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View Full Version : fixing the car up got a bunch of questions...


Scrat's_Camaro
03-07-2011, 02:40 PM
I have some questions and would also like opinions on what parts are best. Also for the record i want to keep the v6 in the car. Ok long story short im repairing my camaro which is a 96 3.8 with an auto. The oil pump is kinda letting me know its probably gonna crap out on me. since i plan on removing the engine since it has 145k on it, i was wondering would it be better to rebuild the current engine with a n/a setup with heads, cam, and internals or get another 3.8 with lower milage and build that up. The current motor runs well but has been running on lower oil pressure than usual and one morning it started and guage said it had no oil pressure and i immediatly shut it down. (other than that one time of no pressure, it flucuates between just under 40 and above 20 at idle and driving) and it also has had loss of coolant due to heater hoses blowing twice when driving but never got too hot since i immediatly pulled over and shut it down (just above 210 but never on the 230 mark). Now i found a 3.8 on cl thats supposingly has 10k on it and was never apart for 700 bucks, but not sure how true that is or what to expect with the engine.
I figure i'll throw these questions in here aswell instead of making a bunch of threads all over the place. Now for the rear i was planning on swapping out the gears and was wondering should i go 3.73's or 4.10's with a posi? Also im also planning on replacing the springs with 1" to 1 1/2" drop and not sure which brand springs would be the best. I am gonna get a torque arm and panhard bar and such and also replace the shocks. For the trans, how much can these trans hold or should i get a fully built setup in it or just upgrade the valve body with better servos and shift kit. And finally, is there a site that has restoration type parts for the fourth gen, something like what lmc truck does? Any help would be appriciated.

3.4 grape of wrath
03-07-2011, 06:12 PM
What should your oil pressure be at idle? Between 20 and 40lbs at idle sounds about right. Having no oil pressure only once sounds odd, I would let that one go. I would rebuild the motor you have but first I would do a tear down and inspection than make my decision. As far as gears go for the street I wouldn't go any higher than 3.73's. Before you lower the car plan out all your parts first. If you lower the car you MUST change the springs and don't forget to adjust your pinion angle. You can either get an adjustable torque arm or use transmission mount shims to correct the pinion angle with a non-adjustable one.

Scrat's_Camaro
03-07-2011, 06:25 PM
oil pressure was always at 60 or slightly above then it started to drop alittle and then thats when i had the no pressure incident. After that it only goes up to about 40 and then down alittle lower than that after a bit. And the pressure sensor is fairly new so i know its not that. Suspension wise i was planning on getting the non adj arm since it was mainly gonna be street driven. shocks will be replaced as will as the panhard bar and control arms.