I have a 90 Camaro t-top with a 305 tpi in it that seized up a few years ago at this point. I got it back in 2015 after graduating high school and it had been sitting in the country for 5 years. Was broke then and much of what I did was preventative maintenance for years never having time, space, and money all at the same time to really improve it. While I understand fiscally it'd be better to start with a different one it has emotional attachment as it was my grandpa's. With that said the end amount spent on it isn't concerning it's just about pacing the rebuild with the money.


Over the years I've done a decent amount of reading on here and this past couple months have been going heavy on options to swap engine and get her going again. I've determined starting October I could set aside 2 grand a month so that by the end of 2025 I could have put 30,000 into it. With research I realize that getting her going, and redoing the interior and body it'll probably take more but it's a great start. From reading it seems taking an ls1 from a 4th Gen is a great improvement for the price. After reading and learning about various parts plus what she needs in general I've been thinking about snagging a 4th Gen Camaro with V8 as a parts car. This is what I'm wondering is reasonable? I will not be doing the work, this isn't my deep interest or expertize and def don't have space and tools for it nor the time. So I realize that a shop having to remove all the parts from one car will drastically increase labor; but given the number of parts that could be taken from it it might be worth it. I'd be looking at the engine, transmission, accessory drive, catalytic converter, ecm, rims/tires, brakes(seems like spacers would be needed), and I've seen people put the rear of it on their 3rd gens(don't know if my car would need it). Looking here in Phoenix today it seems I can get a running V8 with auto 4 speed for maybe 8-9 before negotiating.


I like the idea of this as I can have a goal to save and by a car which would cover most parts needed plus I can take it out for some fun drives in the meantime while then saving up for quote from a shop. Then after that I can save for body work, fixing normal t-top issues, with paint job. Then save for interior work which I can do a good amount of that myself. Then she'd be set with a ls1 stock setup, body brought back and clean interior. The final move which wouldn't need to be done quickly would be some work on cam/head/intake and knock up the power of it because she's an American muscle car and she deserves it. It's not going to be a dd, this would be the Sunday cruiser, date night with the lady, occasional weekend getaway car. I don't need a racer, just something that stands respectably as a muscle car and can open up occasionally.


It's a long rant and I apologize for that, but it's easier for me if I can break it down into goals and if sourcing a parts car is reasonable it'd be easier to get the ball rolling and have some fun on the way rather than getting quotes and having to wait longer while saving to get started.


I did try searching for use of part cars here but am still getting use to forum searching. Most of the time I'll Google the interest an and click a link to the forum which is more trial and error but typically gets me there.

 

Please don't hate me for saying this, , , , but, , , if you can't do this work yourself, IMHO the juice ain't gonna be worth the squeeze, Grandpa's car or not. With the shop rates of the kind of shop that would take on AND PROPERLY EXECUTE such a project (Think Dave Kindig's "Bitchin Rides" or similar) you're gonna quickly be 60 / 70 maybe 100 grand plus for a car that'll never be worth anywhere near that kind of coin. And don't think I'm not sympathetic to the whole Grandpa's car thing, I just happen to personally believe cars are not really the best keepsake of a passed away loved one, what if (totally God forbid) the car gets demolished a week after it's finished? Unfortunately any car that's driven could very well be a "here today, gone tomorrow" proposition which is why I've never believed in them as keepsakes.

Anyway, you came lookin for opinions and, , , whoomp, there it is...... your money, your prerogative, enjoy the ride.

(and BTW yes, a parts car IS the best way to approach such a swap)

 

I hear ya on the financial aspect to it and that's why I addressed it. Appreciate the feedback tho 👍

 

Paying somebody else to do the work you want won't pan out in the end. Yeah, you'll have the shell of the original car, but the details that come with doing it yourself won't be there. Plus, since you didn't put any sweat into it, the car will be just another car you bought.

 

I've put lots of sweat on it to keep her running nice for years, if it was just another car which I said it wasn't then I wouldn't even be planning out a way to make things work respectfully. Also people pay mechanics for do work to cars they live all the time

 

Give Hawks Motorsports ( one of our sponsors) a call. They can install a dropout engine/trans out of a newer camaro.
They already have all the parts needed and can do the work for you. Might be better for your circumstance.

 

Hawk's is in South Carolina and the O.P. is in Arizona...

 

Topic comes up here occasionally.

If you can even manage to find a reputable restoration shop (probably the most difficult part of what you propose here), you'll have upwards of $100K in the car before you get it back. If your emotional attachment to it is worth that much, have at it.

 

I was aware of his location. Just thought he could ship the car to Hawks if he doesnt have a local shop to do the work.Or he could have a dropout engine/trans shipped to him instead of purchasing a parts car.

 

If you are going to hand the car to a shop to do the bulk of work, then I would maybe let the shop figure it out and try to not have too many cooks in the kitchen.

In my experience the best way to work with a shop is to give them small, very well defined tasks, and get in and out in a few days. Otherwise the car can just sit there for a long time while they work on their own car, friend's cars, jobs that turn money quicker. A lot of these shops are actually just a hobby gone wild and are run that way too.

 

I agree with qwktrip. If a shop is doing the work, then let them worry about the details. You supply the broad goals

 

This is how I'm doing my car. Right now I'm buying parts to get it running and stopping. That is what they will concentrate on , not body ,not interior. After it gets running then I'll move on to one or the other.. and my budget for getting it running will be close to 20k.. very reputable shop.

 

A good friend of mine is having a rat rod built (4yrs now) that he purchased as a project. Long story, he is on the 3rd shop now and 50K in the rears and it's in need of about another 15K to finish. The last shop it was out he had it towed with the whole high $$ new rear suspension in the bed...Ugh!

If you are going to have some else do the work, follow Qwk's advise and don't drop everything off at once, you may end up just picking it all up later.

 

If you have the resources to dedicate $2K per month to this car then it seems pointless to nickel and dime this project with a 25 year old donor car. The only thing separating you from newer & better stuff is just another month of saving for this thing or that thing. When you have a hobby car, more money literally is just time.

If you're going to keep this car (I mean really keep it for decades) then play the long game and don't count money, just have a hobby that you enjoy and pace it that way.

Personally, I would get a good chunk of money to kick-start the project with some cool stuff, and then taper down the spending rate and just enjoy the hobby of working on the car and learning how to do things. It doesn't have to be a "finished car" to begin driving. Most of us knew NOTHING when we tore our cars apart, me included. Believe me, you'll figure it out if you ever want to drive it again. And you can always send it off to a shop later if you decide its not fun any more.

 

I like LS swaps as much as the next guy or gal, but I want to propose something a little different for you as you don't sound like you're looking for a hobby.

Have you considered just having the locked-up motor rebuilt (easiest, lowest cost path to being on the road again) or replaced with a crate 350 that would work decently with the TPI (this would require changing injectors and getting a new chip for the ECM, and still be lower HP than a stock LS and way lower than the cheapest Tesla)? The expense would be drastically less, could be done by a lot more competent shops than you'll find can do an LS swap in a quality way, and you can be on the road enjoying the car much sooner.

There are many kinds of LS swappers...

• There are those that can drop a large sum of money on a good LS swap (not many people) done by a good shop (hard to find).
• There are those that are very mechanically/electronically inclined and can do an LS swap seemingly in their sleep (not you or I).
• There are those that luck out with good friend(s) who help to a degree on an LS swap that it makes up for lack of skill/patience.
• There are those who want to enjoy working on their car and don't mind it being a hobby for a while (could be quite a few years if you're slow/methodical/unskilled) and go the LS route themselves, despite low amount of initial skill and knowledge (this is me).
• Then there are those who either start the LS swap themselves without enough skills/patience or they take their car to an incompetent shop. These folks end up having the car sit for years or ruined by themselves/others. We see these cars go up for sale as parts cars, or towed to the junkyard, and a bunch of the parts put up for sale on forums and eBay.

Think about your goal(s). Do you MOST want it to be back on the road so you can just enjoy driving it again? If so, reconsider the LS swap unless you've got a slam-dunk well known shop in your area that's done thirdgen LS swaps before (and you've spoken to the owners of those cars) and enough funds to pay them.