The third gen camaro has been my dream car since I was a little kid, and I finally got around to buying one last summer at an auction. Afterwards I started doing some research on the different third gens and realized my 82 Z28 has the weakest engine and transmission of all the V8's put in third gens. So I am looking to add to my 145 hp.

I was originally thinking of just replacing my engine with a 350, but I'm in college right now and live 500 miles from home, so the gas mileage would be a bit of a problem. My budget is pretty limited (~$1000ish) so an LS1 install is out of the question and I would have to use an older 350. I'm thinking my best option is to just beef up my stock engine a bit. One of my dad's friends has some extra parts from his 2001 WS6, and he already gave me the exhaust system for christmas so I'm hoping to add that with some headers so my engine can breathe a bit better. I believe he also has the heads and intake manifold from the WS6, which I could probably get for a decent price, so what I'm really wondering is if those would be compatible with my 305. I think I read somewhere in the forums here that injected intake manifolds bolt in differently than carb manifolds, so if that is the case I would have to switch my car to fuel injection if I used those heads. Would any of these ideas work or should I try going a different route? I was also thinking of just finding a TPI from a later third gen and installing that. I took a look at the FAQ page about switching to TPI and it doesn't sound too difficult. My dad thinks my car doesnt have a fuel pump in the gas tank since its carburated, so I would also have to add that and a return fuel line to the car, and that the wiring for all the sensors and whatnot would be difficult to put together.

Am I on the right track? I'm hoping to get about 200 hp with about 20 highway mpg if possible. I have a mustang with a 2 bbl 289 and thats what it gets, so it doesn't seem too unreasonable. Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

Heads off a 2001 will be ls1 heads... that won't fit unless you do an entire engine swap. A 350 can still get 20 mpg if it is tuned, I had 29 mpg out of a 91 305 with 223,000 miles on it. Depending on the power you want, you could upgrade heads, cam, carb, and intake later.

As for the exhuast, you may be able to make it fit with some work. Exhuast is always a problematic area on third gens cause of how restrictive they are. I have seen it cause 350's to lose mpg, power, and run hot.

 

Does the engine run good? What about the tranny? Is it the 3 speed or 4 speed automatic? 1st off, make sure that everything is in tune and running good. A TPI setup will definitely net you some better gas mileage and torque but the swap might get a little extensive. You can spend Your $1,000 better elsewhere. One of the biggest hp killers on Your LG4 car is the exhaust. It's a restriction from the tiny exhaust manifolds on the motor, the small cat, and the tiny single 2 1/4 pipe. I've heard of 3rd gen Guys using LS1 cat back exhausts with good sucess. My buddy had a stock 83 Automatic Firebird with the LG4. He had Edelbrock headers and a cheap catback installed and the difference was amazing! The low end torque was comparable to my 305 tpi car.

 

The engine runs ok, it burns a little oil and could use an overhaul at some point but I havent decided if I should put money into overhauling it or if I should build up an old 350 instead. I'd love to have a 350 in there, but like I mentioned before I'm a little worried about what the gas mileage might be.

The transmission is unfortunately the 3 speed auto without overdrive, and one of the first things I'm hoping to do is find a 700r4 to replace it, but unfortunately I can't find one for a decent price in my area. I've heard the overdrive helps significantly with gas mileage and the 700r4 is overall more reliable than my stock tranny (I believe its a 200c).

The WS6 exhaust I got for christmas appears to be a 3 inch cat-back, and I did some measuring under my car and it looks like the muffler and tail pipes should fit, and the pipe goes over the axle in the same area and travels under the floorboards in the same area also, so as long as it fits over the axle it should be fine. I think I'll probably get a high-flow cat and a pair of headers to go with it; is there a particular type of headers I should look for? Also, if I were to install a 350 or a different pair of heads at some point in the future, would the headers I purchase to fit my 305 be compatible? And is there anything I can do with my heads as far as porting them so they flow better, or is there a different type of heads used in third gens that might be a bit better? Thanks again

 

Gas mileage differences between a 305 and 350 are negligible. In fact, going from a ragged out 305 to a fresh 350 may even NET you some gas mileage, lots of factors depending of course. Swapping a 700R4 will get you a huge increase in mileage if you run on the highway at all. You should be able to find a fine running used 700R4 for 2 - 3 hundred. If you're on the highway a 350 w/ overdrive will do far better than a 305 w/o overdrive.

Before you do anything, start with exhaust. Do headers and 3" cat back and see where that gets you. Those headers will then bolt right up to a 350 down the road. With your leftover budget after exhaust if you are smart about it you should be able to find a 350 w/ 700R4 that you can swap under your existing carburetor. I don't know what exactly is involved in making a CC-Quadrajet work on a 350 but the information is on this site. Search "LG4 350 swap"