So, longtime lurker here. Newish member. Last I was on I was rambling about my new to me 73 Nova project. Still have it, but havent done much with it. Had a HUGE itch up my *** to get my hands on the car I had a crush on in high school a 98-2002 Camaro V8. Z28 or SS, just at least had to be an LS1 car with the phase 2 styling.

Found a decent rust free project roller and decided I like pain and agony so I bought it! Its a 1998 Camaro hard top V8 M6, Z28 by title. Its got fenders, trunk panel and spoiler from an SS, hood is gone. Unfortunately, the drivers door is NOT original to the car, so the RPO sticker is not accurate. Though, after running the VIN through a few history decoders, it doesnt appear that this car is a real SS. Its ok, I dont mind being the guy driving a clone now. Owned a genuine GT500 so I got that out of my system.

She's got most of her interior in there, torn apart though. Missing the front seats. Guy I bought it from said he and a buddy were going to gut the car, cut the tunnel and run a BBC 454 as a grudge car. Under hood, no engine or trans but the original 98 ECU and harness are there. Radiator, AC stuff, fans etc. I may pull the AC box since the dash is pull out and send the heater core and evaporator to a local radiator shop.

Over the next year Ill be trying to find out as much as I can about LS swap potentials, if the 98 ECU and harness is worth a **** or if I need a better one. I really like the idea of a 5.3/4L80E or a LQ4/4l80E. Probably H/C/I with an e85 upgrade and a large shot of Nitrous. My goal ultimately is to get this back on the road as a fun car. Id love to make her a daily, but due to emissions in Phoenix I may need to just get collector car insurance to get emissions waived. Or hell, buy a 1/4 acre of land out of the test zones and keep the car there...

First order of business though is a hood. Id love an SS hood of course, but a normal hood works too for now. Just to keep rain and the AZ sun off the under hood stuffs going forward. Now, pics!

 

Nice! I'd go iron block 5.3L + TKX + Terminator X (non max division) Welcome to the octagon. Your plan of H/C/I is great, just don't forget all the other little things that can add up quick ($).

 

I was thinking the 5.3 would be easier to source, but damn have the prices of LS engines skyrocketed. I guess we may never see the $400 5.3's again but Ill keep my fingers crossed. Inflation and the new car shortages are directly affecting that im sure.

Theres a small part of me that still wants to keep the car manual since its a factory m6 car, but I had such a bad experience with the TR6060 in my GT500 that I think I want to 4L80 and be done with it. A complete pull out LQ4 with 4L80E is $2500 with harness and ecu on Offerup.

Itll be a while though, baby #2 is due in a month. But, I got plenty of things to get in order on the car before I go engine shopping, namely putting the interior back together.

 

Hell yeah man, literally typing this from the hospital with our first. Thank god for parts researching to pass the time. lol

I was able to snag my LM7 for ~ 700 up here in Washington with no accessories, but I have different plans for all that.

 

Hey, congrats on the baby! Its an exciting time. My first is almost 2 and honestly, I dont know where the time has gone! Hopefully in a few years my two babies will turn into my two helpers and get this Camaro and my Nova back on the road with me.

 

Couldn't read that novel but LS parts are super cheap nowadays. Do your own work you have a budget friendly fast car.