disjaukifa

Hey Guys,

This is going to be my build thread for my 1984 Chevrolet Camaro. Currently its will run, but the 2.8L V6 has a bad carburetor, distributor, and something else, can't remember and I have a major transmission issue. The issue being that it currently I have Park, Reverse, Neutral and First . . . and nothing else.

I bought this car in April of 2011 for $200 because the body was good, the hood, rear hatch, passenger door and both fenders needed to be replaced but the shell was in great shape, very little rust.

So here is the goal of this project, and the moto that my best friend and I are following for this build:

"Any idiot can make a V8 fast, it takes a smart idiot to make a V6 fast".

We got a 1993 GMC Jimmy on Sunday that has the motor/transmission we want for this build, a 4.3l CPI Vortec V6 with a 4L60E tranmission.



The motor has 135K on it, and the entire truck is actually in really nice shape, my friend and I are considering putting another engine/transmission in the Jimmy just because its in such nice shape.

In no particular order here were the factors that my best friend and I came up with to get the 4.3L CPI Vortec V6 for this engine swap for my Camaro.

• Weight
• Fuel Economy
• Horsepower/Torque
• Insurance

The 4.3L CPI Vortec comes stock with 200hp/260 torque stock. Right there we have more horsepower and torque than a stock 305 in an 3rd gen Camaro.

I've always wanted this Camaro to be more of a handling car than a straight line speed car, so keeping the engine light and the car balanced has always been a top priority. Also by going with a V6 it keeps my insurance cheaper than the cost for a V8.

I will update this thread after every day of work done for this project.

Thanks
Disjaukifa

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Great choice on the engine, looking forward to your progress. Subscribed...

AutoRoc

iTrader: (1)

It's all iron. Cool though.

disjaukifa

Thanks! There is going to be more coming and more work to be done. We are looking at changing several things about the car, not just the engine transmission, we are looking into switching the rear end, upgrading the front brakes, switching out the front seats with something that will hold you better, and I already have a ratchet shifter in the car.

The other point of this thread is to keep cost low, so we are going to be using pieces out of Junkyards, craigslist, and eBay to keep the cost down.

True, but you can get aluminum heads, but for now we just wanted to get the car moving with the new engine/transmission.

Here is how I see it.

1984 V6 carbureted was rated at 107hp/145tq stock. Going with 4.3L V6 out of the Jimmy, because its the CPI and not the TBI, we are going to instantly have 200hp/260tq BUT that is not completely true either. The mechanical fan is going to replaced with an electrical fan and we are going to be installing a dual exhaust system in the car, both of which will add more horsepower and torque.

Doing nothing else I expect to see anywhere between 225 ~ 250hp and around 300 of torque by the time we get the 4.3L V6 in the car. So just by doing the swap we are looking at over double the horsepower and torque that the stock 2.8L V6 gave use and more horsepower/torque than a stock Z28 from 1982 which was only rated at 190/240 if you were lucky to get a 190hp model, all the others were only 150hp.

-Disjaukifa

rdmotors

Hey everyone this is his friend that will be in on the swap. Just saying so everyone will know who i am to the build. Hope to post a step by step we will try to follow and will post some pics of car engine bay before hand. Just to let yall know he is doing this to beat my 2.8l fuel injected 40 over. Lol

disjaukifa

I'd beat 89' Camaro right until I have to shift into second gear

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

You might think about an aftermarket trans controller and throw in the 4L60E with the engine. Unless you want to buy another trans (700R4 was updated several times before GM added the additional electronics to make it the 4L60E).

And you may want to swap the front springs as well... Should net a bit of a height drop in the front of the 84 (I installed a set of S10 springs in mine).

disjaukifa

You brought up a good point that Maverick H1L I didn't think to go over. Rdmotors and myself are planning on completely transplanting the 4.3L Vortec engine, 4L60E transmission and all the wiring harness/computer system into the Camaro so that it will be EFI and we can utilize the CPI intake system.

Honestly I don't know much about the 4L60E, both Rdmotors and myself know the 700r4 enough to work on it, or in my case blow one up, but I don't know anything about its electronic descendant.

-Disjaukifa

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

There were several changes in various clutch assemblies between 84-92 (last year for the 4L60 non-E).

The 4L60 will bolt in, no changes. It's the same trans as the 700R4, renamed due to Federal standards and the electronic shifting. That's it. Only thing you really need is a cable speedo adapter for the VSS signal to the ECM (Dakota Digital stuff) OR a pre-89 Camaro instrument cluster that has the yellow box on the back (if it fits in the 84 dash, not sure if they changed like the Bird dash or not). This depends on how the Blazer ECM gets the VSS signal, whether it's straight from the sensor itself or through a cable speedo head.

disjaukifa

All good information that is going to be needed. I don't know how the Jimmy/Blazer gets the speedometer speed right now, I just haven't gotten underneath it to look.

I did find some of the 4L60E controllers, and I have to admit I'm excited about the prospect of being able to change how the transmission shifts on the fly. In all honestly I blew the 4L60/700r4 in my 84 because I installed a no slip shift kit and put in the springs that gave the transmission the hardest shifts possible.

Granted when I bought the 84 Camaro, the transmission had issues before I did anything to it. Overdrive was just overdrive, nothing else, you had to be in drive to have 1-2-3 and we only got that AFTER switching in another valve body into the 4L60/700r4. Before that it was 1st was 1st, 2nd was 2nd, 3rd and 3rd and there was no over drive. The transmission didn't do any shifting, you had to do it yourself. Honestly putting in the shift kit was signing the transmission death certificate but it was a blast to drive with the ratchet shifter while it worked!

-Disjaukifa

Project: 85 2.8 bird

I had a 95 s10 blazer w/the cpi, 4wd not sure on weight, but it got super crappy milage. 22hwy w/just myself going 65 from dayton to knoxville. remove the upper manifold and check the spider for fuel leaks when you do the swap, they tend to crack and leak.

birds got the vss speedo in like, 87 fwiw

kmcn47

sub'd always wanted to see this motor swapped into a thirdgen, never seen it finished

rdmotors

Been doing the first stages of reasearch for the swap. We plan to get the Jimmy to the shop where all this will happen and go over it and check a few things out. I drove it to my house and never saw the engine light come on. I want to confirm that we have no codes that i would think needed dealing with before the swap. When we pull the motor the plan is to tear it down completely and put a complete engine kit in it. Dont think we need pistons and rings right now but will not know until tear down. Everything else will be replaced to make sure we have something dependable from the get go. The motor might get some kind of power adders later on so the motor needs to be solid. Anyway it will get a good beating non the less. So if we find something broken or worn we plan on replacing it or repairing it as needed. We are trying to plan the swap out on paper first so we might be prepared for most everything.
We just recently did sorta a swap. Had a chrysler sebring with a shot 2.7, could not find a cheap one sitting around. So when we came across a concorde with a 2.7 running sounding good in a junk yard, with rear end damage. We looked into the swap and figured out it could be done. Swap timing plates, swap acessory mounts, grind some on the rear bell housing mount, and fab two brackets for the top of the acessorys then it fell into place and 5000 miles later doing just fine. All of this with lots of planning so it might be first of the year before we turn bolts but a good plan will be laid out first.

AutoRoc

iTrader: (1)

Single 3" exhaust will be cheaper, lighter, better ground clearance, and more than enough for 300-400hp.

22mpg in a 4x4 jimmy is pretty good. A guy I work with gets 23mpg with his 2wd 4.3 Jimmy.

jpearcy1

iTrader: (1)

I really like the 4.3 Vortec so finish this project haha but really good plan so far.

kmcn47

it should have been the v6 option in the thirdgen from the start lol

jpearcy1

iTrader: (1)

Yes very much so!

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

too bad pontiac couldnt share the 3.8L turbo... thats my favoret option ever in a thirdgen.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

Buick* Pontiac only borrowed it for the TTA.

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

I know

neilb

I agree! Back to the 4.3 though, A few years ago HotRod magazine had an article about a built 4.3. It used a 350 vortech blower kit and carb, and put out around 500-700 hp If I remember right. It always has been stuck in the back of my mind... something to try out someday.

Fallen2603

This the article you're talking about?

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...l/viewall.html

neilb

Thats it! That would be sick in a chevette, or an older s10, and especially in a camaro!

kmcn47

it'd be aweosme in a citation x-11, anyone remember the turbo 4.3 z28 concept car?

speedpower09

iTrader: (1)

It is good to know that I am not the only one putting a 4.3 in a third gen. Good luck with your build. I am installing my 30 over 4.3 in a 88 GTA. When I got the car somebody cut up the wiring harness and put a holley on it. And like you I was building this car for the street/curves. Trans I am using is a T56. On the 4.3 I am thinking about doing a blow thru carb setup. So again have fun with your build.

2007xl50

This does seem like a cool build and can't wait to see it done. Yeah I never did understand why the 4.3 was never used in the 3rd Gen.

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

Because besides the TTA, no one cared about the V6's for preformance in a thirdgen. They were designed to just have style and get decent MPG. IMO that 4.3L in its day still would of needed some work to be respectable for being a V6 in the preformance area today or even then compared to the 80's/90's real preformance V6's, GN's and TTA V6's.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

That would be because the 3.8 was the "performance" engine and the 4.3 was the "torque for trucks" engine. Hence why a 4.3 never went into a Buick or Pontiac (or a non-truck unless it was just an experiment as in the mag article above). The 60* was and still is the econobox V6. Granted, it's a step up from the old Iron Duke and the modern Ecotec, but it's still not a 4.3 (now that the 3800 is dead). Plus, it may have required some serious retooling for some of the stampings to install a 3.8 into every 3rd gen (as it was, they had to swap cylinder heads and do some work to the firewall, IIRC).
The TTA was a one-off sort of thing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the T/A, enough said. It likened back to the 70s when some T/As were turboed. Similar to the GTA notchback (I know, wrong year, but still) and the 88 Special Appearance package on the Camaro.
It may have been interesting to see a 4.3 in a 3rd, yes, but the 4.3 back then was a DOG. They would have had to do something similar to the TTA to make it enticing for the "performance" enthusiast.

speedpower09

iTrader: (1)

You have a real good point about the 4.3 and performance. If I was GM I would have put the Sysclone/Typhoon turbo 4.3 in the thrid gen. But if they did that it would been sort lived like all the others in the past that beats their beloved Corvette

disjaukifa

Hey Guys,

Slight update, end of November, and December were slammed for me and other than research I haven't done a single thing yet. I'm hoping to get down to my buddies place and start the tear down of the Blazer some time later this month or in February.

Between work and family life, I've been swamped!

Thanks!