Hi everyone! My name is Austin, and I'm 17. I bought my first car last august, I worked hard and paid for every bit of her so she is very special to me. I have come to the conclusion that I will never get rid of this car and I will have it until the day I die The previous owner cut a lot of corners so I have been slowly working on her one thing at a time. The old motor blew head gaskets so i tried to fix them myself and when I put it back together it still did not run.... So i am converting it to a carb'ed 350!

To start off with, i chose a 700r4 transmission for several reasons. First, it is simple, with no electronics besides a torque converter lock up. Also, it has the same dimensions as the 4l60e so it will make things very easy (same tranny mount, same crossmember, same driveshaft, etc). Next, I traded some subwoofers for a TBI 350 with all accessories. I am going to get a dual plane mount and try to find a low profile carb so it should still clear the hood. I haven't decided on wither to go with a motor plate yet or motor mounts (I'm leaning towards a motor plate so I don't have to worry about the rack and pinion but please give me advice!).

I am lucky enough to have a buddy with a really nice 3 stall shop with a pit so my car has been very easy to work on and he has helped me a lot! Its not a job for one person!!

Now for the pics

Here is my car sitting in the shop with the front end still on:


I removed the front bumper cover to make things way easier:


After I took out the radiator and condensor and the AC system, I found their is actually a lot of room. I plan on remounting the radiator perfectly vertical with 2 low profile fans:


In the pit!


27 splines! same as the new tranny!


Where i will mount my new radiator:


Taking out the fuel lines:


Removing the tranny mount. Honestly this method was an overkill but i had a lot of fun lol


Old engine and tranny after Brandt and I pulled it out


Soldering skills! making my new harness


Here is my new harness almost complete. You can see it takes up wayyyyy less room than the stock ones. Also, no mroe front fuse box as I don't have any of the stuff that hooked up to it anyways! (like no more AC, no air pump, ignition, etc)


All the room without the extra crap in there!!!!


Close up of where my harness goes to the old one. I still have some touch ups I need to do but I think its pretty good yet.


Way less clutered shock tower. No more positive block here and only 2 simple grounds. I grounded the air bag sensor on the front bumper with my headlights. Air bags still function


I tested all the turn signals with a meter and I tested my headlights visually






Soooo tell me what you think! I need advice on motor mounts vs motor plates!

Any right now I'm waiting on my clutches, steels, etc for my 700r4 rebuild so I'm at a stop for a while. After I finish my tranny I'll buy an intake and carb and get the ball rollin' again!

Many more pics to come!

Check out my youtube channel for videos: ellswortha101, you can check my car out there too and you can see my video journal on the engine swap.

Thanks,
Austin

 

Looking forward to seeing the finish product. Came across your youtube vids the other day than found the thread on here. Keep up the good work. Any updates?

 

Ya! Actually I have been making a lot of progress! I just got a package from summit racing a few days ago with some parts I needed. I installed my fuel pressure regulator, almost have the transmission done! I took my input drum assembly to a place called georges transmission, and he only wanted $10! But I felt bad and he would only let me pay $20 tops. Anyways, I just need to figure out what bearing I'm missing and I'll get the transmission done, then I am going to install my trans go reprogramming kit and put 'er in!

I'll post another video on my youtube channel of my update so far but I don't have any more pics as of right now, I'll take some next time I go to the shop.

I should be done by the end of the summer just because I am working and paying for parts as I go and the engine will be expensive to build

this is my youtube channel name for anyone interested as well: ellswortha101

 

I hope you know you're gonna have to cut the cowl to fit the distributor in there. Also, the 3.4 k member is not going to work with the 350. Mounts are different and if I'm not mistaken, it can't hold the weight of the 350. Socom's also doing a V6 to V8 swap except his is the LT1. Might wanna look over what he's doing.

https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...-thread-68658/

 

I'm not using a K member, and yeah I am gonna use a grinder wheel to cut it out and also have a low profile distributor so I can have room to adjust it while its in. I have tons of pics I need to post! I'm gonna c if I can do it while I'm at school right now

 

Okay, Here are some new pics everyone!

I took it out and did a little sand blasting, but i need different sand so I didn't get much done



Pulled the back seats out


Almost done building up my tranny


Installed my fuel pressure regulator



My new fuel line runs along the old path, with new hangers



Up through the wheel well



I'm gonna cut the fuel line right behind where it comes into the engine bay and go to a braided fuel cable so it looks nicer



Stripped interior



Using a wire brush and a drill to get the rust out



Then I decided to use truck bed liner instead of carpet because each can of spray liner only weighs 1 lb, and they sell it will sound eliminator material so I figured I would save a lot of weight and it would look unique while being easy to clean

You can see I covered my dash and doors



and here's how it turned out!! I only used 3 cans, and I'm gonna go over the front again with one more to get under the cracks I missed, then I'm going to put all the wires into one plastic tube and tuck it away.


More shots





Tell me what you think!!! I think i shaved off 70lbs of weight without the carpet next up for the interior, racing seats

 

With using a full run of rubber fuel hose (a big no-no), and that fire trap of a cheesy plastic filter, you're flirting with disaster! The rest looks good so far.

 

I didn't really think of the fire hazard. I'll swap a metal filter in it down the road, but I'm still like 4 months away from having a fuel running through it. I'm doing one thing at a time since I'm 17 and this is such a costly project. Thank you very much though for the advice, I didn't realize that was such a fireball....

 

What exactly are you going to use the car for? It looks and sounds like you are stripping it down to the bare essentials to get it running, but it won't be a daily driver, or something you would likely drive around with friends for any significant length of time, or make long trips for yourself, and it won't be street legal anyway.

It seems it's destined for the track only - which is fine and I hope this doesn't deter you from finishing your project, but it sounds like the initial goals with this project have changed and you are relegating this car to a very finite purpose.

Mind you I am envious - I have a 95 3.4 Camaro I wish I could sink some time, effort and money into, but I'm content to watch others do so - hopefully with great success. Good luck!

 

Why wouldn't it be street legal? As long as he stays within emission laws (if he has them), keeps all safety features, there's nothing illegal about the car. There may be insurance things he'll have to deal with but legal nonetheless.