority out of AT ALL? Maybe his concerns are more along lines like those, as opposed to "LS motors".

 

Since his retirement, what does he currently do with his time?

After a lifetime of working on cars, maybe he's just plain tired of doing so.

 

Looking at most of them deters me. Then again if done right.. I could see the advantage. On a low mileage car though id have to leave it. I totally agree with your Dad

 

With no particular offence intended ;

If you need to recruit experienced help for this LS swap , as in , if you cannot do all of the mechanical planning "heavy lifting" yourself with perhaps an inexperienced friend/helper or two that you direct the actions of for the "two man" operations , it's understandable why your Dad doesn't want to get involved in this , he may not want to take on the project of all of the electrical and mechanical modifications as his obligation while you await the finished results . In other words , the more of this you can do yourself , from the planning to the paying for it to the actual logistics of the swap itself , the far closer you'll be to seeing it happen VS counting on anyone else (yes even dear ol Dad) to come along and essentially build you a car for free as a side project . You want it ? Your gonna have to grab the Bull by the horns and go for it , owning the project from beginning to end .

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'm 37, disabled and I've taken all of your advice and decided to rent a small shop to start working on her myself. It's about time I start doing something for myself I'm sure with the help of you nice people on here it will be doable. Thanks to all that replied

 

 

Nice looking Camaro,I see you have the half year 88 sport coupe short wing/spoiler like mine.

That will be a great candidate for an LS swap.
I would look for a complete donor car,that will make things much easier.

 

When it came to my LS1/ 6 speed swap in my GTA, I basically bought the engine on LS1Tech, and then told my dad that I bought the engine and trans, and wanted to do the LS swap, and if he wanted to help me great, if not, then my friends, and I will do it ourselves. Luckily, he's a very understanding dad, and enjoys working on all things electrical, and mechanical, and was a great help in assisting my swap, and getting the car back on the road better than ever. At first my dad couldn't comprehend why I wanted to rip out a perfectly running TPI 350, and 4 speed auto, but after giving him my best sales pitch about the performance benefits, and how much better performing the car would be after the swap, he was on board, and having a background in electrical engineering, he was a great help with the wiring part of the swap.

Just talk to your dad, and let him know that you think it would be a great way for you two to bond together over a common interest (even if he doesn't care for the car as much as you do), and hopefully he'll be able to help you out with your swap. If not, you can take him for a ride in it afterwards, and show him how much faster your car is with the LS swap, and he'll likely be impressed with the performance.

After my dad drove my LS swapped car, I helped him do a SP383 deluxe crate motor swap into his '86 TA, and his car is now faster than mine again (and scary as **** with the stock 10.5" brakes all around still!!!).

 

If I can put an LS1 into my Firebird, I'm sure you can too, with all the great help on this site and some others. Put it in from the bottom, like is suggested! I lengthened the wiring harness and ran it around in the stock hole on the side, seems to work fine. It's not a "small" job but a fun one!

 

This sounds more like a question for a therapist.

 

Says the guy who responds to a thread that's old as heck.

 

I've been working on my swap and trust me...you will get a lot of satisfaction our of doing this yourself. You'll learn so much and there is excellent reference material here on this board. Have fun!

 

I agree, then you get to go at your own pace and learn it for yourself also. Help is nice, but it's more satisfying if you can figure it out on your own and the internet is a huge resource. And sometimes once people see someone doing something they want to help so the best thing anybody can do is just start working.

 

that ones too clean to butcher, ls swaps will become passe at some point.
Sounds like Dad knows youre getting in over your head perhaps? Or doesnt want to fool with it more likely
Its no simple feat, nothing he could help finish/get running in a weekend or two.

What are your goals, why not build the gen 1 up its already there, lots cheaper to mod too.

 

The "its too common" argument is a joke. There may be reasons not to put an LS in something, but "its passe" or "too common" should never be one of them.