Since I was a little kid I LOVED 3rd Gen Camaro's ( 1982--1992) and I'm thinking of picking one up over summer to fix up. I've seen some guys on J-body with 3rd gen Camaro signatures in their profiles, and I was wondering if you guys had any good information or sites about Camaros or 3rd gen Camaro's in general. I've used Thirdgen.org.
Anyone with comments or anything about em, lemme know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my little story: awhile ago i saw a for sale for my dream car; 57 corvette. it was drivable, pretty decent shape, and they were asking 6k. now i dont have 6k to dish out and basically waste on anything right now. cuz that would be sitting somewhere for MANY years before i had the funds to start fixing it up. however..... part of me wishes i wouldve just takin out a loan and bought the thing! cuz i realized that i'll never find one that good of shape for that low. hopefully one day down the road me and the wife will be able to find one and fix it up.
as for your car... i know nothing about camaros.... sorry.
A clean third gen has really gone up over the last few years. Your best bet is going to be www.thirdgen.org or camaroz28.com Really TGO is awesome for third gens. Also dont get the 305. Just go ahead and find one with the 350 in it. Also if possible go with the tuned port injection setup. You wont regret it. If not go older and go carbed. I'd stay away from throttle body injection. Even the 350 TPI isn't really that fast. However, like any small block chevy its not hard to get it there. Some of your camaro's that are going to be great to pick up with special performance packages are G92, 1LE, B4C. All will be more expensive, specially the B4C and 1LE. If you can find a 350 TPI with the G92 package snatch it up. I would atleast find one with the rear disc brakes. Try and get the one with everything you need possible so you're not doing work just to get it where it needs to be. Also, dont plan on getting a 350 manual. Doesn't happen. If you want a 5-speed its going to be a 305. DO NOT buy a 305 unless you get the G92 package. Stock for stock if you can drive the 305 manual with a G92 package will beat the 350. However, once you start modding it the 350 takes off and leaves the 305 behind. Look up the G92 package. Its going to be performance exhaust, .345 gears rather then .273 and some other things.
Sorry for rambeling and hope that helps a little.
I haven't had mine for about a year now and let me tell you....
I miss it like no end. I highly regret selling that car. I loved that damn thing.
Trust me, you will catch hell for owning a slow Camaro, but they can be made quick and you will love every second with that car.
I see what you guys are saying, and I'd like to get one with a 350. Whats so bad about the 305? Its deffinitly going to be hard to find a cheap 'maro with the 350 in it. Im really not all about speed or performance and I'd never race it or anything, just cruise around, take it to shows. I really just wanna built a clean, nice, camaro..
89 Camaro RS was my first car....loved driving it....my buddies all had 3rd gen T/A's...they love em too
mines a non running money pit thats budget has gone over my orginal projections 3 fold and with gas on the rise will cost 4 testicles to drive anywhere.
i love it regardless. it will be done someday, it will be what i want, and it will be worth it.
-Borsty
markaj04 wrote:I see what you guys are saying, and I'd like to get one with a 350. Whats so bad about the 305? Its deffinitly going to be hard to find a cheap 'maro with the 350 in it. Im really not all about speed or performance and I'd never race it or anything, just cruise around, take it to shows. I really just wanna built a clean, nice, camaro..
If you go with a 305 TBI it will be slower than slow. Ask Borsty, why do you think he swapped the motor?
By the way....WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN BORSTY!!
Well, how much do engine swaps usually end up costing? I'd likely want it professionally installed and I'm guessing a 350 with low miles would be hard to come by? I'm really new to anything other than a J-body so bear with me on this....... haha
I'm seriously thinking about buying a new Camaro when they are finally released. Hopefully by then I'll have my career and a decent salary. I better start saving.
Nevermind my last post, I was looking through Jegs and Summit magazines and I could get a 350 for about $2300 or less, and could probably do the install myself. What I'm wondering is if I have to buy a v8 camaro and not a v6 to do the swap. I'd be upgrading the transmission to (heard the t-56 is solid). So my question is do I have to find a v8 camaro? Also heard that the later ones (90-92?) are fuel injected and it makes the swap alot harder. You guys know anything about this?
Godspeed wrote:my little story: awhile ago i saw a for sale for my dream car; 57 corvette. it was drivable, pretty decent shape, and they were asking 6k. now i dont have 6k to dish out and basically waste on anything right now. cuz that would be sitting somewhere for MANY years before i had the funds to start fixing it up. however..... part of me wishes i wouldve just takin out a loan and bought the thing! cuz i realized that i'll never find one that good of shape for that low. hopefully one day down the road me and the wife will be able to find one and fix it up.
as for your car... i know nothing about camaros.... sorry.
Is this car still for sale? I will give a cash finders fee.... just 57 vette shells on frames are bring 3x that much
As for 3rd gens. I'd opt for a 91-92 z28 or t/a. See is you can find an rs bc4, 1le, etc so it'll be worth more. A 90 iroc is also pretty desirable. I'd go for a tpi car, 350 auto, or 305 5 speed. 91-92 350 cars didn't come with t tops, so that might narrow down your search. I had a 91 t/a 305tpi 5 speed with the g92 package and loved it. It was one of the most fun cars to drive that I've ever owned.
I wouldn't bother messing with a v6 camaro unless it was free. Their's many v8 3rd gens that are dirt cheap. If you're looking to build a car with a motor swap, trans, etc I would probably go with an older carb car and swap a 383 in it.
Yeah, as of now it looks like im going with the carb over tpi so I'm looking for an 86 or so with t-tops and a 305, but i'll be swapping in a 350 small block and Turbo 350 transmission. That sound about right to you?
I'm still new to this stuff, but it doesn't seem to hard to catch on!
Not quite the generation you're looking at, but I saw this parked across my
house today. The yellow really compliments the dandelions lol
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markaj04 wrote:Yeah, as of now it looks like im going with the carb over tpi so I'm looking for an 86 or so with t-tops and a 305, but i'll be swapping in a 350 small block and Turbo 350 transmission. That sound about right to you?
I'm still new to this stuff, but it doesn't seem to hard to catch on!
What exactly are you looking to build? A drag car, a nice driver with some power, etc? What is your budget inculding the price of the car? A stock 350 tpi car would be cheaper in the long run compared to what you're planning on building if you're just looking for a driver. I've seen some really nice iroc's, z28's, gta's, t/a's, etc in the $2500 range.
An 87+ IROC or t/a with a 350 tpi and an 700r4 would be a good driver and get decent gas mileage compared to a carb motor and a 350 turbo trans. I'd really opt for an overdrive for mpg and you can also run deeper gears in the rear without reving as much on the highway.
I'm looking for a nice driver with some power like you said. I really wanna do the carb 350 in an 85-86. My overall budget including the cost of the car is around $10,000. I'm figuring about $1500 for the car, $2000(ish) for the engine, I can get a trans for around $500 after a rebuild, paint, then do exhaust, wheels, and done. I know you can swap a 350 into a tpi but I've heard its not as easy and I'd like to keep this as simple as possible since this will be my first classic car and engine swap. I don't care much about MPG though id like the overdrive, this car won't be my daily driver (the cavy will be!).
It would be cheaper in the long run and make more sense IMO to start off with a nice car. You could buy a real nice 350 IROC for about $3500 and just bolt on performance parts, no swap needed, plus it will be worth more in the end. Maybe a repaint and some rims and that's about it. If you're dead set on having a carb you can always swap an lt1 carb intake or something on the tpi motor.
I don't want a stock Iroc-Z because I plan on customizing the car with new wheels, new paint, and it would just take away the value of the Iroc-Z. Thats why I'd rather just get a very cheap camaro and put in the 350, and have a fast, custom car that I built to my liking, and increasing the value of it.
How much power is osme power? The t-56 is good to a point before it has to be built to hold power.
If you want a nice motor and have some decent $$$ I would recomend a LSx/1/2/3/7 swap w/ the carb intake.
I will help lighten up the car (all except the LSx) and make good power to boot.
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
You dont have to swap in the engine to go carbed. To go from TPI is pretty easy and cheap to go carbed. In fact the whole TPI setup sells for a pretty penny on e-bay or any other F-body site. You'd be pretty suprised how much you could get for a TPI setup. It will easily cover the cost of the swap with better parts then stock carbed stuff.
If you're going to swap the engine anyways why buy a 305? Just buy a V6. You can usually find a clean one pretty cheap. If you're going carbed it doesn't really matter about computer and wiring and all that crap anyways. Just seems silly to me. I hope you dont plan on daily driving this car. Good luck with that because it will be down for a while with the swap. Even once its running with a built 350 carbed your gas mileage will be non-existant. Specially if you plan on running a turbo 350 trans in it.
Sappy...are you talking about swapping a T-56 in also? Because no third gen came with one. The 3rd gen came with a T-5 which is even weaker then the T-56.
I can't get a V6 because aparently its much harder to swap in the 350 or any v8 motor, thats what I've been reading on thirdgen.org. I'm just looking for the simplest way, and as of now I see that as getting a v8 camaro around 85-86. I THINK they started the TPI in 87, but I could be wrong there.
markaj04 wrote: I'd be upgrading the transmission to (heard the t-56 is solid).
Since he said that I figured he would want a T56 swapped in.
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
Rabbit(AKA RedAssassin) wrote:A clean third gen has really gone up over the last few years. Your best bet is going to be www.thirdgen.org or camaroz28.com Really TGO is awesome for third gens. Also dont get the 305. Just go ahead and find one with the 350 in it. Also if possible go with the tuned port injection setup. You wont regret it. If not go older and go carbed. I'd stay away from throttle body injection. Even the 350 TPI isn't really that fast. However, like any small block chevy its not hard to get it there. Some of your camaro's that are going to be great to pick up with special performance packages are G92, 1LE, B4C. All will be more expensive, specially the B4C and 1LE. If you can find a 350 TPI with the G92 package snatch it up. I would atleast find one with the rear disc brakes. Try and get the one with everything you need possible so you're not doing work just to get it where it needs to be. Also, dont plan on getting a 350 manual. Doesn't happen. If you want a 5-speed its going to be a 305. DO NOT buy a 305 unless you get the G92 package. Stock for stock if you can drive the 305 manual with a G92 package will beat the 350. However, once you start modding it the 350 takes off and leaves the 305 behind. Look up the G92 package. Its going to be performance exhaust, .345 gears rather then .273 and some other things.
Sorry for rambeling and hope that helps a little.
Pretty good information, but I want to enlighten you a little bit on the 350/5 speed combo.
While it was never offered from the factory, it is not un-common to find them. Plenty of people have swapped them over. If you do find one with a 350 and a 5 speed, you BETTER make sure that it is either a World Class T-5 transmission, and if it's not it better be built. A stock T-5 transmission will not hold up to the power of a stock 350 for very long.
T-top Third Gens are GREAT, trust me. But, they are notorious for body twist. Make sure and get one with subframe connectors, or make those your first mod. I should have got them a long time ago, and sadly I have not.
Also, the t-top Third Gens are notorious for leaking. Brand new weather stripping from GM is $400. If you are wanting to go all out drag car, get a hard top.
Definitely get one with a disc rear, I am getting ready to swap mine. Once you get the Third Gen and you start modding it, if you decide to sell any of the old parts, hit me up.
Also, look around on www.thirdgen.org alot, you will learn alot. The 4th gen F-body suspension bolts right in, the interior bolts right in basically, with some wiring modification and some slight modifying to the plastics. The console, dash, seats, and I believe most of the plastics will bolt in. Just some food for thought.
If you have any questions at all, hit me and Rabbit up.
1983 Camaro Z28
Thanks for the info! I know most about the interior and how I can swap from the 4th gens. I'm trying to do all the research and reading I can!! haha. I really want T-Tops, I'm not looking for an all out drag car! I'm just going for something with power, and looks. I want a car that I built and can be proud of and just have fun cruising in. Ling, I see yours is an 83, and it almost looks like the newer ones (85-92) Did you just add the ground effects? I also can tell that you have the older style front bumper and I was wondering if they are interchangeable. If you know, and can help me out I'd appreciate it.
Its really cool to chat with you guys about camaro's on a j-body website! I'm suprised to see the knowledge on this site about camaros and you have all helped out alot so thank you all!
Quick question i am working on a 91 firebird with a v6 and a 92camaro with a v6. we have a motor out of a 88. it is a tpi V8 my friend said they didn't have 305's tpi's did they.?
