Was trying to see what engine can i swap into my v6 5 speed camaro and still keep my t5 transmission of possible . I found out i have bad piston rings in my engine after i had heads rebuilt.

 

The only V8 engine GM ever built with low enough power was the 305. Torque is what breaks transmission and the T5 is just not strong enough. Also your current Bell housing and clutch setup is designed for a V6 bolt pattern.

Converting a 4th Gen from a V6 to a V8 is a nightmare on the mechanical and electrical sides. Don't get me wrong it can and has been done many times but I would guess 9 in 10 of the swaps that get started are never finished.

You should check out putting a newer 3800 out of a FWD. They are cheap and plentiful even under 50,000 miles on them.

 

yep find a low mine 3.8 put er in and drive it. or sell it and buy a v8 camaro.

 

I figured i just rebuild the bottom of my 3.8. Is there any piston kits that are good??

 

your going to have more into rebuilding the motor than you think. have a look here. https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...nt-info-57568/ should be able to pick up a low miles series 3 3.8 for 500 bucks throw head intake and pan gaskets on it, maybe even front and rear seals and your good to go 200k miles easy for under 1k.

 

Take from someone that has built a lot of engine, it is almost always cheaper to buy a remanufacture short block then it is to repair a high miles block with issue.

Ring failure in a 3800 is Very rare so you either had a defective set of rings or the car overheated at one point in its life. Both cases can cause deep gouge in the cylinder walls. The block will need bored which means it will need completely disassembled and cleaned. This is when engine rebuild gets out of hand. You don't want to put worn bearings back in or a sloppy timing chain , New CAM bearings to be sure the oil pressure is good. Before you know it you have $1500 in machine shop costs and you need another $7-800 in parts.

But buy a low miles newer 3800 reseal it with good Felpro kit and spend the money on a Center force dual friction clutch and some OBX stainless header and you will be a happy camper. That's want I did with my 96 (see below Project 96) I then drove the car as a daily driver for 100,000. Until the day I stop driving it, it never let me sit. In 2011 I bought a new impala for the family. The impala needed more repairs in half the miles then the old Camaro did.

 

I mean i once 130k miles on the car. I was going to get a block and just build it from the ground up . i can do the work myself. Just need to know what parts are good to use .

 

3.8 will go 200k easy if maintained correctly, so will the lt1 and ls1 for that matter.

 

I take care of my cars. I got the car from a young guy who was doing donuts in the car and running it with no fluids in it .It had a cracked head and later found out it had bad piston rings .So I'm slowly putting car back together. I found a engine block and its at machine shop getting bored out .Do anybody know any good pistons and crankshaft i can get??

 

The reason he brought up the 200k is because if you put in a 30,000 mile motor there is a good chance the engine will out last the rest of the car.

Only two members I know about have built 3800 and they where turbo builds.

https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...o-build-79480/

The other one was Musicman. Factory bottom ends are good up to 375-400 HP so most people just get remanufacture cranks. Its been my experience with machines shops your best bet is to get the parts from them. That way if there is a issue during assembly there can't be and figure pointing.