waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Some girl was nice enough to pull out of a gas station in front of me without looking and I t-boned her doing 30-35 mph. Ideally, I'd love to have my car fixed but I doubt that's going to happen. I think it's most likely going to be totalled. My 133k mile LS1 and built 4L60E w/3400 stall Continental converter were running flawlessly and I'm considering a swap of some sort. I've spent some time researching various swaps on here and elsewhere on the internet. I was eyeballing swaps where the recipient vehicle is cheap (<$3000) but I'm finding that Miata swaps work better with a T56 and S10 swaps are pretty involved. Would it be safe to assume that my motor/tranny combo would be best suited for a 2nd gen RX7? If anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

My car...



Her car...

oct03gto

iTrader: (15)

Ouch man. Hope your ok. That blows.

Best thing and easiest would be find a v-6 Camaro. If not, grab an s-10. Or something carbed that you can drop that motor in easy.

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Thanks man. I'm still really sore but I'll live.

I considered a V6 Camaro...there's several for sale near me for less than $3,000. I might have to give that option a second look.

oct03gto

iTrader: (15)

That would really be the smoothest one to try. And you wind up with what you had. A reliable, trouble free car with the powertrain you know well.

Wimimc

iTrader: (2)

a sidenote but if he goes that route wont his insurance be cheaper because its a "V6"?

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

If you stage everything before hand you could swap that into a Datsun Z car in a long weekend. The John's Car kit says 20 hours installation time.

Finding a relatively rust free Z in Pittsburgh will be difficult to say the least. Probably a deal killer there.

RX7 swaps are definitely killers. I like that idea.

What about a mustang? Seems to be a popular swap around here.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

If you go pre-75 you can avoid the SMOG and re-Certification...?

G-Body is another cheap and common swap.

nomoneyz

iTrader: (15)

I vote pre 75 muscle car.

hpbob1

iTrader: (1)

The Cheapest light fast car would be a fox body mustang 87-93. Car can be down to 2700 lbs, has a solid 8.8 posi fron the factory that will take all your abuse from mild gear slamming to all out constant drag racing, factory rack & pinion steering etc.

If your a die hard chevy purist then I vote for either a similar year camaro roller or a pre 1975 camaro. The camaro route will be much more expensive.

I have personally owned both a 67 camaro convertible and a 1987 5.0 fox body mustang convertible. Loved both cars. Currently dropping a LQ4 6.0 with powerglide into my 1988 mustang hatch for a 1/8th mile drag only car. By far the cheapest combo to go fast on a budget is a LS motor in a fox body mustang. Add your power adder of choice, nitrous, turbo, super charger etc and instant 8 or 9 second quarter mile car.

Its the efficient great heads LS motor mixed with a light, cheap fast , fox body dime a dozen mustang roller equals instant cheap fast car. In speed the name of the game is power to weight or light weight with great power. I see so many guys putting a nice powerful expensive built motor into a boat anchor heavy car with mediocre results and then wonder why someone else is going way faster on less than half the money.

hpbob

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Awesome suggestions everyone!

I really liked Pop N Wood's suggestion of a Z car but like he speculated, there are no rust free ones where I live.

My next door neighbor has a '68 Camaro in his garage that he uses for junk storage. I thought about asking him if I could buy it but I don't think he wants to get rid of it. Plus, I'm not sure I would want to tackle that swap anyway. It looks like there's a lot of parts modifications required to fit my LS1 into it.

I'll have to check into the fox body mustang idea. It sounds like what I'm looking for.

Thanks again everyone!

b005td

iTrader: (9)

I have both swapped FC rx7 and s10. The rx7 is somewhat an easier swap.

89LS1RS

iTrader: (1)

ive got a 95 roller with a cage and under 60,000 miles. ive been trying to get 3500 and i havent been in a hurry to lose it, but id do 3000 if you need it.

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the offer. I actually found a '98 Firebird in the next town over for $1500 that has some minor engine issues but runs. I might just get that if they do total my car. I won't know anything until Monday though.

BOBthe4dH8r

iTrader: (1)

that sucks waveoff! im in the same exact boat you are, i cant figure out wich way i want to go. i have found a half a dozen foxbodies around here for cheap! but id catch serious hell if i got caught driving a blue oval, even if it was ls powered. LOL! so unless i find a screamin deal on a notch back, i'l probly just try and find a cheap f-body. does anyone know if theres a diff between rear-ends in the v6/v8 maros? i think mine bent in the wreck.

btw , i think the 93-97 rx7/ls swap is definitely the coolest imo. im not (and never was) a ricer, i just think thats a badass looking car. unfortunately they are way out of my price range.

another cool swap is a good'ol chevyII.

1LOMARO

Fellas... when looking at these 6 cyl. f-bodies, I'd check the rpo code on the door. Look for the y87 code. These are the ones that came with the same steering racks as your cars, plus they come from the factory with a 3.42 gear set along with LSD.

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Excellent info.

I'm probably goint to swap my rear end over as well though if I do a V6 to V8 swap. So if the recipient car isn't a Y87 car no biggie. Call me crazy but I like my 2.73's and Auburn Pro Posi. I was going to see if I could unbolt everything on my car (i.e. engine/tranny still attached to rear end) and just lift the shell of my car off and then lower the shell of the V6 car onto the assembly and bolt everything into place. That might be too much work though. We'll see.

Pocket

iTrader: (22)

3rd gens are very easy since so many of the 4th gen parts directly fit them

Mounts, fuel, wiring, exhaust, tune, drive

Stocker94z

how much would you sell the whole car for?? i'd be very interested in it. i'd fix it up.

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Stocker94z you have a PM.

I got my car back today from the towing company impound lot. The insurance company is letting me buy it back for $350 so I couldn't pass that deal up! I think I'm going to do a swap in to a V6 F-Body just for simplicity's sake. I was really researching the S-10/sonoma swap but it looks to be more hassle than I want to deal with. While I wait around to find the perfect recipient for the transplant I'm going to list the whole car for sale on craigslist. If I get the price I want I'll just sell it whole.

jay7199

iTrader: (9)

3rd gen swap! you can get 3rd gens for cheap and they are lighter then 4th gens