Thread: 80s rebuild project ideas?

sort of looking to buy an 80s car with a v6 in order to look into a series II swap with my new cam setup. im kind of getting sick of the FWD thing and i think i can make a car a lot faster RWD and with less junk in it since it wont be (as) streetable as my grand prix. im not sure if i would stick with the blower to slap a turbo on it yet..

i figure anything with a 2.8/3.1/3.4/3.8 would be a pretty easy swap. i dont really care if i lose all emissions passing ability or if none of the gauges or anything work anymore since it will be a completely redone car and it is old enough that emissions doesnt matter. i would be putting in all my own gauges probably. it would still be fuel injected, but i probably wouldnt use much of the original stuff since i would need to convert everything from a series II to make it work.

so far ive come up with this list of cars that COULD work:

regal
cutlass
monte carlo
firebird
camaro
s-10


anyone have any other ideas of something that would work in this lineup? i am leaning towards a firebird or camaro because they have sportier suspensions to begin with and look cooler. thoughts? ideas? comments? all are welcome.

AFAIK, the 3800 uses the bolt pattern of the 60* engines, so if you're going to use the stock trans, you'll want to avoid anything with the 4.3 or a V8.

yeah, i wasnt sure on the 4.3. guess that is out. im not sure i was going to use the stock transmissions because on those cars i figure id blow them to pieces all the time even if they were manual.

Originally Posted by Bio248

yeah, i wasnt sure on the 4.3. guess that is out. im not sure i was going to use the stock transmissions because on those cars i figure id blow them to pieces all the time even if they were manual.

Oh, a 700R4 can be built to take a TON of power if you're going auto. Turbo 200 might be a problem, though. Don't know much about the manuals of that era, though.

how much you looking to spend on the car?

i figure i would be able to pick up the car itself for less than $3000. im not sure on how much i would end up spending on the motor and transmission. i figure this thing would be put together over a decent amount of time so money wouldnt be the main thing here.

the motor itself is probably not going to be all that expensive. i have everything already besides a new block to play with. the transmission is where im going to be lost. i dont do much transmission work and i think for this car to be up to the entertainment level that i am looking for i might want it to be manual.

i know i have seen trannyman's regal online, so i know it can be done.

last week i found a 1992 heritage edition camaro v6 for 2000$ it looked in pretty good shape. ill send you a link if your interested

I vote regal t-type

not really looking for something that ill have to make custom mounts.

REgal

cutlass

id say either a regal, camaro, or firebird... or also maybe a fiero, that would be alot of work but its light as all hell

fiero is an option, but i just dont really like the car in general. can it be fast? no doubt.

Originally Posted by Bio248

fiero is an option, but i just dont really like the car in general. can it be fast? no doubt.

really? i like them... they look sharp if you ask me. but its all up to you haha

L67's have been swapped into MG's too. They weigh 1 ton!! If my dad didn't sell his i was planning on doing a swap to it.

im not looking for ANYTHING to swap. im looking for something that would be an EASY swap.

Fiero!

NO FIEROS

im leaning towards a camaro or firebird still. i do love regals/cutlass'/monte carlos though.