Started on this last Friday. Got my car up on the lift disconnected tranny. Pulled the engine out the top. Wasn't as hard as most people told me it would be. Tore apart the engine found the piston completely shattered. (look at the broke piston, completely broke the rod and notice the crack all the way down the actual piston, its two pieces) Went up to oReilly's, new piston was 50 bucks...?? all new bearings 80 bucks.. so i just bought a new 3.4 for 200 bucks. Tore that one apart. Everything was perfectly fine. The guy who sold it said it had a completely broken timing chain. The chain was just really loose. All i need now is bearings and a new gasket set. Not going to build it to much, considering it is just a v6. Gonna wait till i have a bit more money and drop a 396 in it. Enjoy!

*sorry bout the quality of the pics btw, ****ty camera! *

 

Sounds like a good steal for 200 bucks if its in good shape....396??? What the plans around that?

 

I pulled it out of the top with the trans attached. Never again.

 

it was a great deal and it was in good shape. and either a 396 or a 350. gonna get a new transmission with it. Completly rebuild the whole engine.

if i have the money i'd loveee to
-Stage 3 PRC LS6 Heads
-Intake T-Body 96/96
-JBA Longtube Header
some callies Compstar Rods and a callies compstar crank
and would love to turbo it. theres no one around where i live with a turbo camaro. i'd love to be the first.

just need the money for it.

 

not to be a dck but swapping the the motor to an lt1 is a big project. going to any thing other then an lt1 is an even bigger project especially if sbc or bbc engine. An ls1 would still be a pain since you would have to do the whole interior.

 

Oh no its cool. i take everyones opinions to consideration. But it doesn't matter to me how big of a project it is. I just really love working with cars, and i have lots of time on my hands so why not you know? If i have the money, and the experience.. Plus i want something more powerful then just a 3.4L. Was gonna drop a 5.0 that came out of my buddy's 91 camaro, but we didn't have a tranny laying around. We did but it was only a 3 speed, and i did not want that.

 

Do the research. These cars are designed about the motors or you could say the motors are designed into the car. Either way putting a old style small block into one of these car is a pain because of the size and you can not just disconnect the computer. Putting a big block in, well your going to need a machine shop because your going to need to make many of the part cause they simply do not exist. Id bet the 100% custom headers alone would cost more then some LT1 cars

 

a rear mounted dizzy is going to be more than a pain if you ever need to do anything with it. Oh and with a BBC you would have to have a custom K-member and oil pan because the engine is too tall for this body. The valve covers almost hit the shock towers. Has it been done... Yes but on dedicated racecars only as far as I know. Did you know that the LT1 engine was developed for this car alone? GM also put it in a couple other vehicles but only the Camaro needed the dizzy in the front, the Corvette, Impala, Roadmaster, and Caprice all had room for a rear mounted dizzy and could have received the Vortech engine as it had before the LT1 came out.

Massey

 

Well i have done the swap from the 3.4 to an lt1. Its a fun project and i really enjoyed it. There is a lot that goes into swapping motors. I have a little right up on here if you want to see whats involved and the costs. If you want to ask me any questions feel free as well.

There was another member who did a 3.4 to sbc. i think he said he had 5k maybe more into it.

 

hahah dang well i have a shop where me and my buddy do everything. It's his dad's shop. He literally has everything you would ever need in there. They do construction, car repairs, welding, motorcycle repairs, snow plowing. I dont even know all that goes on :b

But yeah as for now i just want to get this 3.4 running for now cause i dont have to much money. As of yesterday i got laid off from my job(great)! So now if i can i just need to find a complete gasket set for this 3.4 and ill be good to go. Does anyone know where i could possibly get a COMPLETE gasket set for around 100 or cheaper? I've checked oReillys, Advanced AP, Autozone, none have it. I checked a few online stores but seldom had it as well. but the ones who did have it wanted almost 220?