15andy32

Hey people my name is Andy I am a 26 year old math teacher and coach. I have been on here before and read many threads but have never posted before. I decided that is time to gain some knowledge and get some help.

Last year I talked my wife into letting me buy my dream car 1968 Camaro. After looking at many cars and missing out on a couple, I decided to settle on one that was rust free. All the rust had been removed. In doing this however I got a car with no engine, transmission, interior, radiator... you get the point it was just a shell with a few parts. Which means it is a blank canvas and I could do what I wanted with it.

Last summer I did a front disc conversion, all new front suspension, control arms, bumpers, springs, shocks, new bushings all over the car. I have the parts needed for rear disc conversion, power steering, rear suspension but got caught up in a move this summer and haven't had a chance to touch it
. (got a 24x30 shop out of it though)

Any ways it should be noted at this point that I am trying to make a weekend cruiser, maybe the occasional local car show. I want the Camaro to look as stock as possible with only a few mods such as AC, power steering, and of course the LS1 with the 4L60e trans. I bought a 2000 silverado for $1100 as a donor truck. The only thing wrong (I think) is what I believe to be a bad shift solenoid in the trans. I know what I need to do in order to get the engine and trans in the car (oil pan, headers, mounts etc.)

My big question is can I take the radiator and air conditioning components from the truck and put it in my car with a few mods? If so what would those be?

In the pictures the one where it was red was about 6 years ago before the previous owner started working on it. Then just a few shots of what It looks like. The front end work I did last summer and lastly the donor.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

dudesqueak

If you want it to look stock, there are plenty of intakes/carbs/efi kits that will make the motor look like something from the 60s, other than the coils and EFI logos that will be all over the place. You can relocate the coils and get some different valve covers that look old school or get some Holley coil covers that make it look old school. I've been told that it is easier to have a stand-alone EFI system instead of trying to tune the Silverado ECU to do what you want. And since you'll have to go to a tuner with the Silverado ECU and not with an aftermarket EFI system, you would probably spend the same. Or you could go really old school and just put a carb on top of it. The Silverado should have about 285 crank HP, so you won't be extremely excited driving the car. Do you have the budget for some upgrades and maintenance, or is goal #1 just to get it running and take it all apart later? You should be able to use the A/C parts, just in different locations, probably. Good luck with the transmission and radiator.

15andy32

My budget for this is kind of flexible in that I am willing to take a few years to get it ready to cruise. It also must fit in a teachers salary so I can not spend to much at once unfortunately.

I am aware of the low HP issue and after talking to a brother of mine I believe I will be doing a cam swap springs and rods as well. I will do that before I pull the motor and trans to ensure that I did it correctly and can hear it running in the truck.

Do you know a good place to get the brackets needed to align the AC stuff in the Camaro (hoping to get to it next spring or summer)?

15andy32

It has been a while but the last few weekends I have done the cam swap (216/220 .600/.600 112LSA from Texas speed and performance), and I have changed the shift solenoids out of the transmission as well.
A couple things: The truck sounds better and the shifting has gotten a little better. I am going to try and get it tuned very soon and go ahead and get the computer set up for the stand alone system that the Camaro will need. I have bought a few more parts and need to get back at.
I have been debating on when I pull the engine to tear it down and change all gaskets as well has clean the engine up a little bit. Any thoughts? I know I will at least have to pull the heads when I change the springs (I did not do that on initial cam swap). That will probably be when I commit to the tear down or not depending on what I find from that.

dudesqueak

You shouldn't need to pull the heads to change the springs, especially if the motor is out of the truck at the time. Cleaning is never a bad idea, though.