Lucas145

Hey guys,
I bought a Camaro recently a 98. The lady I bought it from drove the car continuously while it was overheated and that warped the crap out of that 3.8L so I needed a new engine. I went out today and bought a Gen 3 5.3L LM7 engine out of a truck. It’s just the core. No Camshaft, cylinder heads, intake or anything like that. So I needed some information on what I needed to do to build this LM7 5.3L and be able to put it in my 3.8L Camaro. I know the K-Member won’t work and for the engine I will need a different oil pan. A little help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Welcome! I’m moving this over to general. You’ll get some traffic over there. Lots to go over here for you.

BandDirector Blk98ZM6

iTrader: (21)

Can a V6 to V8 swap be done? Yes. Is it worth the time & expense? Not usually. Replace the 3.8 with another 3.8 and then sell it to fund a V8 F-Body. Save yourself a lot of time and trouble.

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

I've taken on this adventure and I'm not retaining power steering, ABS or air conditioning but here's a list of what you'll need to make the swap.

K-member from a 98-02 4th Gen car or go aftermarket
V8 power steering rack because they're different
Radiator for a V8 car as the V6 does not have the post for the cylinder head stem crossover (May be able to make the V6 one work)
V8 alternator and either buy an ICT billet bracket to relocate it up top or in the stock location down low (Will have to drill and tap iron block for low mount)
V8 starter as the V6 wont work
Power steering pump bracket for a 98-02 F-body, a V8 power steering pump, reservoir and coolant lines if keeping power steering
ECM and harness for a 99-02 fbody or go with the Holley Terminator or Dominator ECM and harness
V6 transmission won't work so find one for a V8 (4l60E, 4L80E or T56 make sure you get the correct engine harness for it)
LS6 intake manifold and fuel rails or go aftermarket and BTW you will have to modify the fuel system
V6 cars are drive by wire and you may be able to retain that depending on what ECM your using, otherwise get a DBC throttle body for 98-02 Camaro or go aftermarket
Air conditioner bracket for 98-02 4th Gen F-body, A/C compressor, dryer and lines if keeping A/C

I'm probably forgetting some other things but that gives you an idea of what your up against if looking to keep the creature comforts. It's probably best to find one that has been totaled out and use it for parts...GL

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

The T/A Creations site has a helpful chart for the swap. http://www.tacreationsusa.com/3_4_3_8_v6_to_ls1.htm

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

Thank you for posting this bud.

I have a gauge cluster from a V8 car but I see now that I may need to swap out the relay harness and dash harness if the LS1 is from 00-02 but the engine is an LQ9 bored .030.

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

Here's some more information that I found for making this swap.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...ap-w-pics.html