Here lately I've had the buzz for american muscle. So I've been thinking pretty hardcore about making a 350 fit. I wonder if its possible to completly take the 3.1 out the front drive train and the rear also. use the rearend of another car or truck (say s-10 for instance) and weld that nice and squar so it's half way drivable. Now the front. I'm sure its possible to mock up an axel, or correct the suspension as it is without the trans so that its freemoving....
This is a radicle idea but think about it. If this could be done these 3rd gen cavs gonna get it handed to them....
is it possible yes. do you have the funds? skils? and equipement to do it? different story.
I almost bought a 1990 Z24 with a LT1 and rwd set up. Full roll cage and not street legal by any means. lol. guy wanted 6Grand. couldn't get a loan from the bank at that time.
your gonna need alotta time on your hand, and maybe one of the strecthed fiberglass front ends.
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ya it can be done but i wouldnt consider it a J-body anymore lol still be sweet as hell and id want 1 thogh
ive seen 2 or 3 in person in london and there crazy
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Couple guys are looking into using a S10 rear end right now for a cheap RWD swap. Apparently the S10 rear end is almost the perfect width for the Jbody.
With just a mild V8 you shouldn't need to do any body bracing/roll cage etc. Its when you start popping wheelies that you start to twist the body
The main obsticle is the firewall / steering rack. The firewall has to be chopped for a transmission tunnel, and then where do you put the steering rack?
u switch to a gear drive stearing, and that solves that.
that red ones looks similar to the one i almost got, but it was a darker maron.
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2g @ heart wrote:u switch to a gear drive stearing, and that solves that.
that red ones looks similar to the one i almost got, but it was a darker maron.
But thats not the problem.. You have to switch to some other front strut setup or mod the stock one so the tie rods will connect to the front instead of rear.
ditch the sturts and go with a spring/shock combo like the rear... do a full gear drive swap
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2g @ heart wrote:and maybe one of the strecthed fiberglass front ends.
I foget the name of the company that makes it. Its like 8" longer than stock, fully fiberglass, with fenders, lights, bumper and grill. Look at my FAQ over on V6Z24.com.
yeah ask Karo. thats where he got his
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i think harwood makes a 1 piece front-end for 2nd gens
People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......
I have the ability and shop to do it in... but the funding I may be short hand of.... I just dont understand how I would do the front end setup for steering.... cuting and weldind doesnt scare me a bit... But I want this car to be as legal as possible. This way my car will appear a little like stock if I dont pop the hood.... Excluding the 350 how much you figure it would take? I could easly spend 2500 on the project.... I would allow my self to spend 6000 on everything in the next 4 years if I decided.... I already have the s-10 rear end and I can use the s-10 motor mounts as well....
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RJ Miller wrote:I have the ability and shop to do it in... but the funding I may be short hand of.... I just dont understand how I would do the front end setup for steering.... cuting and weldind doesnt scare me a bit... But I want this car to be as legal as possible. This way my car will appear a little like stock if I dont pop the hood.... Excluding the 350 how much you figure it would take? I could easly spend 2500 on the project.... I would allow my self to spend 6000 on everything in the next 4 years if I decided.... I already have the s-10 rear end and I can use the s-10 motor mounts as well....
If you aren't planning on going all out, the RWD conversion and V8 swap is not worth the money in my opinion. I'm talking about tube chassis, roll cage, strip interior down, ford 9inch rear, built/blown small block. If you just want a V8 rwd car go buy a camaro they are cheap.
The reason i say this is because its easier/cheaper to just turbocharge a 3400 and run as fast as a rwd conversion with a stock 350. That S10 rear end is not going to take any real horsepower nor is the body without some bracing.
Also you don't need that extended front end .. i've seen hundreds of Jbodies RWD swapped and V8s, not just small block either, and i never remember any of them having the stretched out front.
the EASIEST way to do it is just to drop a cavalier body on an s-10 frame...I measured my 88 s-10 and my 94 cavalier and the only difference was the s-10 frame was 6" longer in the very back....so just hack off the back 6"(theres nothing there anyways..and set the cavalier body on....now just do a 350 swap like on an s-10 and your done...a few little things but you'll have those with any major motor swap...
I was told time and time again it wasn't possible or practical...I had every part to do the swap and lost interest ...but if you have the abilities I say go for it
Well, that is my plan with my custom cavalier. My idea for the front end, is a camaro front clip. The cavalier front clip can probally be swapped out. I have a Trams Am rear end with 373 gears as well. you can try looking into that as well. That's my plan, it's just the matter of having the time to do it.
there is no "easy way" for this swap guys. i think the best way to do it would be to get an aftermarket front half and throw it in. same deal with the rear, just hack the floor out and stuff the rear clip under and build the sheet metal around it. at that point, add subframe braces and you pretty much have a solid frame.
