this is a tuffy...

[78camaro]

alright guys i need some help, my 78 camaro is gettign a make over inside n out...budget around 20k motor i dotn wanna go no more then 10k 11k at most, will be a street car driven 2 times a week or so n ehh slight track abuse....basicall i want it to haull ass 100% sleeper.

my problem is my engine... rigth now i got my 350 rebuilt 3k miles ago its super clean but the powr just isnt there for me so ill lookign to unload that (84HOtransam is thinking about taking it). so liek i just dotn know what to do first i was thinking of having a shop build me a nice 427 or something but labor kills its liek more money for that then parts.. so im stumped i dont know what to do, i was thing mayb buy an ls1 crate n procharge it, but then i found an ls2 crate so now im going out of my mind because i have as much power as i can but i dotn wanna nto have it reliable so im lost on what to do.... the car wont be seeing anychanges till spring but i just want to have my shoping list all planed out so later down the road im not goign crazy like i am now...


......everyone pleasssee helppppp meeee

[Mister_Johnny99]

Chill Bro!
Just give me the 20k and I'll hook you up.
Truuuust me!

How about a ZZ502 deluxe GM crate motor?
Complete engine ready to run for $7000 @ GMPartsDirect!

[camaro2you]

ill take the motor

[HardcoreZ28]

I'd say go with a crate engine from GM and maybe supercharge it.....I believe they have that 383 now or maybe a big block.

Or you can go with the new fad and build a large displacement small block....something in the 425 cube range.

[j0n]

84HOtransam dont mess up that car man...thats one of very few dont do it!

[84HOtransam]

Originally Posted by j0n

84HOtransam dont mess up that car man...thats one of very few dont do it!

i need the motor for my 86 plow truck that has a leaking freeze plug..im only debating it for my car...

besides if i do pull the 305 im going to keep it on an engine stand in my garage and put it back in when i want to restore the car in 20 years..

[j0n]

ok good

[V]

if you really wanna do a crazy engine swap, hunt the junkyards for a little while, until a C6 turns up, im sure one will soon, you could probably get the ls2 engine with all the wiring for around 8k or less. and do basic bolt ons to that. that should be able to give you a nice 400+ rwhp. just an idea, i though about it for my ss, but i need the iron 6.0 block for the supercharger. the ls2 is probably available as a crate engine too, but im not sure.

[ar0ck]

I say go big or go home. Alot of people like GM's 502 motor, and that has PLENTY of power. If not do an LS2. It will be available soon by GM, because they recently released a whole slew of motors.

or if you dont mind waiting awhile.... wait till the new Z06 comes out with the LS7 and find a junked one

[78camaro]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

if you really wanna do a crazy engine swap, hunt the junkyards for a little while, until a C6 turns up, im sure one will soon, you could probably get the ls2 engine with all the wiring for around 8k or less. Â*and do basic bolt ons to that. Â*that should be able to give you a nice 400+ rwhp. just an idea, i though about it for my ss, but i need the iron 6.0 block for the supercharger. Â*the ls2 is probably available as a crate engine too, but im not sure.

http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/store/pr...Category_ID=63

[78camaro]

o yea, i forgot to mention i wanna hit 10s so keep that in mind,my car is pretty heavy 3620 or somethign to that affect

[V]

check out Beck racing engines. they had a 540 bbc i was in contact with them about for a prostreet 3rd gen project, it had 830 hp N/A with a 300 shot of NOS setup already. for a total hp of 1130 on spray. in a 3500lb car(with traction) they said it'd do mid 9s all day n/a and 8.70s on spray. turnkey motor for 14k. but im sure for around 10k they got some other sick engines. and if you stay with pre 90's lt1 style engines you can use the older style accesories and rad setups

[The Fixer]

A friend of mine put a 502 hp 502 CI crate motor in his '88 SS, along with a built 200-4R and a 12-bolt with 3.73s. He got kicked out of E-town on the 1st pass, having run an 11.7x with no cage. The car had not been tuned either.

The 2nd-gen F-car is just about as heavy as the Monte, so I'd get the 502 and tune it. With consistency and tuning, it's a mid-11 second motor. Add spray, and there are your 10s.

[78camaro]

Originally Posted by TPI Monte SS

A friend of mine put a 502 hp 502 CI crate motor in his '88 SS, along with a built 200-4R and a 12-bolt with 3.73s. He got kicked out of E-town on the 1st pass, having run an 11.7x with no cage. The car had not been tuned either.

The 2nd-gen F-car is just about as heavy as the Monte, so I'd get the 502 and tune it. With consistency and tuning, it's a mid-11 second motor. Add spray, and there are your 10s.

im not a big fan of spray....

[j0n]

you can customize a turbo for any vehicle

[NJSPEEDER]

a lot of parts suggestions will come from how fast you wanna go.
if you want a great bang for the buck motor cobo all you need is a rebuiolable or gm perfomance parts 350 short block and a set of vortec heads.
you can buy the heads from scoggins-dickey ( www.sdpc2000.com ) that are already set up with better valve springs and every thing or you can go for teh edelbrock e-tec heads that are basically aluminum rip offs.
get yoruself a torker intake, a holley 700 or 750 DP and a mediumish cam(somethign liek a comp cams XE274 or XE284<preferred). both will pull to 6k+ and still provide a good idle and driveability.
if you really wanna stomp people and still have teh car be pleasent to drive i woudl suggest looking into an overdrive tranny, 700r4 would be a simple swap. get a mild convertor, 2600-2800, and then throw some gear behind it, 3.73's ot 4.10's(<preferred). with teh over drive and a lock up convertor you will be in great shape for driving around town or down the highway

you could do you whole drive train for less than 10k, put up respectable numbers at the track, and still drive it anywhere.

if you really wanna have some fun and do soemthign a little different at teh same time i woudl go for an LS1. you can pick them up with wiring and everything for fairly cheap these days. put a little head and cam package in it and you have yourself a serious performer with all teh advantages of modern technology.

later
tim

[jims69camaro]

Originally Posted by j0n

you can customize a turbo for any vehicle

http://www.bankspower.com/twin-turbo-products.cfm

'nuff said.

[78camaro]

Originally Posted by jims69camaro

http://www.bankspower.com/twin-turbo-products.cfm

'nuff said.

11k for totall engine build....

[NJSPEEDER]

do your chassis and body prep first. get everythign you want to get done with those so that teh car is prepared to run a good number.
then spend whatever is left of your budget on the motor.
a properly prepared chasis will get you further towards an et goal than a big budget motor.

later
tim

[foff667]

i say Heads cam LS1 with a direct port setup it would be far less then 10 grand and you would have a tranny with it already...you could get a mild head/cam setup with over 400 to the wheels and spray your way to well over 500.

[78camaro]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

do your chassis and body prep first. get everythign you want to get done with those so that teh car is prepared to run a good number.
then spend whatever is left of your budget on the motor.
a properly prepared chasis will get you further towards an et goal than a big budget motor.

later
tim

good point tim, thanks alot

[slasherbarb]

this car will decimate all...aafter you put aboput 15 grand into it...if we have to overnite parts from japan...

[slasherbarb]

plus one of these could help a little bit...hehehe