Timothy Isaacs

Hello everyone, just wanted to take a moment and have an introductory to familiarize myself with a few of you fine people. I'm in the Eastern Kentucky area, just purchased a completely stock v-6 firebird, not Mechanically inclined at all (barely basics), I have located what I believe to be a very good deal on an ls1 motor and a transmission that the older gentleman said could be mounted right up. Tranny and motor directly into my car and would let go also the radiator, CPU, starter and what he believes to be everything needed to put in and go. I'm not Mechanically inclined at all and am in no way familiar with the process or necessary parts. I am intelligent enough to have doubt it's not just that easy. I was referred to him by the previous owner who had mentioned that he never came up with the funds to get it for the car and also re-assures that it is what I need to make this happen. I do happen to have a close friend who agreed to do the work at a discounted rate and I'm supposed to go look over this mans motor trans and equipment and make a decision to go ahead and purchase or not in the coming week. Any sort of guidance or help would be appreciated. I'm on a somewhat low budget and after paying his asking price Will leave me with a budget of around 2300 to complete it... That's after purchase of this motor and transmission. Any and all help and advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance, and looking forward to being a member of the community. Maybe one day I'll have attained enough knowledge to be of some use or help to someone. That's a very slim chance though!

JD_AMG

Honest advice for someone who is not mechanically inclined: Just buy an LS1 car and be done with it. It is usually cheaper to buy a nice LS1 car than it is finding a nice V6 fbody and buying everything needed to swap + all the nickle and dimes thrown at the car to get it to run right.
Also from what you have listed you will also need a V8 k-member as your stock K-member will not work.
Also think of this as well, the V8 cars got slightly stiffer front suspension as well, so you will still be riding on the even worse V6 suspension (the V8 suspension sucks too, basically a must to upgrade if you want a car that rides/handles well). Your rear end is likely an open diff, so you will struggle to put the new power you have down (one tire will spin while the other doesn't), so that may need to be switched too.
Plus how will you know if the LS1/trans you buy will be truly in good running condition until you install it? Do you trust the mileage the guy is tell you the engine and trans has on it?

m1a2d3

i agree just buy a ls1 car the prices are way down. if you want to go fast buy one that is already modded but done professionally. take your time theres a lot of good deals out there. i don't want to tell how much money i have in my car and its almost worth 1/2 that

TTur1996

If you are willing to be very patient and very diligent about looking. You will be able to find a mid life crisis that scared the crap out of them. And pick it up very cheap. And they are usually bad *** because they had a speed shop build it. Otherwise, if you want to learn about what your building. Be there for every bolt and nut. That's how you learn. Ask lots of questions without being a pita. Not sure how patient your buddy is. This site has got tons of info. A lot of great guys that are very willing to help too. Oh yeah. Welcome to the site.