Quite a few people have put a BC in their 3rd gen., but mostly for drag racing purposes.
Are their any BBC 3rd gen.'s out there that are daily drivers?
If so, what's your opinion of the swap? Has handling gone south?
Noise levels? Maintenance access, gas mileage, drivetrain durability (trans life)? Anyone with T56?
Would you do it again, or would you return it to a SBC? I don't want to perform the swap then be sitting with a gass guzzling (< 10 mpg) demon that corners like runaway garbage scow. Thanks!

 

I'll get back to you on that, the T-56 is ordered and the 396 is close to complete.

 

The one thing I remember being bad about BBC swaps is that you can no longer use the stock windshield wiper motor.

 

Only if you use tall valve covers.

My 454SS truck is a daily driver. What difference would it make in a third gen. If you build the engine streetable, there's no real difference in driving. You'll just have a lot more torque available than with a similar SBC.

 

Streetable? That depends on your definition. I drive mine regularly (40 miles round trip) to work with 3.73 gears. I love it. Runs on 87 octane too. Doesn't corner well though. Would I do it again? Maybe, but the new motor is a big cube small block with an ATI.

More info on the swap is on my page at www.koolmeister.com

Miles

 

i run mine all the time on the street in the summer. Corners like crap because of the extra weight and lack of swaybars. RUns slightly hot during the REALLY scorching summer days. Yes it's loud. Bottom line is it's different and a blast to cruise. Nothing like stomping the pedal and peoples jaws drop cause they think you have a 305. The only SEMI complaint i have is that it REALLY guzzles gas. I've had many performance cars, and this one gulps the gas like no other I'm every had. Gotta pay to play I guess. There are only 2 other Camaros like mine in the city and no FIrebirds that i know of. One is a 600+ horse car that might see one night of a cruising a year, and the other is CONSTANTLY broken down. So more or less, I'm the only yahoo out there regularily driving a BBC Third gen. It's nice to be unique

 

Well, from a HP perspective, that's what I would expect.
Has anyone put a BBC into an IROC or GTA, setup to handle, with stiffer spring rates up front to counter the extra weight, properly valved struts/shocks, and lightweight front-end parts (fiberglass hood, alum. rad., relocatec battery to rear, etc.)?

 

Bottom line if you want to auto X or handle like a slotcar, stick with a sbc.

 

You can get the handling back to at least stock or better by using lightweight parts like tubular K-member, A-arms, fiberglass, and aluminum engine parts but it will cost a few thousand $ to reallydo it all right. If you add weight in the engine and want to keep your handling you have to take weight off in the area around where you added it. Still, if your after the absolute best handling possible stick with a SBC.

 

I don't think it really matters. Decide what you want to accomplish and then choose the setup that gets you there. Frankly, any powerful car is a real handful if not impossible in bad weather. I would never plan on driving a hot rod all year round if you get snow. Don't think you're going to save gas on a small block. Power takes gas.... period.

I did a supercharged big block because it's different and gets serious brownie points. If it wasn't for the supercharger I would have chosen a small block. But this way I can drive a mild engine and run 11s in street trim and 10s at the track. Just depends what you want to do.

Now if I can just finish the car so I can drive it!

 

Quiktrip,
Thanks for the advice. My interest is haviing a BBC installed that would handle as well as or better than a stock IROC (
or GTA).with the proper setup. I guess what I'm hearing is yes, if done properly it could, but no one has yet reported accomplishing this particular swap with attempting to restore any loss in handling ?

 

I think that's a fair assessment. To make a big block handle takes a ton of money and in my opinion is quite a waste of money.

 

Hi guys,

This is my first post ! I have had a BBC in my 1985 IROC since '91 and have it set up to handle. I tried three sets of springs in the car and ended up with mid '80s Heavy Duty S10 Blazer springs. I think the brand was Moog. I also have large adjustable sway bars and sub frame connectors.