Hey I'm back again, some of you might remember my questions about a modern engine swap for my 78 camaro in my last posts quite a while ago. However as many things go, time is not in excess and money certainly hasn't been either so I've downgraded my plans to just getting the car running with an old engine until I can build up the funds to make my dream car a reality. I am currently looking at a 78 malibu with a 350 as a donor car for an engine and transmission, can anyone think of any major issues I might have with that?

Any help you have to offer is greatly appreciated as always.

 

The 78 Malibu also came with a 305 V8, so make sure that "350" is in fact a 350. With the 350, you'll be putting in basically what came out of the Camaro, so no problems unless the engine or transmission itself has issues.

 

So I'm now looking at this Camaro interchange manual and there is absolutely no mention of the Malibu inside. Was the Malibu a Canadian specific model or something? and if so what was the american equivalent? I am in need of this information because I am current in the process of figuring out what will be of any use to me off of the Malibu for my project car.

Any help as always is appreciated

 

If you do have a 78 Malibu it is the first year for the GBodys. These are as light weight as you can get. They will take a BBC or any SBC with nary a hick up. If your putting some real power to the ground with a DR or Slicks then you will be driving over the rear end soon enough. Simple upgrade is the Ford 9 inch, most circle track racers use these and have the metric mounts welded on to the housing already. These are a full frame car unlike the Camaro. Just something to think about.

 

Ok im getting a 78 Camaro And it has a 350 in it bigger is always better right?
So say i have access to a viper v10 8.4 liter engine
im not sure on how much space i have under the hood but would that fit
i know the ls series is my alternative if it doesn't just curious

 

Depends on how much cutting you want to do. A SBC 350 is about 29.5" long, where a Viper V10 is a full 5" longer. You'll need to cut the firewall out and set it back 5"-6" to get a V10 into a 2nd gen Camaro.