79 Camaro - Budget build 6.0/4L65 ProjectMullet

[cbpldc]

Last fall, I came across a car I simply had to have. A nice clean 79 Camaro Berlinetta with a 350/350 that was about 500 miles old. I bought it knowing it had some flaws. Simple things like a rusty rear apron (rest of the car is clean) sagging doors, no wipers (due to cowl hood) and some paint chips here and there.

After driving it a little bit, I found that it liked to get warm (high compression, cammed 355) and that it had no fan shroud. So I figured, lets just go ahead and make this into what I want it to be. While the engine and transmission operated just fine, the TH350 combined with the 3.73's made it annoying to drive, and I don't think whoever build the engine matched teh flywheel to the balancer, as it had a nasty vibration when revving up. This was confirmed when I pulled the powertrain.


I also happened to have a friend with a mid-70's Toyota Land Cruiser that just blew his engine up, so the engine went into it, and man did it make it run awesome! So I sold the engine (still looking for a buyer for the perfect and only 500 mile old TH350 which shifted wonderfully!) and made a purchase.



Its a lower mileage 6.0, pared down harness and tuned ECM and a rebuilt 4L65E.
I bought the Hedman LS motor swap kit with motor mounts, trans crossmember and long tube headers, an F-body oil pan and pickup girdle and a set of subframe connectors. My trusted friend will be installing it and shaking it down in Southern Indiana for me, and I'm super pumped to start playing with it soon.

But anyways, back to the name. This car has that 80's period correct stance that just makes me want to grow my hair out, but only in the back. That's why I call it ProjectMullet. Here's some pics of when I got it.













My future plans for it include better fitting wheels and a more sporting front suspension. We will see how it behaves with the subframe connectors, but I'm really not looking to make it a race car. My goal is to have a nice cruiser that I can take the family on a road trip to California. I'll also be investing in a vintage air system to improve some comfort.



My budget thus far is to stay under $15k, and even when I factor in the labor, I'll be at around $13.5 with it currently.

I do have a question about my gauges though. Because this car started life as a 6 cylinder berlinetta, I know the tach is funky ( didn't read right with the 350 and MSD ignition) so I'm looking at this as a solution for my gauges for now. http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...127/prd127.htm

And I also know I'll need to convert the digital signal from the ECU to a mechanical one for my gauges. Any recommendations on that?

Thanks,
Chris

[rreichert82]

I am swapping an 8.1L from a 2500HD in my 79 T/A. I went with the Dakota digital gauges and got the kit to tie in the factory ecm to supply all the data with out having to piece meal it all together.

[cbpldc]

Okay. Doing some test fitting with the Holley mounts and found that the steering makes contact with the F-body oil pan. What am I doing wrong here? Should I go to the Dirty dingo sliders?

Chris

[cbpldc]

Okay. With a quick call to brphotrods, I've got it figured out. I simply ordered the wrong part. I even did all the research and knew that I needed a 98-02 Fbody pan, but for some reason I ordered the ever so slightly different Holley pan, which is beautiful, but doesn't really work for this application.



So, new pan is ordered and on the way. In the mean time, we will measure for the drive shaft.

Chris

[cbpldc]

Progress!

We thought about a Tanks Inc. unit, but for now, I have friends who's modifying the tank to accept a truck pump.






Next up, driveshaft stretching!

Chris