New guy help with motor swap
07-15-2017, 06:01 PM
#1
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New guy help with motor swap Hey guys Iam new to the forums and needing some Direction on doing a motor swap on my 2000 firebird for weeks I have been trying to figure out wat motor to go with and get the power iam looking. I have also been try to figure out how to do a t56 swap as well iam on a budget. I not trying to make drag car or anything. I just want to Cruise around and have fun.
07-15-2017, 06:47 PM
#4
TECH Senior Member
What engine is in it now?
A suggestion.... 
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07-15-2017, 07:01 PM
#8
TECH Senior Member
Are you aware how much you will have to do to put an LS V8 in your car?
07-19-2017, 09:27 AM
#12
No doubt, but he's got a 3800 Series V6 engine in it now. He will need to do a lot of work to swap that out with a 5.3L or any other V8. Then he'll need to add the turbo to it. Then keeping the AC will be problematic. I know a lot of people ditch it, which boggles my mind. I wouldn't own a car without AC in Texas.
07-19-2017, 11:59 AM
#14
A 2018 Camaro with the 6.2L engine, manual transmission in the 2SS trim costs $45,855 MSRP. I went through their builder and chose no options save for a black center stripe and 20" split spoke black wheels that wasn't required.
A 2002 Camaro with a manual transmission, V6 engine in very good condition only rates $1,590 on KBB.com. He might be able to get 3 or 4k for that car if it's immaculate condition and well optioned, V6 not withstanding. There are a lot of those cars on Craigslist that have been there awhile at prices under 3 or 4k in my area. Keep this in mind. Someone on here might buy it to throw an LSx engine into it. So tell me, how a $3,000 car plus 15k that could have been used for an engine swap would be more expensive than a brand new $45,855 car? How is it financially more sensible to spend more than twice as much money on a brand new car? If the OP has to finance 50% or more of the Camaro's price, then the cost gap gets even wider.
The 15K number isn't accurate either. If the OP does the work himself with the help of friends, it might not cost nearly that much. Plenty of people grab running junk yard 5.3L engines and throw them into V6 cars. Sure you have to get a bunch of parts to make the V8 engine work in the V6 car, but most of those parts are readily available and cheap. An engine hoist isn't that expensive either. I got a running LS1 with 5.3L ported truck heads with a cam and a T-56 with a car I don't have 5K in with a **** body. I've got 1K in a new body that I'm swapping everything over to. I've been looking at turbo kits and it can be done for about 3 grand or so with fuel system mods. He's talking about cruzing, not throwing down for several seasons of track use.
You can even get an LQ4 built by ATK from Summit for under 4k. Add 1K for an intake and a few hundred for miscellaneous ****. Your at 5K for the engine or thereabouts. You can grab an On3 turbo kit for $2200 or so depending on options. You can then add headers and the V6 swap parts and you probably still won't break 10k. I'm not sure where this 15k figure comes from unless your factoring labor, which the OP may or may not need to pay for. Even if that number was accurate, we haven't broken 20k yet. That's a far cry from the 40k+ you'd have to pay for a 2018 Camaro 2SS with a manual transmission. Hell, it's still cheaper than the base model work truck white V6 Camaro that starts at just over 25k.
The last thing you haven't considered is the fact that not everyone wants a new Camaro. Not everyone likes them. The 1993 through 2002 Camaro's are the only ones I actually like. The look of the 5th generation cars was OK, but I hated driving them. I have never felt so disconnected from a car in my life. I haven't driven a 6th generation car, but the looks of it don't wow me. In my opinion, the Mustang and Challenger are better looking cars. Sure, the Camaro performs but that's not the only metric that counts when shopping for a car.
Last edited by Spamfritter; 08-21-2017 at 11:39 AM.
08-21-2017, 10:23 AM
#15
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Theres a kid who did exactly what you wanna do 5.3 lm7 and a 4l60e swap made about 310hp to wheels on mostly stock LM7 it could be done if your willing to do the work yourself he was on a budget too. I found my LM7 for $200 without heads bought some 862 online for $150.
08-21-2017, 11:14 AM
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Your grasp of mathematics and your financial advice are troubling.
A 2018 Camaro with the 6.2L engine, manual transmission in the 2SS trim costs $45,855 MSRP. I went through their builder and chose no options save for a black center stripe and 20" split spoke black wheels that wasn't required.
A 2002 Camaro with a manual transmission, V6 engine in very good condition only rates $1,590 on KBB.com. He might be able to get 3 or 4k for that car if it's immaculate condition and well optioned, V6 not withstanding. There are a lot of those cars on Craigslist that have been there awhile at prices under 3 or 4k in my area. Keep this in mind. Someone on here might buy it to throw an LSx engine into it. So tell me, how a 3K car plus 15k that would have been used for an engine swap would possibly be cheaper than a brand new $45,855 car?
The 15K number isn't accurate either. If the OP does the work himself with the help of friends, it might not cost nearly that much. Plenty of people grab running junk yard 5.3L engines and throw them into V6 cars. Sure you have to get a bunch of parts to make the V8 engine work in the V6 car, but most of those parts are readily available and cheap. An engine hoist isn't that expensive either. I got a running LS1 with 5.3L ported truck heads with a cam and a T-56 with a car I don't have 5K in with a **** body. I've got 1K in a new body that I'm swapping everything over to. I've been looking at turbo kits and it can be done for about 3 grand or so with fuel system mods. He's talking about cruzing, not throwing down for several seasons of track use.
You can even get an LQ4 built by ATK from Summit for under 4k. Add 1K for an intake and a few hundred for miscellaneous ****. Your at 5K for the engine or thereabouts. You can grab an On3 turbo kit for $2200 or so depending on options. You can then add headers and the V6 swap parts and you probably still won't break 10k. I'm not sure where this 15k figure comes from unless your factoring labor, which the OP may or may not need to pay for. Even if that number was accurate, we haven't broken 20k yet. That's a far cry from the 40k+ you'd have to pay for a 2018 Camaro 2SS with a manual transmission. Hell, it's still cheaper than the base model work truck white V6 Camaro that starts at just over 25k.
The last thing you haven't considered is the fact that not everyone wants a new Camaro. Not everyone likes them. The 1993 through 2002 Camaro's are the only ones I actually like. The look of the 5th generation cars was OK, but I hated driving them. I have never felt so disconnected from a car in my life. I haven't driven a 6th generation car, but the looks of it don't wow me. In my opinion, the Mustang and Challenger are better looking cars. Sure, the Camaro performs but that's not the only metric that counts when shopping for a car.
A 2018 Camaro with the 6.2L engine, manual transmission in the 2SS trim costs $45,855 MSRP. I went through their builder and chose no options save for a black center stripe and 20" split spoke black wheels that wasn't required.
A 2002 Camaro with a manual transmission, V6 engine in very good condition only rates $1,590 on KBB.com. He might be able to get 3 or 4k for that car if it's immaculate condition and well optioned, V6 not withstanding. There are a lot of those cars on Craigslist that have been there awhile at prices under 3 or 4k in my area. Keep this in mind. Someone on here might buy it to throw an LSx engine into it. So tell me, how a 3K car plus 15k that would have been used for an engine swap would possibly be cheaper than a brand new $45,855 car?
The 15K number isn't accurate either. If the OP does the work himself with the help of friends, it might not cost nearly that much. Plenty of people grab running junk yard 5.3L engines and throw them into V6 cars. Sure you have to get a bunch of parts to make the V8 engine work in the V6 car, but most of those parts are readily available and cheap. An engine hoist isn't that expensive either. I got a running LS1 with 5.3L ported truck heads with a cam and a T-56 with a car I don't have 5K in with a **** body. I've got 1K in a new body that I'm swapping everything over to. I've been looking at turbo kits and it can be done for about 3 grand or so with fuel system mods. He's talking about cruzing, not throwing down for several seasons of track use.
You can even get an LQ4 built by ATK from Summit for under 4k. Add 1K for an intake and a few hundred for miscellaneous ****. Your at 5K for the engine or thereabouts. You can grab an On3 turbo kit for $2200 or so depending on options. You can then add headers and the V6 swap parts and you probably still won't break 10k. I'm not sure where this 15k figure comes from unless your factoring labor, which the OP may or may not need to pay for. Even if that number was accurate, we haven't broken 20k yet. That's a far cry from the 40k+ you'd have to pay for a 2018 Camaro 2SS with a manual transmission. Hell, it's still cheaper than the base model work truck white V6 Camaro that starts at just over 25k.
The last thing you haven't considered is the fact that not everyone wants a new Camaro. Not everyone likes them. The 1993 through 2002 Camaro's are the only ones I actually like. The look of the 5th generation cars was OK, but I hated driving them. I have never felt so disconnected from a car in my life. I haven't driven a 6th generation car, but the looks of it don't wow me. In my opinion, the Mustang and Challenger are better looking cars. Sure, the Camaro performs but that's not the only metric that counts when shopping for a car.
I built my LM7 for about $1300 Cammed 216/220 .560 114lsa flat top pistons10.25:1 and home ported 862 heads w/ls6 springs all bearings and gaskets included did the work myself and swapped in my 99 trans am convertable (LS1 spun a few bearings) so a budget swap can be done if doing the work yourself.
08-23-2017, 04:40 PM
#18
TECH Resident
Wasn't trying to give a lesson in economics just pointing out it wasn't worth it. Plenty of 1998-2002 F Bodys around to trade for without all the hassle, never said he wouldn't have a payment
08-23-2017, 11:16 PM
#19
You stated that it would be cheaper for him to trade in his current car plus 15 grand that the swap would have cost in on a new 2SS 6M Camaro. This is the statement you made, and it's simply not true. There is nothing cheaper about dropping 42k or more on a new car vs. swapping a V8 into his current one.
08-24-2017, 05:11 PM
#20
All this bullshit about economics and no one asked what his budget is?
Yea, everyones on a budget.
Some people can put a $30,000 budget on a v6 swap if they wanted.
So what is the OP's budget?
You're all wasting your time giving build dreams and numbers this guy isn't going to do.
The cheapest way to 600 hp is a chop and hack big block swap.
What else, an $80 junkyard k member and a $700 high mileage 5.3 pullout with an ebay turbo kit. Then he can do one wheel burnouts until the diff breaks.
Yea, everyones on a budget.
Some people can put a $30,000 budget on a v6 swap if they wanted.
So what is the OP's budget?
You're all wasting your time giving build dreams and numbers this guy isn't going to do.
The cheapest way to 600 hp is a chop and hack big block swap.
What else, an $80 junkyard k member and a $700 high mileage 5.3 pullout with an ebay turbo kit. Then he can do one wheel burnouts until the diff breaks.