i am looking at buying a 1983 white camaro. it is a v-6 5 speed, but the engine is blown so if i buy, i am going to swap in a v-8 and manual trans. i havent decided what engine i want to go with yet, im still figuring my budget, my question is the connecting beam that goes from the back axle to what looks like the transmission im guessing is there because its only got the two links on the bottom of the rear end holding it in place and that piece i mentioned is to help stabilize the rear end. What kind of transmissions are interchangable with that, can i just move it to a different place and weld, or can i create a kind of 4 link rear end? j/w because i dont want to run into troubles with a tranny not working with that if i go with this car. thanks

 

Yep your right, that bar stabilizes your rear axle. Any 3rd gen camaro trans has the 3 holes on the ext housing to mount the torsion bar. So if you pull a V8 engine and trans from an 82-92 your good to go. If you do select a trans w/o the mouting ears then there are aftermarket suppliers that sell a xmember and new torsion bar.

 

ok awesome im still decided what kind of engine setup i want to do. i want to do something fuel injected but i cant decide on the motor. with a budget of approximately $3000, what would a good engine and tranny be? and is it possible budget wise and mechanically to do an LS series engine and tranny swap? or should i go with something else?

 

the budget would be drivetrain related i forgot that. it doesnt include cosmetic or anything that is just about what i would want to do for drivetrain