Whats the best and easyist way, swaping a c5 ls into a 69 camaro convertable cheaply?

[chevnut55]

I have been thinking about droping a ls into my dads and I 1969 camaro drop top .
It has a 350 glide in it now, after doing all the suspension work on it. I just came into a running low miles c5 w/ manual trans.
I would like to drop it into the camaro with a probley a 480le without messing the car up much..my dad bought it in 72!
I read alot on what needs to be doen and what parts to use on here. but I am looking for the cheapest and easy way of doing it.
are there and companys selling swap kits for a decent price?
whats the best way of going about it and what parts of the c5 should I save?
also has anyone made a funcional cowl hood work on a ls motor?, I did it with my 67 cobra 4.6 and it looks great.

[BobK]

"Best", "easiest" and "cheaply" don't belong in the same sentence- you're lucky to get two of those- you're definitely not going to get all three.

There are plenty of companies selling swap kits, but "a decent price" to them might not be "a decent price" to you. The swap kits are typically the best route to go, since the parts are proven to work together.

Regarding what to keep from the C5, there's not a whole lot outside of the obvious (engine, trans, accessories) that you need to keep- the radiator, mounts, etc., aren't going to be of much use. You can save the wiring harness if you've got someone who can re-work it for you, but it's often easier to just buy a new one.

[chevnut55]

I know its not going to be cheap, but hoping to find the best deal without getting screwed with junk parts.
I noticed some used a factory style oil pan instead of a expencive aftermarket pan, the header are for some reason 3-5 times the price of sbc headers.
I could use the wireing but it need to be clean as possable.
not shure what accessorys I can use, a/c for future ac kit? p/s and alt?
I just picked up the c5 good surprise 35k miles with a auto trans.
I will use the brakes, event though I just swaped the camaro over to 4 wheel factory style disc.
I know I can not use the trans so i need to find a camaro/firebird auto trans.
I want to use the factory console and shifter. too bad I could not use the cool heads up desplay.
I did a tpi motor swap on my 67 camaro but this is my first ls swap.

[BobK]

The stock pans won't work on a 1st gen- they crash into the steering linkage. GM has a "musclecar pan" that's cheaper than most of the other aftermarket pans, but it's pretty deep and hangs low relative to the subframe.

The headers are more expensive because they don't sell in the volume that SBC headers do- think about how many people are putting headers on a SBC in a 1st gen vs how many are doing an LS swap. It's simple economics- the SBC designs were figured out years ago, and thousands and thousands of pairs of headers have been sold from them.

The Corvette alternator sits up high, so you won't have subframe clearance issues, but it looks nasty sitting way up there. I'm pretty sure the AC compressor on the Corvette is down low, and will hit the subframe, so it'll need to be relocated. Power steering pump will work if you keep the alternator in the stock location.

[Groundczero]

The gm muscle pan is basically the truck oil pan I would look into a f-body pan. With a c5 if you want to keep drive by wire you need that wiring and the tac module. If you are ok running the th350 you can easily re-wire the existing computer wiring harness to standalone.

[chevnut55]

Thanks for the info. I was going to go with the truck pan.
It has a power slide 2 speed in it now so I am looking for a 4l60e for it now.too bad I could not use the c5 trans, it looks the same except the bellhousing/tail but i read the shafts are different. anyone looking for a low milage c5 trans?
what else will I need to make the trans work? mounts,shift cable,what about the wiring/computer and speedo?
need to decide on parts and start ordering fast.
Tring to decide on going with a swap kit or ordering everything seperate and what kit or parts to buy.
I found jeggs headers are cheapest but want ceramic coated.
the oil pan was going to be gm but not shure now i will look into a f body pan.
the mounts I might go with bmr because I used their subframe connectors and was impressed.
Wireing kit are where im stuck..there are so many with different features it hard to choose. painless, holly,fast etc..wich is best and easy to install?
the pully kit is another problem, I do not want to pay for bling ,just want it to look like it came stock in 69 if they had ls1 motors! so there must be a cheaper way with stock gm parts.
I wish there was a poll on this site on what parts people used on there swaps and if there were ant issues.