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So, I found this forum and was reading the threads in order to get some information for my father and an LS swap for his 1972 Camaro. I grew up around his car and love the 2nd gen look so I decided to find one for myself and have some fun with it.
I ended up buying a 1972 RS Camaro that will be the car I build and hopefully my son can grow to enjoy as I did.
So far my plans for the car include;
body work and paint
full interior
LS motor
6 speed
3.73 gears
This thing was literally sitting in a yard for 10 years, hence the tires.... First thing I did was get it on some decent rollers to make moving it around easier to deal with. Motor will be out soon and then it will be on a trailer next week to get media blasted.
I got a little gungho and started tearing this thing down with out taking pictures first. Oh well...
I dont know what happened to my post from last night but I had a quick update; I picked up a 5.3 out of a 2001 tahoe that has 150k miles on it and was hit hard in the passenger side that caused the cast part that holds the ac compressor on to break off. Hopefully there isn't anything wrong with the block itself when I tear it down more. It was $300 as complete as it gets with harness and ecu, I figured I would take the chance and get it anyways.
There is a good sized hole in the top of the intake from the guy I got it from pulling the engine. I'm trying to stay cheap for now so should I just buy another truck intake and slap it on or should I get an LS style intake?
I ordered an LS9 cam, cover with sensor and cam gear for the motor to install. What other mods should I do to this 5.3? I mean besides a turbo.....
I'd considering just running it as is to make sure nothing is wrong from the accident before dumping money into it. Or..... as Clint Eastwood says....."Do you fell lucky, PUNK."
I'd think getting another truck intake would be cheapest, just to make sure the motor runs, unless come to find out it doesn't fit under the hood........
As far as other things to do.....turbo is the only answer.
And one thing I have a problem with, I think just a slight oversight on your part,.......I see no mention of a mULLeT! In your original plans for the car, I mean, you could be doin some body work, or wrenchin" all while whisping your muLLeT! Off your shoulder! Heck get one for pops too!
Now I could be totally off here, and that makes me just a jacka$$, because you already have this covered.
I'd think getting another truck intake would be cheapest, just to make sure the motor runs, unless come to find out it doesn't fit under the hood........
As far as other things to do.....turbo is the only answer.
And one thing I have a problem with, I think just a slight oversight on your part,.......I see no mention of a mULLeT! In your original plans for the car, I mean, you could be doin some body work, or wrenchin" all while whisping your muLLeT! Off your shoulder! Heck get one for pops too!
Now I could be totally off here, and that makes me just a jacka$$, because you already have this covered.
Good luck with your build!
Unfortunately no mullets here, Im not quite that white trash. In the meantime I'm going to go ahead and run a new/used truck intake on it for a while.
I rotated the crank, everything seems ok and I didnt see any wobble or side to side movement. I tore the motor down far enough to clean the block and visually inspect the seals and the oil was clean for a high mileage motor. I also did not see any metal shavings in the pan or the pickup tube screen.. Cam is in the mail and so are the valve springs and push rods.
Anyone know who is local in WA area that can modify a harness/tune a pcm?
John @ www.SPeartech.com gets my vote. Shipping isn't much, so don't hesitate shipping outside of state. I think mine (VVT harness w/TCM and ECM w' oxy sensore was about $30.oo IIRC from Speartech to me. near buffalo NY
I responded with a few updates and some pictures a couple days ago but it I guess my message needed to be approved. Oh well, some quick updates.
I removed the hood from the car for quicker motor swaps
Ordered a new passenger fender as the old one looks like it was hit with a bag of nickels
Ordered a new cheap 3 core aluminum radiator
picked up some hard ware/bolts
bought a new core support as the one that is in it is rusted out
ordered some wiring goodies to rework my harness
Bought a new gasket kit and some egr block offs for the intake and oil pan block off
Ordered a new water pump and belt tensioner to replace the parts that were broken off in the accident
Received a spectra efi fuel tank, for the price I paid for the scratch and dent model i will live with starvation issues if it has any. It is the newer model with the bigger baffling welded in.
Continued cleaning the motor, its almost to where I want to paint it now.
It's been a while since I have updated this thread, work is progressing very slowly with the camaro as my wife and I are expecting and so the car took a backseat. Over the winter I did rewire my harness and had my PCM reprogrammed to get it started and drive it to a shop to fine tune everything.
I've ordered most everything I need to get it back on the road and a little extra, some inner fenders and a passenger fender, plus a new core support as the one I had was rusted out.
I do have an issue with the motor mounts I bought some solid mounts as I was going from a V6 so I knew I would have to relocate my mounting plates and purchase new ones. Ill be damned if these things are way to short and the motor sits on the k frame with the front of the oil pan. I did pick up some stock v8 frame plates, I just need to get the engine side now
I have the stock mechanical linkage for the manual transmission and it looks like I may run into an issue using the stock truck manifolds. I've read through quite a few posts, it looks like most everyone uses set back plates, fbody manifolds and the fbody pan.
WHere? That's a great deal. What brand? I'm pretty sure AMD sells a off shore pc. If y6ou ever need AMD parts, lookup FUTUREUSER on here. He is a vendor for them and saved me a bundle. 110% satisfied.
haha my 71 is that same blue color....looks like a fun build. im hoping to get started on mine later this year. you look to be making some good progress.
haha my 71 is that same blue color....looks like a fun build. im hoping to get started on mine later this year. you look to be making some good progress.
I'm not sure when it was repainted that blue, I'm not a very big fan of it too pastel for me. When I took the fender off I found a patch of the original mulsanne blue, I want to repaint it that color it is very nice.
I wish it were good progress, I wanted to be much further from where I am now but life gets in the way. I am still collecting parts for it, the interior was destroyed when I picked it up and I need a new tail pan.
WHere? That's a great deal. What brand? I'm pretty sure AMD sells a off shore pc. If y6ou ever need AMD parts, lookup FUTUREUSER on here. He is a vendor for them and saved me a bundle. 110% satisfied.
Yeah, I need to buy a couple more pieces, trunk pan and tail pan on this thing is pretty bad. I also wanted to get a cowl hood. I will have to shoot him a PM.
I'm not sure when it was repainted that blue, I'm not a very big fan of it too pastel for me. When I took the fender off I found a patch of the original mulsanne blue, I want to repaint it that color it is very nice.
I wish it were good progress, I wanted to be much further from where I am now but life gets in the way. I am still collecting parts for it, the interior was destroyed when I picked it up and I need a new tail pan.
any progress is good progress man. mine has been setting in storage for about 4 years now. Ive been collecting parts off and on, but not really done anything to it other than wish i had done stuff to it. Ill probably gut my interior and start all over. Ive got some big plans so it should be fun once the time comes. I dont think mine is the original color either, the door jams or a weird brown color that was kind of common in that era. I havnt made up my mind if I want to go Black or charcoal.
11-30-2016, 08:33 PM
1972 RS Camaro/Z28 clone 
In the meantime I'm going to go ahead and run a new/used truck intake on it for a while. 
