My wife just picked up a nice 2000 Camaro with the 3.8 and she says she might want to put a 350 in it, but I told her that the manual tranny might have to be swapped also. My question is: If I were to buy a 350 from Jegs, Summit, etc. would it work with the 3.8's tranny or would I be better off looking for a Z28 tranny? Thanks.

 

The manual that came with the 6 cylinder models is weak. I would find another manual should you two changes engines.

 

If it's an automatic, then it should be able to stand well into the 400 hp region....

 

Yes i agree with stan. If you do go with a swap you should consider the T56 if you want to keep it stick. Or consider swaping to a 4L60 or TH350 if you want to go automatic.

 

Do you understand the amount of work involved with this change? Putting a crate 350 where a LS1 is suppost to be? There will be a lot of stuff you will have tofab up. You will not just be able to order partsbecause no one makes them.Can you even get motor mounts for the Gen 1 style block that will fit a 2000 camaro? I think even the headers whould have to be custom made.It would also drop the value of the car.

Your best bet would be to find a wrecked LS1 2000 6 speed and just switch stuff over. Scrach that, Your bestbet and cheapest way out is to sell your V6 5 speedand buy an LS1 6 speed.In most cases you can get a LS1/6speed for about $3500 more then your V6. No way can you convert it over to a V8 for less then that.

 

Ok...U just answered my next question. I did more research and found out there was an LS1 in there and that it would be a real pain (and expensive) to upgrade the engine/tranny. We'll probably just keep it stock and just upgrade a few things on the exterior. Thanks for input guys.