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Most of my adult life I have had a 4th gen f-body on and off (for a total of 4 of them to be exact one 99 ws6 TA, 98 z28, 94 3.4l firebird, and a 96 3.8l firebird). And have always loved those cars even my POS 3.4l firebird. But then I became a father about 2 years ago to my 5 year old(step son I have adopted) and my 2 year old and decided I needed a dad type vehicle for a bit with plans of getting another toy when I could afford it or find the right thing so I got me a 99 crew cab 2500 GMC Sierra (88-98 style).
Fast forward to a few months ago I changed job from being a Ford technician at a Ford dealer to working at an independent shop. Well at my new shop there was this green Camaro that has been sitting in the back of the yard for a while now. I have been on the lookout for a new toy for a while just wanted it to be the right one.
So a few weeks ago I asked my boss what was the situation with that Camaro. He told me the guy who used to own it died after bringing the car to the shop but before he got a quote on what it would cost to fix it. The guys grandfather did all the paperwork so my boss could have the car but my boss never did anything with it but let it sit. So I asked what he wanted for it and we worked out a price but I just didn't have the money. Well Monday had the extra money for it so I bought it.
My 5 year old has dubbed it "dad's cool car" and so that is what it shall be called until I find a more suitable name. The plan is for it to be a fun toy for me and my kids to enjoy. I don't plan to make it show car quality just look cool enough for me and the kids to be happy, I don't plan to make it a race car but it will be fast.
I have 4 phases I am going to take to this car.
Phase 1: get it running, put the interior back together and make it road Worthy.
Phase 2: improve the looks, suspension, and ride quality.
Thanks. Yeah other than the dash pad most of the interior is in fairly good shape just taken apart. That and it is missing the seat back for the back but I am planning a trip to pull-a-part soon hopefully I can find one from a 3rd or 4th gen f-body because the kids would not be happy if they can't ride in it.
I haven't really had a chance to do much with my car as I was waiting for a customer's car to get towed out of our shops yard but it went bye bye today so maybe this weekend I will be getting to take my car home so I can starr playing with it.
On another note is there anything I can do for these mounts on the hatch? Like does someone make replacement caps or something?
Yeah those are pretty easy to come by. This link below should help with that. I'm in the same boat you are. I have a '91 V6 that I'm starting from the rear moving forward. Going tubular & LS all the way. Good luck on yours.
Thanks for the link. I am ready to get that sucker home so I can really dig in and see what all I need. So far I know I need those bolts you linked to, head liner(it is totally missing) the rear speaker covers, visors, possibly a heater core since I have seen it has been bypassed, may need a vats bypass box dash pad (I may cheap out and buy one of those caps) front side markers and the back seat back. So those are all things on my short list of things I know for sure it needs.
Judging by the stuff removed from the interior I am guessing the previous owner was either gonna build a race car or it was in really really bad shape and he was restoring it. In any case it's mine now and I am restoring the interior (not nessisarly factory because I don't care about it being it being original) because I want it to be a street car.
Wow... yeah someone did a number on that. It's all correctable tho. I'm not restoring mine to factory by no means. Just want to have some fun. I bought a '91, one owner that has 73K on the speedo. The owner is 76 years old & his was the driver for the most. I've had (5) third gens & this one by far is the cleanest. It needs the typical dash cap & the headline recovered. It'll take me a year or two but it will be enjoyable. I'm in the process now of getting rid of the factory rear & mocking up a Ford 8.8" with 31 spline axles. It's a bit of a chore.
Yeah I've read up on them & they seem to be bout as good as the GM 12bolt. I just know the stock 10bolt ain't gonna last thru a built LS. Just doing one thing at a time. Already have a 4th gen tank hooked up. Don't know for sure if I'm keeping the factory fuel pump tho. Still debating....
Sure seems that way. It is not every day one of my dream cars practically falls in my lap but if that does happen again maybe a Nova or Chevelle will fall in my lap lol. No seriously I am super happy about this car and plan to keep it until one of my kids are responsible enough for me to give it to one of them if they ask for it.
well it has been a while since I have updated this as I had put my car on the back burner due to some unforseeen sircumstances like my 5 year old setting his self on fire among other things.
Yesterday however I finally started playing with this thing and decided the first thing to do as I don't know what all has or has not been done to the wiring was start with the starting circuit as it didn't crank when I tried to crank. I pulled out the chilton as well as found some post on here talking about bypassing the VATS relay. bypassed the relay, checked for voltage at the the relay connector from the ignition switch, checked voltage from there to the shiter and coming out of the shifter so I know all of that is good.
The car is still at the shop I work at and my boss was about to close up for the day so I didn't have time to jack the car up and check to see if the starter is getting voltage from the shifter and the obvious voltage from the battery its self. But I have a feeling it will have voltage from both and will just need a starter.
I also Have a TBI 350 out of a 95 truck with only 40k on it as well as a set of aluminum corvette/zz4 heads. I eventually plan to build that engine to go into this car but first I want to get it running with the stock 305 as I am going to use it as a daily driver for a little bit until I find another truck as I am fixing to sell my 99 gmc 2500 since I don't need that massive of a truck for daily driving.
I think the weight savings alone of going from the truck to the camaro will get me a little bit better gas milage as well as going from a vortec 350 to a tbi 305 (I had a tbi 305 1500 and it got way better milage than my vortec 350 2500). Also by selling the truck I can use some of the money to go towards interior work on the car.
Pictures and updates shall come rolling in as I start putting more work into it in the up coming weeks. I didn't think anyone wanted pictures of me pocking wire connectors with a power probe.
If you are sure you want to do an LS swap I wouldn't even consider doing anything major to the current engine. Forget about the heads, that's just money you could spend on something else. Headers/exhaust and ignition items are all I'd give to this engine. The interior doesn't look bad apart from the dash pad and possible missing pieces?
If you are sure you want to do an LS swap I wouldn't even consider doing anything major to the current engine. Forget about the heads, that's just money you could spend on something else. Headers/exhaust and ignition items are all I'd give to this engine. The interior doesn't look bad apart from the dash pad and possible missing pieces?
I may not be ls swapping anymore. I think I am just going to build a decent sbc out of the 350 and heads I have and be happy with it after I get another truck. Yes other than the dash pad the interior is in fair condition. The problem is it is missing the center console, head liner, dome light, visors, back seat rest and a few other items. It seems as far as I can tell the guy who had it before me was swapping in 4th gen parts. The seats and steering wheel is out of a 4th gen firebird.
If this other sbc requires any machine work and then gaskets, etc., the LS if bought for a decent price (truck 5.3 entire pullout from a yard can be had for well under $1000) becomes a real option again.
I may not be ls swapping anymore. I think I am just going to build a decent sbc out of the 350 and heads I have and be happy with it after I get another truck. Yes other than the dash pad the interior is in fair condition. The problem is it is missing the center console, head liner, dome light, visors, back seat rest and a few other items. It seems as far as I can tell the guy who had it before me was swapping in 4th gen parts. The seats and steering wheel is out of a 4th gen firebird.
when I bought my car I stuck in a tbi 350. I bought headers, y pipe, plugs, wires, belt, and hoses plus random other crap. I spent all that money to decide that I'm going with an ls truck motor.
If if you have ls in the back of your mind, you'll end up ditching it all for an ls and regret spending any money on the small block. At least that's what happened with me.
when I bought my car I stuck in a tbi 350. I bought headers, y pipe, plugs, wires, belt, and hoses plus random other crap. I spent all that money to decide that I'm going with an ls truck motor.
If if you have ls in the back of your mind, you'll end up ditching it all for an ls and regret spending any money on the small block. At least that's what happened with me.
But doing the math of all the stuff needed to do the ls swap especially since I am not ditching ac it would cost several thousands more for a stock ls truck engine than it would be to go with a smallblock. The k member alone would blow my budget.
But doing the math of all the stuff needed to do the ls swap especially since I am not ditching ac it would cost several thousands more for a stock ls truck engine than it would be to go with a smallblock. The k member alone would blow my budget.
If you have planned it all out on paper and what you're doing with a sbc is the better route than thats fine. However, you don't need a new aftermarket K member for an LS you just have to notch the K member.
If you have planned it all out on paper and what you're doing with a sbc is the better route than thats fine. However, you don't need a new aftermarket K member for an LS you just have to notch the K member.
Ok so you had me reading more into it and it may not be as bad as I thought. So I may flip flop again. The engine and heads didn't cost me a thing and both are in great shape so if nothing else they may help me pay for an ls swap. I did some digging and found a few ways to shrink my budget like using 4th gen exhaust manifolds, getting a cowl induction hood instead of going for a car intake and accessory brakets and as you said notching the stock k member.
when I bought my car I stuck in a tbi 350. I bought headers, y pipe, plugs, wires, belt, and hoses plus random other crap. I spent all that money to decide that I'm going with an ls truck motor.
If if you have ls in the back of your mind, you'll end up ditching it all for an ls and regret spending any money on the small block. At least that's what happened with me.
Any big hickups going with a truck ls engine ? As far as fitment and such or special parts I will have to get from other things? The less I have to get from other vehicles other than the doner truck the cheaper it will be.
Any big hickups going with a truck ls engine ? As far as fitment and such or special parts I will have to get from other things? The less I have to get from other vehicles other than the doner truck the cheaper it will be.
Ive bought a running donor vehicle (well, fuel pump was out, and no title), f body manifolds, ls1 intake, ls adapter plates, ls1 oil pan and so far I'm in at about $1k, maybe $1100. I still have a few more things to buy and I'm still not sure what I'm doing about accessories or if I'm even going to run the ls1 intake.
There are ways to avoid buying the f body or vettes accessories and I've seen the truck intake clear a stock hood with a little clearancing. Also, youre going to have to have a tune with the vats deleted.
I still havent started the swap so there's a lot i don't know yet, but as of this week the 350 is out so it's coming.
Do a little research and sit down with pen and paper and figure it up. If you sell the sbc stuff then you're knocking a big chunk in the cost.
Ive bought a running donor vehicle (well, fuel pump was out, and no title), f body manifolds, ls1 intake, ls adapter plates, ls1 oil pan and so far I'm in at about $1k, maybe $1100. I still have a few more things to buy and I'm still not sure what I'm doing about accessories or if I'm even going to run the ls1 intake.
There are ways to avoid buying the f body or vettes accessories and I've seen the truck intake clear a stock hood with a little clearancing. Also, youre going to have to have a tune with the vats deleted.
I still havent started the swap so there's a lot i don't know yet, but as of this week the 350 is out so it's coming.
Do a little research and sit down with pen and paper and figure it up. If you sell the sbc stuff then you're knocking a big chunk in the cost.
See now you have me thinking more. Especially because I would much rather a stock ls engine pushing over 300hp at the crank than a modified sbc with the same performance because the last will be more streetable and better on gas mileage. Plus I work on modern stuff for a living and know how to deal with odb2 stuff much better than I do carb stuff. And I wouldn't have to tune it every time the weather changes.
See now you have me thinking more. Especially because I would much rather a stock ls engine pushing over 300hp at the crank than a modified sbc with the same performance because the last will be more streetable and better on gas mileage. Plus I work on modern stuff for a living and know how to deal with odb2 stuff much better than I do carb stuff. And I wouldn't have to tune it every time the weather changes.
That's why I did it too. I'm use to working on obd2 equipped vehicles and I want mpg and reliability over performance. My donor engine is just a 4.8 but the price was right and it makes 275 hp in stock form. My tbi 350 was rated at 180 if I remember right.
Plus, once I get it set up it opens the door for a 6.0 if I can ever find a good deal.
It opens up the entire LS world! A single turbo on even a stock 4.8 in a thirdgen with a good, setup suspension will outpace nearly any front engine car you'd come across. Keep your foot out of the boost and you'll still have stellar gas mileage.
I created a spread sheet today of what all I think I need for an LS swap using prices from my local pull a part, hawks, summit, dirty dingo(they make a bracket to use the stock ac compressor which makes things easier and no notching the k member) and left my self a 300 or so for misc expenses and came out to $2500 before taxes and shipping cost. but that doesn't take into consideration for what I could sell my 305, 350 and those heads for eating into that. as well as the possibility to get some of the various items cheaper by buying them used or shopping around a little bit.
that being said it would still be about $1000 more than the SBC build I had planned but still way cheaper than my original LS swap plans that had me buying a 1k+ k member, 800 headers, car intake and accessories and an aftermarket harness/pcm so I knew all that mixing and matching worked together along with maybe a cam or something to go with all that.
My advice is to hold off on doing anything engine related that isn't essential. You can work on the interior as you said or the body or suspension. Revisit the engine argument after you have the other areas done. The decision may come down to how long you will keep the car. If this really is a long term car then I really think an LS family member is the way to go. Prices for LS parts decrease every year because of an increase in the supply of pullout units via trucks and sports cars and the increasingly robust market of used aftermarket LS performance parts. If you make the decision to go LS pull out your swap list again and watch the classifieds section of this site, yellow bullet, ls1tech, craigslist and ebay for good deals.
My advice is to hold off on doing anything engine related that isn't essential. You can work on the interior as you said or the body or suspension. Revisit the engine argument after you have the other areas done. The decision may come down to how long you will keep the car. If this really is a long term car then I really think an LS family member is the way to go. Prices for LS parts decrease every year because of an increase in the supply of pullout units via trucks and sports cars and the increasingly robust market of used aftermarket LS performance parts. If you make the decision to go LS pull out your swap list again and watch the classifieds section of this site, yellow bullet, ls1tech, craigslist and ebay for good deals.
I am not getting rid of this car anytime soon if ever and am thinking ls swapping will be the way to go eventually. For now though I am going to get the stock engine going and concentrate on the interior and suspension/brake and so on stuff. Once all that is to my liking and I find a little gas saver pos for going back and forth to work then I will begin doing an engine swap. The biggest reason I was backing out of an ls swap was the parts list I made at first was rediculously expensive but I have been doing research on here and finding cheaper routes to achieve my goals. Not as cheap as building a sbc but it will be better on gas, more streetable, and more indestructible if I want to get a wild hair up my butt and put a power adder to it.
well yesterday after 10 months of owning this thing I finally brought it home.
then today I played around with the interior stuff like I swapped the seats around to where the drivers side is on the drivers side and bolted them down just because(even though when I actually start putting the interior back together they will come back out.) then I tried to see if the camaro airbag would fit in the pontiac steering wheel and found that it will not(again just messing around with it as I plan to put a grant wheel anyway)
also I found this wonderful jewel from right out of 1995 lol.
at the moment I am looking for a totaled 4th gen LS car to buy to use as a donnor car because I have decided I want to go LS1 instead of truck motor and besides that I need an f-body oil pan anyway, plus I want the gas tank, rearend and driveshaft...so I figured if I go truck engine I will still be trying to buy these parts so it would be cheaper just to buy a whole car and be done with it. Also I need to go threw the interior and make a list of what is missing for sure so I can try to source those parts.
I'm starting to come to the same conclusion regarding the ls swap. seems simpler to just get a 4th gen donor. plus the ls1 block and all that. Even buying a fully functioning 4th gen and stripping it and selling the extra seems worth it, I'd just feel bad killing a good 4th gen to make it happen.
I'm starting to come to the same conclusion regarding the ls swap. seems simpler to just get a 4th gen donor. plus the ls1 block and all that. Even buying a fully functioning 4th gen and stripping it and selling the extra seems worth it, I'd just feel bad killing a good 4th gen to make it happen.
Yeah I don't really want to kill a good one seeing as how I like 4th gens as well.
