2K2WS6TA

iTrader: (2)

Well I have the Z, and aside from a toasted motor it's in great shape. So those of you that have swapped an LS1 into your 3rd gen what did it cost you.
I figure around 10k, for engine, trans, harness, upgraded brakes, and rear, compatable gages, and T/A front seats
Is my estimate low or high?

92CamaroReallySlow

I would say your estimate is reasonable. Im at a little higher than that, at probably 12 or 13 k. But I had a lot of poorly spent money. Reasearch it first and make good decisions and you can have a bad *** car for 10 k. I want to do another one and be more thrifty with my money. Find out exactly what you want to do with suspension and brakes and drivetrain before you make any decisions.

ThirdGenLS1

iTrader: (11)

if you do all the work yourself you could have a bad *** car for 10k, i'm running about 6k right now, with 4 more i could do a WHOLE lot. I would have liked to have done a rear end, brakes and a cam/heads which would have taken me easily to the 10k mark, but theres always next summer.

Justin

89FormulaLS2

iTrader: (1)

I'll have double that in mine, but most people don't do a full frame-off resto or $10k engine, either. :-)

I think your number is easily doable for what you have listed, as long as you take 92CamaroReallySlow's advice and do the research and make the "big" decisions about what you want to do BEFORE you start buying parts.

I've got a 91 Camaro RS I'm hoping to put an LS1 into next year. I'm estimating about the same ballpark as you are thinking for that swap.

ThirdGenLS1

iTrader: (11)

Yea RESEARCH and searching on this and thirdgen.org are your best friend. I searched and asked questions for a good 5 months before i started to buy. Making a list is a good idea too, i took every sectoin of the car and listed all the parts i needed, where i was going to get them from, and how much they were. Kinda like this

Chassie
K-member (Hawks 450)
A-arms (spohn 325)
ETC.

That should give you a good idea of how much it will cost, and its always nice to have a list so you dont start forgeting things(waiting for parts is killer). Also searching a lot for the best prices, and keep a good eye on Group buys, and the parts for sale section on the board also is a BIG help. Hope this helps you.

Justin

StngKlr

iTrader: (18)

10K is very doable with having the car already. All the things you listed will cost you about 6.5K to 7.5K. Use the rest for heads and cam or whatever. And yes, research alot. This is something I didnt do enough of and it caused some down time during the build. But, there wasnt really that much info out there when I did mine, I wasnt the first to do the swap, but one of the first to have the swap documented pretty good on thirdgen.org.

Good luck on the swap and keep us informed.

2K2WS6TA

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the info guys, I've done some research (thirdgen.org, and here)
Basically the car is in good shape, over the years I've made sure to upgrade any parts that I replaced due to wear, so it has Koni shocks, poly bushings, blah blah blah. So the chassis is pretty much ready for a 300 hp motor (I do need some SFCs tho)
The brake upgrade would primarily be for safety, going from 190 hp to 300 kind of (IMO) demands some upgraded brakes (the stock discs would fade after an afternoon of corner carving)
Engine I'd probably put in a mild cam (TR224), and depending on the year an LS6 intake, I'd also do a stall, and true duals, hence the need for an upgraded rear.
What do you guys think of the package from speartech, engine, trans, harness (customised to your specs) and ECM, all pre run/tested and ready to install for $5500, aside from getting the fuel system set up, it sounds like a plug and play deal

Raceready68

What do you guys think of the package from speartech, engine, trans, harness (customised to your specs) and ECM, all pre run/tested and ready to install for $5500, aside from getting the fuel system set up, it sounds like a plug and play deal[/QUOTE]


The Speartech harness is not plug and play there is still quite a bit of wiring to be done inside the car with it.