hotshot_73_camaro

iTrader: (1)

Hey, I'm a 21 year old college grad living in Arizona. In an act of questionable sanity, I bought this '73 Camaro ($3000) about a year ago to restore it into my daily driver. (With a little kick and style.) It ran and passed emissions, but was otherwise falling apart. I'm almost done with the body and suspension restoration/upgrades, so now I've started to look into my powertrain options, and in another questionable act of sanity, decided an LS1/T56 swap was the setup for me, so here I am.

Here's a few pictures of my hunk o' junk...





With the front suspension rebuilt and restored... (You can see my dad's '84 Camaro [350/350 around 460hp] in the background)





And just this week I came home with a longblock LS1 out of a 2000 Trans Am. I was lucky, I got the set up for $360.







It hydrolocked at 100xxx, and I made a deal with the owner to have it checked for cracks before buying it-- obviously, it passed! (which is why the block is bare.) The previous owner stuck a 5.3 Vortec into his T/A instead of doing a rebuild, so he kept the belt drive, ECM/wiring harness, intake, and oil pan. I also need to buy new pistons and two connecting rods, plus whatever else will be replaced during the rebuild. So I still have a shopping list. I'm just looking for a 90% stock rebuild, maybe an LS6 intake and cam if I'm feeling greedy that week. My goal with the car is 'What would Chevy do if they built this car in 1973 with an LS1/T56?'

I've had some people tell me that buying a cheap junkyard Vortec for spare parts would be a good idea, and I just might do that after pricing things out. It would also give me a good reference for reassembly.

Lastly, I have a few questions, so I'll post'm here so I don't need to make a new thread.

- Would I be able to take an ECM/wiring harness out of a truck and use it on the LS1? (Assuming it's a 24-tooth reluctor-friendly ECM.) Did some research and mapped out my truck harness, turns out you can.
- I want to make it 50-state emissions legal (might have to move to California for work), does anyone have any advice about that? Like a list of the emissions equipment found on LS1's? Nevermind, '73's are emissions free in CA.
- Can you paint aluminum blocks? I was thinking about orange or something as a throwback to old SBC's, but I don't think I've seen one painted before. Asked in another post. Turns out you can.

Thanks for the info you guys post, I look forward to be involved here!