i have been looking for a camaro or firebird with a 5 spd. for a while and cannot seem to find many. today i found a black 97 firebird with a 5spd. its got high miles.......210,000 its body is in good shape, front drivers side fender has a small crack near the bumper and the front and rear bumpers could probably used re-sprayed, since they are a little faded. the car came from AZ so it hasnt seen salt and the underbody looked pretty clean for 210K. the guy said its got anewer tranny (58K). i took it for a very short test drive, it starts right up, shifts smooth, idles smooth, when i drove it, it seemed to sound a little "rumbly" i dont know if it should sound like that since its only a v6 but it ran fine, i didnt really get on it hard. hes asking 3200 for it, i have about 5500 to spend so if i bought it i would have alot to put in it. one of my freinds dads owns a shop and he has a 3800 supercharged out of what i beleive to be a bonnevile. the motor only has about 4K on it. will it fit in the firebird? i have heard something about FWD motor being differant than RWD motors is this true or are all 3800s the same? has anyone tried using a factory 3800 supercharger on the v6 bird or camaro? any help would be great, thanks

 

the bonneville SC fits on the manifold. you wont have the same manifold as those cars so, not that u cant get it to fit, but it will be a ***** and not worth ur time. if u have the money just go for a centrifugal SC. look at vortech or something.

but that is alot of miles.... have a mechanic check the car out, if he OK's it then go for it, cuz 3200 aint bad then

 

well the main reason i mentioned the 3800 supersharged is because he has the whole motor and SC with only 4k on it, i could pick the whole motor and sc up about $1000, and if the motor is a drop in deal then i would probably spend around $1000 having it put in even if it needed minor customization. so if this is all possible i would have spent around 5500 on a SC bird. you say the sc could fit on the stock motor with customization, but i am thinking of ditching the stock motor and puting in the 3800 sc, is that possible?

 

the thing is, anything is possible with the right ammount of money,
but fwd motors sit in there sideways, so the tranny comes out kinda goofy. you would have to buy a new transmission if u wanted to use that motor, and really, that motor isnt going to give u a huge gain anyways. ud be better off buying an aftermarket supercharger. the 3.8sc is an alright platform, i have a buddy running 12.6 in his GTP. but you will spend alot of money to get there.
im tellin ya, it will be much cheaper in the long run for u to mod the motor uve got (or will have) rather than trying to convert that one over AND THEN mod it.

if u can talk him down some (wich u probably can, nobody lists at minimum price) you wil lhave a little over 2k in ur pocket. work a little extra and buy urself a vortech or something. thats what I would do.


or, if insurance isnt an issue, you could look around for an lt1. you could probably find one for around 5k and be in about the same place performance wise with more room to grow

 

thats what i was afraid of..... the fwd motors being differant. i really dont have a problem with modding a regular 3800 its just that 210K is ALOT of miles, even though it seems to run good i dont think it will put up to much "hard" driving i dont mean im going to take it out and beat it every day but its a firebird.... i will have some fun with it. im guessing my best route is to either rebuild or find another low mileage 38 and drop it in. i would really like to be able to buy an LT1 car but insurance is a little bit of a problem since im 17. any suggestions on where to find a 3800 motor? the junk yard around me charges WAY to much for there stuff, they want what everything costs new. thanks for your help

 

The L67 swap (supercharged 3800) has been done, although a ton of custom modification, money, and time went into the project, simply unefficient swap.

I definetely would not mod a 210K engine, even if it is a 3800, 210K is alot for any engine. Get it to drive, not to mod, or wait and find another one...

 

The L67 swap (supercharged 3800) has been done, although a ton of custom modification, money, and time went into the project, simply unefficient swap.

I definetely would not mod a 210K engine, even if it is a 3800, 210K is alot for any engine. Get it to drive, not to mod, or wait and find another one...

 

Thats too many miles. Look for something else. I'm in the market for a newer Camaro, and there are plenty out there with low mileage at a reasonable proce.

 

im 16 and my insurance company told me that a v8 camaro would increase my insurance from 169-ish a month to 175ish a month. and if u get progressive, they dont even ask if it's a v8 or v6, i accidently slipped up and told em it was a v8, but still only 6 bucks extra

 

very high miliage to be messing around with forced induction.