I guess I never really did an actual introduction thread, so here it goes.

I'm 18 and I live on a farm in Wisconsin. I'm currently a Sophomore at Michigan State, and I'm a Mechanical Engineering major. I'm an R&D intern at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, WI.

My first car (not counting the 96 Grand Prix I sold after a month) was a 95 3.4 T-top Camaro. Polo green over tan leather--gorgeous. That was until I rolled it last May. So this summer when I got back from my first year at school, I decided to finally start gutting the thing out and selling what I could. But about a month ago, my dad and I found a 96 Z28 nearby and bought it for $1000. It was the same color and everything as the one I wrecked. We decided to use parts from my old one to fix up this one. The interior of the Z was kinda trashed, so we replaced the seats, upholstery, and most of the trim except the dash from the rolled one.

Now when you read this part, please try to refrain from expletives and trying to have me committed to an asylum. The LT1 in the Z doesn't run worth a crap. I'm pretty sure it doesn't even hit on all cylinders. The car shakes uncontrollably at 2500 rpm. Even if it did run well, I wouldn't be able to afford insurance (18 yr-old male with a less than perfect driving record--you can figure it out). The 3.4, on the other hand, runs just as good as it did the day I bought it and the day I wrecked it. So my dad and I are swapping engines and transmissions, putting the 3.4 and its 4-spd auto into the body of the Z.

I've never really done anything like this before, so bear with me if some of my other questions around the forum seem somewhat ridiculous. I want to do some mods on the car so I can learn how to do that kind of stuff. I joined the forum so I could get tips and advice from people who have a lot more experience than I do.

 

welcome! we'd be more than glad to help you

 

Welcome. I hope you have some idea how much work is involved in switching a 95 V6 to a 96 V8. It will be a huge task. They don't even have the same type of computer systems.

Another thing, you may want to get an insurance quote on the Z28. You will get stuck paying the higher Z28 insurance. You might be better off selling everything you have and picking up a 3.8 that need a intake gasket or someing like that. They normally don't sell for more then $1200. If it was me and your insurance rate is not to high I would figure out what was wrong with the LT1 and fix it. Maybe freshen it up if I had to pull it out. Head gaskets are not that uncommon on these cars. To do the Head gaskets on the lt1 would be like 1/10 the work of the convertion.

 

Oh don't worry, checking out the insurance was the first thing we did. I would've had the car paid for again in less than six months, but I won't be paying even close to the same insurance with the V6 in.

My uncle hooked up his engine-diagnostic tool, and there was a whole laundry list of things wrong with it. A lot more than simply a head gasket, and a lot more than either my dad or I have any idea how to do.

 

Welcome to the forum man. Most people come in wanting to take a V6 to a V8, not the other way. And like we tell those guys, it's better to just sell it and buy a V8.

Like Gorn said, insurance is based on the VIN of the vehicle unless you have special insurance for like a classic or exotic. You could do the swap like you talked about and then swap the VIN as well, then you'd have a Z28 chassis with the V6 and paying ins. on a V6. That is if the V6 was does not have a totalled title. But you could do it and then get a rebuilt (I think that's what most states call it) title for it.

Or the easiest way is what Gorn said above, if you can afford the ins. Changing from a V8-V6 is a lot of trouble and you'll have to change the K-member also.

I also would like to hear the story of how you rolled it if you don't mind putting it out there.

 

well I already know that the insurance is based on the VIN. we talked to our insurance guy, and he said if we put the v6 in it he would put it down accordingly, so we would only be paying V6 premiums. I'm pretty sure we won't have to worry about any of the title stuff, but if getting a "rebuilt title" means cheaper insurance, I'll probably look into that.

The story's a little embarassing, but I was going 80 on the way to school, and I came over a hill and swerved to avoid some animal in the road. I panic braked, got into some gravel (farm country), and lost it. I tried to steer it through the ditch, but once I got to the edge of the cornfield I flew 30 feet before landing on the roof and rolling three times. I actually really should've been killed, but all I had was some stitches in my head and a massively deflated ego. That's kind of why my dad and I decided to try this, so I can try to get back what I had before. I really want to pull this thing off.

 

oh, and there's one thing that I forgot to mention: we still have the other car, so we have a parts car already at our disposal. We have them sitting side-by-side, so we can easily compare how things may be set up from one to the other. And if along the way we discover some random part we might need, we already have it. The only parts I'll have to track down will be a cold air intake and cat-back exhaust after we've got it back on the road.

 

Are the rears the same ratio or are you going to change them. Are you going to change the whole dash? The entire wiring harness? At some point you are going to have to splice in that 1995 OBD 1 computer into an OBD2 system unless you replace everything. I am sorry but saying fixing a car is to complicated so we are just going to do a convertion on it is like saying I am going to skip Calc 1 and go right to Calc 2 cause I heard Calc 1 is really hard. Also when your done what you are going to have will be almost worthless. You fix the Z28 and you have a 3-4K car. It really does not make any sense.

If you are going to do it you might as well do intake and head gaskets on the 3.4. It will cost you $80 and 2 hours with the motor out. These are both very common issues and if they have not been replaced yet they will fail, since the car has been sitting they may fail as soon as the engine starts.

 

welome

 

the engine has been run quite a few times since the accident. Before we removed the entire dash it still started up just as well as every other time I ever started it. So the whole blowing up once I start it thing isn't going to happen. And I bought a barely running car with a trashed interior and a transmission that should've broken in half, so I'm pretty sure it will be worth more once we're done with it (I've already redone the interior). The dash will be staying there, and we're changing the wiring harness.

And for the record, I did better in Calc II than I did in Calc I