Hi there, I'm new here so sorry if I come off that way. I'm 17 and just made a deal on a good condition 1978 Camaro complete with everything but an engine and transmission (possibly also without a drive shaft) gonna go pick it up this Saturday and was hoping to ask how the members here felt about me wanting to drop in a 98-02 L36 for reliability and fuel economy as well as reasonable performance. Feedback is much appreciated

 

You'd be looking at a decent amount of work to drop a the 3.8 in an older car. You'd have to find one that included the computer to run it, more than likely you'd have to find a custom k-member, new transmission brace, custom made drive shaft and probably a lot more that I'm forgetting. It's not a bad idea, just you would have a lot of time and money putting in a late gen. V6 into a second gen Camaro.

 

2nd gen's don't have a k-member, just wide open frame rails. Getting the engine in and placed wouldn't be much of a worry, it's the adapting new (computer controlled) to old technology that you're going to spend some time on.

 

Welcome to the forum. It will take some work for the computer, But a lot of people are putting modern motors in older cars, just do your research. and don't get in a hurry. Oh, and keep us all posted with lots of pics.

 

So I just got the car home today (I'll be cleaning the interior tomorrow) and I just remembered I purchased it currently with 4:11's in the rear differential. Is this going to be a necessary change for daily driving with the swapped v6, or do you guys think it would be okay as is?

 

Those gears will be ok, as long as you're using an overdrive transmission. Otherwise it's gonna be a gas hog at highway speeds.

 

So I was looking around the web and it's starting to look like the fuel economy of the v6 to the v8 from the 98-02 Camaro's wasn't that big of a jump? Can anyone here confirm that? Cause if that's true then I might as well go all in and go for the manual v8 set up from one of those cars.

 

If you can keep your foot out of it, the V8 wont be a gas hog. If you're always running the legs off it, then the V6 will be a little better mileage.