I have a 1990 RS 3.1L I have had the car for 2 years now. I recently fishtailed into a curb in bad rain. I damaged the engine crossmember, bent the lower control arm, and bent all the steering components. I didn't have the time to fix the damage and cleaned it up nice, and put it out for sale and bought a different car to drive for the time being. It is killing me see this thing sit there and nothing happen to it. I now have time to fix it, but am no longer interested in a V6. I was wondering if it would be a wise choice to fix the damage and then drop a 350 in it later on...or should I just fix the damage and sell it? I'm extremely frustrated and just want something to happen, so any advise would be great!
Thank you,
Nick

 

do you have pics of how bad it is? honestly man, you should hold onto it! I am not claiming to be an expert on all that is camaros, but I think your gonna be real happy when you get it all fixed up w/ a big ol 350 and the power that comes with it. The only thing it depends on now is sentimental value, how much is the car worth to you and how much would you want to see someone else let it sit in their back yard? I had a 90 RS WITH just a 305 and I loved it! I wish I had never gotten rid of it, if you do get rid of it, buy another one, maybe switch over to a firebird or something! F bodies are just great....and great fun. I understand the frustration though, I'm having a bit of trouble with mine(1991 Firebird) patients is all it takes.....

 

I don't have pictures at the moment, I will take some tommorrow. I am going to fix the damage, for as cheap as possible, but yet still fixing it to the best of my ability. If I sell it, I will only buy an IROC. I have my eye one one now, but need to sell mine first. And, 3 months of being for sale hasn't struck much interest in people. Lots of lookers, but once they see the damage, they quick leave. The IROC I'm looking at needs a valve job, y-pipe patching, and some TLC...my initial question was...fix the damage and hope someone buys it so I can get this IROC, then work on that...or just fix mine up, and drive it while building a 350 on the side? Money is also an issue, If I build a 350, I would maybe find a blown up one, and overhaul it. Need some suggestions!

 

I work at a motorcycle dealership, so all the guys there are all into old hopped up muscle cars and have convinced me to keep my car and put in a nice tubular k-member and a-arms, redo the suspension and steering all brand new. A co-worker has a 350 block bored .030 over and is willing to sell it to me for $500..I am going to go that route, and can be proud that I did the work myself, to my first car. Any more suggestions, advise, etc?

 

I guess it's all preference now....either way a little money is involved....I think if it were me, I would salvage yard the parts to fix your RS, sell it and buy the IROC that your eyeballing...cause then you wouldnt have so much of a headache to change everything to a V8. I have never done the v6 to v8 swap, but I am going to soon, and I already know I am gonna have a few problems along the way. If it were me, I would just swap the v8 into the RS you have, but then again, I like to keep the original everything, i hate getting rid of things. so its is just plain personal preference now...... I would do the research and see how much each will cost to do and go from there.

 

My intention when I found the IROC was to take parts off of it to fix mine. I talked to the owner and they told me they were selling it outright. It sat for a year so I figured they would part it out. It didnt dawn on me until then to settle for a new car. I then decided to sell mine. That was 3 months ago. I wanted a camaro for the summer, but now the summer is over and there is no need, so I can wait and am willing to spend money over time to fix it. I understand it will be a big job, and I am willing to go forward with it. It was making me sick watching the beautiful machine sit there and nothing happen to it. I will soon begin tearing mine apart. I plan to make it a project car and work on it over time while I am going college and plan to have it ready by next year. If I go with a carb'd 350, do I need an ECM? I would prefer not to. I will keep you guys updated with my progress.

 

you should prolly leave the ecm in the car, but you obviously wont need it for the carb injection....I believe you can use the v6 fuel pump, but you have to run a modulator to it to adjust the pressure, because your gonna obviously need more fuel to the new v8.. I was just asking about this yesterday is why I say that...I think you gots a good idea. Rip that thing apart and rebuild, your gonna be real happy when its all done. Have fun with it man, give us pics along the way!

 

Since you live in new jersey sign up for NJFBOA.org thats new jerseys fbody owners association.

 

Thanks for the replies. Keep them coming, the more advise/suggestions I get, the better! I am already a member of that message board. That is what motivated me to sell mine. I wanted to go to the meetings with those guys, but the only f-body I had didn't steer straight, so I decided to sell. But that didnt work out, so hopefully I'll be going to the meetings next year.

 

I've been reading alot of the Derek and Kurt father and son project to get some help. It has been helpful. I've been a mechanic all my life, and I'll be 18 in less than a month. At the age of 7 I knew exactly how an engine worked. Anyway, the easy parts of the project are building the 350, and putting it in. The parts I am having concerns about is the electrical wires and whatnot that go along with the 350. Electrical is/has always been my weak spot. I am not sure if I need to change the wiring harness, or modify the one I have, or If I need one at all. I see that the a/c and whatnot are tied into the main harness. I want to keep my a/c and heater. I'm not sure if I need to change the ECM. Any help is apreciated!

 

Also, is it a wise choice to buy this 350 block off of my co-worker? I've worked with him for 2 years now, I trust him alot, and he told me it's bored .030 over all cleaned and ready to go in bags with oil. I'm going to take a look at it this week. Would it be wise to build the engine that way? Or find an assembled motor and rebuild it?

 

Hey guys, I'm back! I decided to wait on the V8 swap, and just fix the damage and drive it for a little bit, then do the swap. I found a K-Member with lower control arms attached for $75. I bought it and my father and I installed it. We lost a few bolts in the process, so the project is on a stand still til I have some time to go to the junk yard and get them. But, after 8 hours, it was all done. Still have to do last minute tightening of the bolts and bleed the brakes, and I'm all set. Thanks for all the help! You guys are great and extremely helpful! Definitely my fav. messege board on the web!

 

Just my humble opinion, but I say never do that swap at all. I had a thread about this and it's a huge headache. I.E.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/4...g-v8-what.html

You'll get better handeling if you just build a powerful v6. In the circles I ran in before becoming an fbody convert, I had seen 4 bangers with 400+ HP - so building a sexy v6 should be easy relative to all of the suspension and wiring you're going to get into with the swap. Just check out what we can do to our cars:

https://www.thirdgen.org/six-cylinder

So give the v6 a chance

 

Not saying the v6 isnt a good motor to start with. I'm actually in the process of removing mine and replacing it with a 350. I drove my camaro daily for 3 years and loved the 3.1, but I have always enjoyed the sound and feel of a v8. So i think i'll have to deal with the "headache" and do the engine swap.
But to each his own and good luck to all of you guys.
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Also guys, if your looking for any v6 parts check my listing on this board. Well, now that I plugged my BUMP i'll surrend the hi-jacked thread back.

 

Take a look at the last post here www.thirdgen.org/techboard/v6/386343-after-market-parts-60-a-2.html.

I've always been sentimental about original engines so if it were me I'd keep the v6.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I just read your thread, and I've been reading about a V6 to V8 swap for almost a year now. I've been a mechanic all my life and have completely removed engines and transmissions, and installed them again. But it was always the same engine, it was never a swap. I understand its alot of work. Nothing mechanical to me is concidered a "headache"..I look at it as a way to lean more about what your doing so the next time it happens, you know what went wrong, how to fix it, or even what the hell you just did. My Camaro used to be my daily driver, when I wrecked it, I got a Blazer and have been driving it since. Like I said, I'm going to wait on the swap. I am going to drive it when the spring comes. Then do the swap later on. As far as that goes, I plan on getting a full parts car so that way I can just swap everything out and make things alot easier. And it will be a carb'd engine so I dont have to worry about getting a new computer and rewiring a new harness.