Dreamcamaro91rs

Hey guys well im almost done my swap now, just waiting on a few more finishing touches to be maid, too bad its almost time for now already.. anyways, i figured id share my swap with you guys... seems like all the cool kids are doing it these days haha. Before i get started, id like to send a HUUUGGEEEE shoutout and thanks to "ACE" aka Darren, a local third gen magician, for all the help and support. If it werent for him id be rich but i wouldnt have half as cool of a car as what i do now. WIth that being said, im going to give you guys a breif history on the car. I picked it up in edmonton alberta, for a grand total of 2000$.... it was a steal of a deal. The interior was in showroom condition, never smoked in, exterior had a few scuffs but nothing too serious for the year of the car. It started life off as a 1991 camaro rs with a 305 tbi and an auto trans... boooorrinnnggg!! haha. I had the car for 3 years now and i havent even put 500kms on it yet. I started pulling the engine and stuff out in june. I hope you guys enjoy!

The first pic is of when i first bought the car. pretty basic

The next two pics are of some of the parts i bought for the car. INcludes:
12 bolt moser rear, 3:90 gears, tru trac posi, adjutable panhard bar
Umi torque arm
Adjustable LCA's
Subframe Connectors
Yellow Koni racing shocks/struts
Eibach 1.5" lowering springs
Hotchkis front and rear sway bars
Flexalite dual electric fans with a huge radiator, should be sufficient lol
Hooker 2.5" exhaust y pipe
4rth gen clutch pedals
clutch master and slave
3.5" aluminum driveshaft
Hurst short throw shifter
Lots of other random knick knacks

Dreamcamaro91rs

So, That was the beginning of my swap... I started off with a chevy small block 355, approx 450 hp, had it built in calgary. It was pretty rank, but wasnt what i originally wanted. I also picked up a t56 from a 96 lt1 camaro. bought a brand new RAM aluminum flywheel and centerforce dual friction clutch, bolted it together, and dropped it in for mock up. Then on to the body work. I replaced the driver front fender due to previous owner smashin it up a little bit. So got that out of the way. stripped the car to the bare frame and tried to take care of all the body work and paint in 3 days.... yes. you heard me right, 3 days... i was in a rush to try and complete it while i still had some sort of summer left to drive it. I had a hard time to pick out a color i wanted. I orignally was going to paint it a lighter silver, then i changed my mind to a lemans blue, but then i logged onto thirdgen and looked at some other peoples custom paints and i fell in love immediately with the Cyber grey metallic, the 2010 camaro color. So thats what i went with!

Dreamcamaro91rs

Here are some pics of the painting process.. all done in my garage. IF i had my time back and knew i wasnt going to have the car completed before the snow flies, i would have taken a lot more time on the body work of the car.

Ran into a minor, but very frustrating, problem while we were in the final stages of paint... NAPA sold me the wrong type of paint. Sold me single stage paint, where the base and clear are mixed together, instead of the two stage paint... so when i went to spray the hatch, well thats where disaster struck. the clear coat reacted with the single stage paint and yeah, it bubbled immediatly. Good thing i started the clear coat on the hatch instead of the car.

Dreamcamaro91rs

I also scored a sweet set of corvette c6 5 spoke chrome wheels, and a et of leather z06 seats. i was pretty stoked when i found these.
Heres a pic with all the suspension done, wheels on, lowered and some idea of what the stance will be like. Doesnt look too bad hey?
I also dropped the 355 in and wired it all up, had it running, exhaust mounted up, I had hooker 2460 shorties, hooker 2.5" y pipe into a 3" single in/out flowmaster hidden tip exhaust. Sounded VERY GOOD.

Dreamcamaro91rs

So after i had this engine in the car and running, just not driveable yet due to waiting on other parts like power steering and all that, I could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know i know, if youve read this far, youve probably said to yourself, "hmm... i dont see any signs of 650hp, this guys full of chit!" well, think again. My buddy darren stumbled across an LQ9 6 spd combo with a 125 shot of nitrous, which i couldnt pass up on. It was a hefty pricetag but i think in the end it was well worth it. So, OUT comes the 355 and t56, which i may add it FOR SALE! lol.

Dreamcamaro91rs

Just some specs on the engine that i know of is that its a 408 ci, all forged bottom end, crank, rods, pistons, etc, has TEA aluminum heads (not sure specs on those yet) f.a.s.t intake, 42lbs injectors, spec stage 3 clutch and flywheel, hurst short throw shifter, 125 shot of nitrous, zex kit with throttle position sensor where it injects through its own brain, which i have no idea how to hook up yet but thats a task for a later day. I cant remember the specs on the cam, all i know is its REALLY heavy, has a very rough idle. Also have a set of Hawks long tubes, into a custom y pipe, into a 4" mufflex catback dual setup, which is unbelievably loud and just sound amazing. Im only 21 years old so yeah, loud and obnoxious is what i want haha

I also upgraded to ls1 front and rear brakes.

Dreamcamaro91rs

Well, to sum up a pretty long and detailed swap in just a few pictures and paragraphs, Im still not done. After we done the LQ9 swap, we ran into the VATS problem so had to get hpTuners software and tune the ecu last weekend. I also reinstalled the rad, 4th gen gas tank, bosch high flow fuel pump, ran new gas lines, fired her up and she idled away. every time i went to give her throttle it would die out tho. Im guessing its due to my o2 sensors not being plugged in maybe? i had to order some extensions from hawks so im waiting on that now. Also ordered a manual shift plate, ls1 conversion ebrake cables, and some other minor parts. all i have left to do with the car now is to find some rad hoses that will work. Mock up some kind of intake and figure out what im going to do with my battery, the rad is so big it wont let the intake sit on the driver side without affecting the upper rad hose. no biggy, ill figure something out with that. clean up the wires in my engine bay, grease all the urathane bushings in my suspension, get proper exhaust hangers installed, run my nitrous lines and hook up all that madness mess of wiring for that, and piece my interior back together. I mocked up the z06 seats before and it looks like im gonna have to do a bit of fab work to get them to bolt in right. other then that, im almost done! I also picked up a sweet sound system for the car, 2 12" kenwood comp subs, ported box, component speakers, 7" lcd head unit, all that nice stuff. Im still contemplating on the 4th gen dash swap but i kinda wanna do something even more different. maybe look into a 5th gen swap or somethin if its even possible. But thats a job for another day. I hope you guys enjoyed the very short and sweet swap log. Figured id post it up and see what kind of attention it gets. as soon as i get the car rolling i will try and get some videos up to show everyone how it all turned out!

cheers!

1badeagle

iTrader: (2)

Looks great so far man. Keep up the good work. Get that bish on a dyno!!!

Dreamcamaro91rs

Thanks man! I'm still kinda rotted that it's a "too little too late" deal right now this late in the year. Hopefully I'll get one run out of it before I have to put it away for the winter. The guy I got it off said it was dynod at 665rwhp with 125 shot. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen until the spring when I dyno it myself. But I got a chance to drive it before I pulled it out of the car it came in and let me tell ya.... It should be illegal to have that much hp on tap ... But I'm glad it's not lol

1badeagle

iTrader: (2)

That seems more of 150hp shot territory to me, but I could be wrong. Most 408 I see make in the 530whp range off the bottle. Add another 125whp from the spray and your a bit short. Either way, sick ride. All the money you have spent I'm guessing you have a good job. Lol.

Dreamcamaro91rs

I'm not quite sure on the specs of the cam too tho right, could make a bit more sense if I did. I'll have to hunt down the builder/previous owner to find that out. I'm thinking about tearing the top end off next spring and install a magnacharger or some sort of constant boost supply. I ran nitrous on my sleds and stuff and never was a huge fan of it. We'll see. I may fall in love with it who knows aha.

I'm workin in the oil industry in fort mcmurray, I'm not gonna brag but for being just 21 yrs old I'm not doing bad for myself lol. My job isn't the best paying, wage wise, but I work 24-27 days a month most times so that makes up for it. Probably could have had the car done a lot quicker if not for that.

1badeagle

iTrader: (2)

Thats cool. Im a welder for a oil company and work that much too. Sick car either way though.

3genpio

iTrader: (6)

Do you think with this engine, Ls1 brakes will be enough? I have a all forged sbc 400 and 14"Brembo /Z06 brakes and i would say.... they are good for a fast drive,but still far away from ideal.

Dreamcamaro91rs

I actually got the ls1 brakes for a really good deal. Almost free. I am upgrading next sprin to z06 brakes as well. I know they won't be sufficient for the amount of power. This was just a better option then stock for right now. Where did u get your z06's from?

88blackiroc

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a great swap! **** I wish I had close to the kinda money y'all make, but for only 17. And working at a grocery store, im not doing too bad. sounds like a great swap can't wait to see the finished product

Dreamcamaro91rs

Thanks blackiroc! It's been a long summer but I'm almost there!

mikesanto70

So any recent pics or dyno runs? Do you have any pics of the seats in the car?

Dreamcamaro91rs

This winter has been really hectic with work and sledding trips to british columbia. The cars been put on hold for the time being. BUT, I did manage to take it for a test run before I put it away for the year. I will try and upload some video in a bit. All I can say is wow.... I'm blown away at how much power that thing lays down lol. I didn't make it very far, turns out I mounted my power steering hose a little teeny bit too close to my pulleys and well... It wore a hole right thru ... I had a bit of a mess to clean up after that!!! I managed to limp her back to the shop and that's where she sits right now. I'm planning on crankin on it and finishing it within the next few weeks. The snow is almost gone here now so that means it won't be much longer till I'm able to take it out again! I just had one stock seat mounted when I took it out, I will post as many pics as I can when I fab those seats in somehow. I still have quite a bit of work to do to it before it sees any car shows that's for sure!

mikesanto70

There are a few guys out there selling "take-off" kits for around $1200.00 and they sell the bracketry to bolt them up. I have the info I just need to dig it out of my favorites. Definitely do the C6Z06 kit, they are kick frickin *** and look just as good and for 12 bonies for a 6 piston caliper set up is pudo, as Tony Montana says about $10,500 a kilo in "Scarface". Remember you need at least an 18" wheel to clear those calipers!!!!!

mikesanto70

here is one package with front and rear set up which ideally would be the way to go for only 2k here is the link
http://www.eastcoastvette.com/p-999-...5-2012-c6.aspx

mikesanto70

More brake info

http://lukeskaff.com/

JohnO.

Quick Question. Will that radiator be big enough for the LQ9? Im doing the same engine swap for my '92. Stumped on which cooling set up i should go with. Im in south Texas and the last thing i need is my engine over heating. Thanks!

POP6482

iTrader: (2)

I am running the stock radiator in my LQ4 swap. Just had the car out on a 90* day and the temps didn't go above 210* in traffic. 170-180 on back roads or highway. Aluminum radiator will be put in over the winter, but for now this works. Good luck with your swap!!

Dreamcamaro91rs

Sorry for the delay. Haven't been on this forum in a while. Yes it will work good. I have one for sale identical to the one I have in my car now if you are interested. 700$. Flexalite.

Well, I feel as if I am slacking in the pics department so here u go, I will upload some finish pics. The vette seats aren't in yet. I have a lack of motivation after all that work to do them just yet. I'm currently wiring in the zex nitrous kit and just tuning the car. With a swap like this you all know there are bugs to be ironed out :P I was in rush hour traffic the other week, and my clutch cable retainer pin came off and the car stalled on me. That was a crappy feeling lol. I'm going to see if I can upload some video of it too, just not too computer savvy when it comes to that stuff lol.