My Engine Swap car build Thread!

[Jdseibe]

Hey Everyone,

Ok.. So ive been trying to get my car running good for a real long time now, I've had problem after problem with it, I just seem to have such bad luck, at some points wanting to push it into Lake Erie.

But now, on the third engine and third transmission the life of this car has had, I think I'm finally getting it right.. lol

My car, 1983 Chevy Camaro Sports Coupe, originally came with a 2.8L V6 and 3 speed automatic transmission (engine and transmission number 1).

I bought the car summer of 2006, this upcoming summer will be the 3rd year I've owned the car, and I still haven't really driven it, Technically I legally drove it once, without being towed.. lol

anyways, back to the original story.. I bought an L98 engine(2nd engine) from someone through thirdgen.org i believe, I drove to kzoo to pick it up, the engine looked decent, so i cleaned it up a little and dropped it in, I bought a trans off a guy i used to goto school with..(2nd trans) I got the car running and was really happy and excited.. just to find out the trans the guy sold me was junk.. so my car sat for a year before i bought another trans and put it in. (3rd trans)

this last summer I got the new trans in and was excited.. got some exhaust on it, a holley carb.. it ran good.. and sounded amazing.. I drove it to work one morning, because I worked at a tire shop at the time.. and was gonna have them fix the brakes.. they wanted to charge way too much, so I decided to drive it home.. on my way home.. my engine siezed up.. my own stupid fault for not putting in an oil pressure guage..

I had a leak that i didnt know about.. that only seemed to leak when i was driving the car.. because it didnt leak at idle.

so needless to say, i was pissed.. about ready to get rid of it, I let it sit all summer.. and about a month ago, I decided to work on it again.

The project now is.

my buddy has a built 350 that he had in his suburban, its a mild build.. probably around 300hp or so, well his suburban has some electrical problems, and he really doesnt drive it, so we decided to take the engine out of it and put it in the camaro(3rd engine).

so far on this project we have the engine out of the suburban, taken apart, and starting to clean up the block.

we are replacing the timing chain with a gear drive (people are telling me this is a bad idea.. but we are gonna do it anyways.. so please dont make a big deal outta it) the engine is an L05 engine, I know L05 heads arent the greatest heads, but this isnt an expensive swap.. just trying to get something in the car so we can drive it.. we rebuilt the heads and are about to put them back on.

I went out and bought a new set of headers, ceramic coated hedman shorty headers, they look pretty sexy.. not gonna lie.. a mini starter, and some other little odds and ends..

itll be running a holley 650 carb, on a summit brand aluminum intake.. an a MSD style HEI distributor.. the engine is gonna look pretty nice.. so hes putting that all together.. in the mean time.. I got the engine pulled out of my camaro.. and now its time to clean up and paint the engine bay..

I also bought a 4" harwood lift off cowl hood.. and a B&M megashifter.. the car is really starting to come together.. I'll get some pics for you guys as soon as I can.. and keep you updated.. its starting to get real exciting.. I really wanna take it to the M&G this year.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

I really wanna take it to the M&G this year.

No, no, no, no...you really NEED to take to the M&G this year.

Good story.

Now do work!

[WMCC Gary]

Congrats Hopefully it all comes together for you this time. And like Jeff said you really NEED to bring it to the M&G.



Now get to work!

[phoenix_rising]

Yes I agree. Get to work!

[Jdseibe]

Thanks guys, I actually hit a little snag when installing my megashifter, when replacing the little arm/bracket on the transmission that bolts to the shaft that lets me shift gears, I was taking the nut off the end, and busted the shaft..

I know I can replace that part, but does anybody know how hard it is to replace? and what that part is called?

also, I've never had to drop my trans pan with the trans still in the car, how much fluid rests in the pain? if i unbolt it, is fluid going everywhere?

[Jdseibe]

oops.. sorry.. heres a couple pics also..


This was what the engine bay looked like before the engine got pulled...

my buddy workin on the engine a little..

a closer view of the engine thats going back in..



The pics that are dark below that are attached are taken with my cell phone, sorry for poor picture quality.. check out the headers that came in the mail for me the other day

the pic of the side view of my car is how the car sits with the v8 in it, that was taken during the summer with the old engine in it.

[Jdseibe]

ok another update, pics will come a little bit later.

I cleaned up and degreased the engine bay, looks pretty good.. not super amazing.. because I didn't strip everything out of the engine bay.. but looks pretty good regardless..

I still got to clean up a few thing yet.. like my brake lines.. and such.. cuz they look like garbage in comparison to my engine bay..

I installed some new low beams.. and painted my headlight buckets black.. looks decent.. probably not the biggest of my concerns.. but there isn't a ton I need to do while waiting for my buddy to finish up the engine.. which he is slacking.. kinda pissing me off.. because he would much rather ditch met on plans that we made.. to hangout with his girlfriend.. i mean.. come on man.. bros before hoes..

The engine still has about as much that needs to be done as the last time i updated you guys..

I got a new steering wheel im installing, a new heater core.. and trying to fix some electrical problems.. the car itself is coming together nicely..

my buddy says he has the next 3 days off.. so he said the engine should be together by wednesday.. so we can drop it in.. we'll see tho..

I'll take some pics and put them up tonight.

[SoulTerror]

Good luck with it. Has the same wheels as my Firebird.

[Jdseibe]

another update...

so during the summer I tried messing with my electrical stuff, because the common third gen problems arose, but were still a little screwy..

such as the interior lights, cigerette lighter, rear latch release, and horn not working.. I had checked all the fuses before.. but they were all a little nasty.. i tried cleaning the surfaces up during the summer.. and well it didnt fix the problem.. so i didnt worry about it..

last night I went out and bought all new fuses.. and got up under my dash and cleaned the surfaces on the fuse block and replaced all my fuses.. badabing badaboom.. everything seems to work besides the rear hatch release.. even the console clock in my center console..

I honked my cars horn for the first time.. it was pretty awesome.. not gonna lie..

anyways.. as the car sits right now.. with all the parts that I have bought and such, some necessary.. some not.. but this is what is left for me to do for the rest of the winter I guess...

-replace heater core (not needed for car to drive)
-install new steering wheel (not needed for car to drive)
-hookup wiring for megashifter
-install autometer oil pressure guage
-fix shift selector shaft on transmission
-replace all rubber hoses for brakes
-replace rear brake cylinders
-install hood pins
-install new door/latch/storage area locks (not needed for car to drive)
-install new rear latch struts (not needed for car to drive)
-new radio (not needed for car to drive)
-new speakers (not needed for car to drive)

everything above is everything that needs to be done to the car.. besides engine related stuff.. I'm still waiting on my friend to finish the engine, I told him that it better be ready to go in by tonight, otherwise I was going to be furious.. we'll see what happens.. huh?

anyways.. car is looking good.. I was supposed to take pics last night.. but i forgot my camera.. I'll try and get some tonight.

[Jdseibe]

Update.. Kinda

so.. my engine is still not ready, needless to say i was a little upset, but its all good, since its getting a little nicer out, I'm starting to get back to work on the camaro again.

I orderd my new brake lines, the rubber parts that connect from the metal lines to the brakes, and the rear wheel cylindars (how hard is it to replace the rear drum cylindars?

I got new locks, just hafta install them, I still have to install the heater core, which i heard is kind of a pain, but for the most part, the car is just about ready to recieve the engine.

I owe my buddy some money.. he wants to buy a new stereo for his car, I told him as soon as the engine gets put in, ill order it for him.. haha.. so last night he was out working on it.. what a loser.

It's getting exciting guys, ill make sure to get a video recording of me starting it for the first time.

more updates to come soon. the M&G looks like its going to happen with this car

[Phantom409]

I orderd my new brake lines, the rubber parts that connect from the metal lines to the brakes, and the rear wheel cylindars (how hard is it to replace the rear drum cylindars?

Are you talking about the cylinder that works the breaks?

There should be 2 screws or a clip and they just pop out.
Pop in the new ones and walaa.

If you can get a Haynes manual, that will tell ya too.

[awp944]

yea its very easy to replace wheel cylinders...I did the ones in my truck in about 20 minutes including bleeding the brakes

[Jdseibe]

heres another updated.

finally the weather is letting me get back to work on my car.

so me and my buddy finally got some more work done one the engine, got a lot of it put back together, and we painted it finally, after us getting to talk and figure out what we wanted to do, we decided to just go ahead and swap the cam and lifters while the engine is out, so we orderd one of those comp cams thumpr series, the most mild one, which is about the max those L05 heads can take.

I cleaned up my serpentine setup, looks pretty nice, it will have to do until we get a better setup. but all in all the whole things coming together nicely.

we were looking at the hood, and realizing with the pin on hood that I have, we won't be able to use the wipers if we needed to, and if it rains, the whole back side of the engine is exposed, so I'm looking for a new cowl hood, a bolt on style if anyone knows of any.

also exhaust is an issue, seeing how I dont have any, but i saw someone on the forums here say they got a flowmaster setup for sale, I will most likely buy this setup.. I'm getting really excited, this engine we are putting in will have a heck of a lot more get up and go than the stock l98 i had in it before... can't wait.. Ill keep you guys updated, we are hoping to get a lot done today.

here are a couple pics.

[BP_Z28]

Should be able to meet the M&G deadline!

[Jdseibe]

hey all,

looks like my car will be ready in time.