i am wanting some experienced opinions on this swap. i have two camaros, both run fine. one is a 2.6 V-6 5 speed with the 3.42 rear end, the other is a 305 V-8 auto with the 2.73 rear end. everything i have read says the 3.42 is way better behind the V-8. so here is my plan. i want to swap the two rear ends. here is my thinking behind this. the 3.42 is better for low end torque but not so good at higher speeds. and vice-versa. the V-6 will be a daily driver and the V-8 is my special occasion car. i think the manual transmission will help compensate for the loss of torque behind the V-6 with the 2.73 and still do pretty good on the highway while the V-8 will do better with the 3.42 on surface streets with minimal highway. so my questions are, what would be the pros and cons with this swap? is there anything wrong with my theory? just to answer one question, neither of these cars will be a "race" car.

 

I can't imagine the embarrassment of driving one of these cars with a 6-cyl AT ALL, never having done so myself; that will become even more humiliating without the extra gear. It will feel like you just cut the engine size in half. I doubt you will want to ever drive it ever again after the first time you try to pull out in front of somebody in a tight traffic situation.

OTOH the V8 car will feel like you just bolted in 100 more cubic inches. You'll LOVE that half of the deal.

 

so what would be the drawback of the V-8 with the 3.42. because i cant imagine they would change the gears without reason.

 

the v8 would love the 3:42's, however the v6 will be a total turd with the 2:73 gears, since they are not anything special with the stock gearing. I say this as the owner of a v6 and a v8 car.

 

id say leave the v6 car alone and buy a 100 dollar junkyard v6 rearend. thats what i did.the 1990 up rears are best.

 

That would have been, the CAFE regulations of the day...

 

thanks for all the opinions i think i will take the advice and just grab another rear end.