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We just recently picked up a 92 RS with a 3.1 in it, this will be my son's first car. He turns 16 in May, so there is time to do some things to it. There are some dents and panels that need to be replaced, it will need a paint job, and some other minor things. The car is pretty solid, not any of the rust issues it could have.
I found a 91 Z28 that has a 305 in it, and it will get the spoiler my son wants, along with a straight door and some other pieces I found broken as we were changing the fender.
From looking on the forums, it seems like the engines could be dropped out the bottom and rolled right across to install on the opposite car. The harness stays, brackets, intake, etc. Will this work between the cars, totally just a bolt in deal?
I understand that the wiring harness and computer needs to transfer, assuming the driveshaft as well. I'm also going to swap the fuel tanks because I think the one in the V6 car has rust in it. I have read the V6 rear end has a more desirable gear ratio.
This seems fairly straightforward. Is there anything to watch for?
The harness is COMPLETELY different between 6-cyl and V8. You'll need to take the Z28 harness along with the motor. NBD, it just unplugs at the firewall, verrrrrrry eeeeeeezzzy to swap that over.
You'll need to use the V8 transmission. The bolt pattern is different where it bolts to the motor. Other than that, it's identical, externally (though not internally); no drive shaft work necessary.
It's possible that the 6-cyl car's rear has better gears. They often do. However, it almost certainly has drum brakes, whereas the Z28 might have the highly desirable PBR disks. This is a situation that calls for some individual parts inspection. Odds are, the best thing you can make, is a mix of the 2 cars; not all one or the other.
It's possible to drop the motor out from underneath, with a motor table and all that. The more usual way with these cars is to pull that from above such as with a cherry-picker, and the trans from below. But there's no hard-and-fast rule; do it however your equipment and space and tools allow.
The gauges in the dash are different. You'll want to transfer the V8 cluster over.
And of course, EVERY PIECE of the 6-cyl exhaust, from the heads to the street, HAS TO go. Whether whatever happens to be on the Z28 at the moment will work acceptably, who knows.
Is the Z28 toast? That's just a more desirable car on the whole and one that will be worth more in the long run than a V6 RS. Even if there are some rust issues that need addressing.
You might also want to start a 'build' thread in this forum. Members Camaros - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards Besides giving you a place to document your project, it's also a great place to get help when you run into problems (that always crop up in any swap project).
Is the Z28 toast? That's just a more desirable car on the whole and one that will be worth more in the long run than a V6 RS. Even if there are some rust issues that need addressing.
The car we are fixing up was my father in laws car. He intended to get this going with my son, he was a body man and painter. He passed away in February, so I'm going to help instead. The mechanical work doesn't really concern me, but I've never done body work.
The Z28 is a basket-case. No interior, floors are rotted and cut out, t-tops are a mess, no glass, no hatch. But it has parts we need to get the RS fixed up. This is the path of least resistance, and there is sentimental value in this route as well.
Just to update the status of this, the gas tank, sending unit and fuel pump have been replaced, and now the fuel pump fuse keeps blowing. I do not believe that this could be a problem with shorting out, as the condition did not exist before. The old tank was horribly full of rust, and that caused the car to only run for short lengths of time before it would die, likely due to fuel starvation.
I ordered all of the parts off of RockAuto, just from the OEM selections, so I would not think that the current draw would be different. Does anyone have any recommendations? Possibly a wiring schematic so I could do some continuity checks? How would I check the current draw to the pump?
Might try "Austin Third Gen" in google, I seem to remember them having one-line diagrams for all the iterations of these cars. Rock Auto deliveries always make for a good day!
Might try "Austin Third Gen" in google, I seem to remember them having one-line diagrams for all the iterations of these cars. Rock Auto deliveries always make for a good day!
Just to update, I have been poking at this issue using the wiring diagrams.
Checking the fuse to the relay, orange wire, I get good continuity with no ground. Checking gray wire to bulkhead I also get good continuity with no ground. I checked the positive going into the tank to both the negative, and to the tank and had continuity. So I assumed the pump was bad or sending unit had a short.
I dropped the tank again today, I have 1.2 ohms across the positive side and negative on the pump. With the pump disconnected, the positive side and negative on the wiring harness are not shorted.
Looking into the information on the internet, it seems like the pump should have continuity across it???
I'm kind of at a loss.
To recap, we purchased this car with a condition whereby it would die randomly while driving. The tank was really bad with rust. So changing the tank, sending unit and pump introduced this new issue where it keeps blowing the fuel pump fuse.
We have it running again! After removing the tank and taking out the sending unit, I noticed that the hose clamps between the pump and sending unit pipe were not tight. Also the pump did not have a foam shield around it.
I'm not convinced that the foam was the issue, I could fathom the hose clamps being loose causing fuel to leak into the tank, and the car demanding more, pulling too much current. I did replace the pump though, so it could have been an issue with the actual pump too.
The car runs great. Going to put the radio and amp back in, we took them out during troubleshooting because we had installed them in between the two issues. Also my son removed a ground effect and door molding last night. Next step will be bodywork.
I have a new quarter panel. It doesn’t really wrap around like I would have liked, so it could be spot welded in hidden areas. No matter what it’s going to be a long weld. I’m hoping to have the panel mocked up and at least started to weld in this weekend.
I also have my 79 Camaro I need to look at, it seems to have a degrading U-Joint and has developed a drip in the manual transmission.
Got the panel cut and fitted, this is moving slower than I hoped. Need to repair the inner part before installing the fender permanently. Going to drill for spot welds along the back and inside of the wheel well.
I am interested to see how this goes. I am not a body guy either and the thought of doing this sort of thing has always been to daunting. Best of luck!
I am interested to see how this goes. I am not a body guy either and the thought of doing this sort of thing has always been to daunting. Best of luck!
cutting this and getting everything to be aligned was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had hoped that the replacement fender would be “complete”, able to wrap around the top into the hatch area and down to the pinch weld. This would have made it easier because they would mostly be spot welds.
We have made some progress, it’s definitely slow going overall, with little spurts of good production. Even being careful to jump around, we still have some warpage, I don’t know that I will ever go about this with long weld seam’s again. I’d have like a panel that wrapped around so all that was needed was primarily spot welds.
Grinding those welds is going to be a chore for sure. Still so much opportunity to add heat and warp the panels! Hopefully some glazing putty and some large sanding blocks can help mitigate any warpage. Keep us updated!
You made very quick progress on that body and paint work, nice job!! I am not even close to done with my LS swap yet, but already dreading finding the right person/shop to paint it right.
You made very quick progress on that body and paint work, nice job!! I am not even close to done with my LS swap yet, but already dreading finding the right person/shop to paint it right.
I got most of the bodywork done last fall, getting primer done right as it was getting cold. I heated my garage for most of the winter so I could fine tune some things and hoped to try painting it. My brother in law told me about his friend that paints on the side, thankfully he was willing to help with it.
im sure we will get to LS swapping it, that can be after a bunch of other stuff gets done.
Hi there,
I like the Polo Green too, nice work. Are you going to put the gold stripes on it? I thought it was a great color combo in 1992 when it came out.
Hi there,
I like the Polo Green too, nice work. Are you going to put the gold stripes on it? I thought it was a great color combo in 1992 when it came out.
I like the gold stripes, we are not planning to do that though.
Thanks, I really like this green. He’s very happy.
I had to weld longer bolts on the lower door ground effects, still need to put those on, he took off driving around after before I could get them put on. Also still have to finish the front ground effect at the wheel wells, it’s a new piece, and being very difficult to go in completely.
This is his son, I will most likely be posting more updates, and after school gets out uploading some photos of my car.
got blinkers back working, replaced with white as I didn't like the looks of the orange with the green. the copper shielding was rusted to the terminal, so I had to break the bulb and "gently" work the shielding out of the socket
Here’s some of the photos. Been a while, I removed smog system in addition to adding a larger diameter exhaust with a flow master 40 series we pulled off my uncles 3rd gen.
We just recently picked up a 92 RS with a 3.1 in it, this will be my son's first car. He turns 16 in May, so there is time to do some things to it. There are some dents and panels that need to be replaced, it will need a paint job, and some other minor things. The car is pretty solid, not any of the rust issues it could have.
I found a 91 Z28 that has a 305 in it, and it will get the spoiler my son wants, along with a straight door and some other pieces I found broken as we were changing the fender.
From looking on the forums, it seems like the engines could be dropped out the bottom and rolled right across to install on the opposite car. The harness stays, brackets, intake, etc. Will this work between the cars, totally just a bolt in deal?
I understand that the wiring harness and computer needs to transfer, assuming the driveshaft as well. I'm also going to swap the fuel tanks because I think the one in the V6 car has rust in it. I have read the V6 rear end has a more desirable gear ratio.
This seems fairly straightforward. Is there anything to watch for?
Nice Car
Last edited by Extrafitkid; Jun 10, 2024 at 11:01 AM.
To start I was the nicest teen in the world back in 1989 and my father and I rebuilt a 1985 Trans Am. Teens and Muscle cars don't mix. Looking back its miracle that I didn't kill someone including myself. I said to myself I'd never get my son the same in his teens. I Strongly advise you to get this and let your kid know it there.
I was the saintly could do no wrong teen and when I was by myself endless speed demon. 131 mph in back roads, testing / maxing out the ws6 suspension around corners. Hydroplaned in another car I was racing on a turn. Also not paying attention almost wiped out an old couple crossing a road and Passing another car almost crashed ahead on into a Semi Truck. I didn't calculate the closing time or over calculated my cars power. Semi or God slowed down and saved me and my 4 friends lives. I was the Saintly Teen the temptation is so great with these cars their Roar their Power their Cornering and Speed. I have probably thanked God deeply and sincerely no less than 50 times reliving these memories for sparing my life.
Now I'm Old I used to only want Black cars and never white cars. Now I want white cars I used to speed all the time now I check all the time to make sure I'm not 5+ over the speed limit. It may be advantageous to get this below. Only reason all my teen guys friends were not worse is because their cars where all dogs, but they all had lead feet too. Pray for your son every day that God protects him and others.
Best to You,
Jonathan
I'd tell him up front I can't watch what you're doing but I know how fast you're going and where you are.
131 mph in back roads, testing / maxing out the ws6 suspension around corners. Hydroplaned in another car I was racing on a turn. Also not paying attention almost wiped out an old couple crossing a road and Passing another car almost crashed ahead on into a Semi Truck. I didn't calculate the closing time or over calculated my cars power. Semi or God slowed down and saved me and my 4 friends lives. I was the Saintly 
Teen the temptation is so great with these cars their Roar their Power their Cornering and Speed. I have probably thanked God deeply and sincerely no less than 50 times reliving these memories for sparing my life.
I used to speed all the time now I check all the time to make sure I'm not 5+ over the speed limit. It may be advantageous to get this below. Only reason all my teen guys friends were not worse is because their cars where all dogs, but they all had lead feet too. Pray for your son every day that God protects him and others.
