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I've got most of the suspension for my camaro bolted up which means up next is the engine and trans. I'm pretty set on a t-56 for the trans. But haven't decided on an engine yet. So here are what I'm currently considering.
A Cadillac 500
A 454
An 8.1
An LQ4
Or an LQ4 with a 4.8 crank so that it revs stupid high.
If I go with the 500 or 454 I'll get a roots supercharger at some point, if I go with any of the others I'll probably set up some junkyard turbos.
So if you had a 68 Camaro with no engine what would you throw in it? If you have any suggestions I haven't already thought of let me know.
A little tall but you were going to have a blower sticking through the hood.
Sic friatur crustulum
'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.
In all seriousness, that's one of the few cars you can toss a modern GM aluminum small block in and not be derided for it. If your end use is going in a straight line as fast as possible or just "comparing inches", then the bigger the better. Honestly though, twere it my car, I'd be looking for a L33 (all aluminum version of the 5300 vortec), so that I could drive it like the pony car it was meant to be.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
It depends on your intended use but I would say the LQ4 all day.
The Caddy 500 is torquey, but not really want you want in a light weight pony car.
The 454 is great, plenty of aftermarket. But they can be expensive to build and they're heavy.
The 8.1L have head problems and don't make all that much power for as big as they are. And again, they're heavy.
The LQ4 is the best choice out of the options you have. They're cheap, easy to find, lightweight, make great power stock, and are easy to mod for more.
-Jonny B.
1979 Cherokee Golden Eagle - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
7" lift, 35x12.5x15
AMC 401 - Pro-FLo 4 FI
NV4500/NWFBB/NP205 - Triple Stick'd
F D44 - 4.10, Eaton E-Locker
R M23 - 4.10, Detroit Locker
1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
1979 Wagoneer - Sold
1981 Cherokee Chief - Cubed
Another point for the LQ4, since I think the 398 was the biggest engine available in the car (in the SS, I may be wrong) and the LQ4 is about the same size. I'm not gonna do the math, but if you rebuild a JY LQ4, you could probably bore it to 398 and use original badges.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
You could have the SS package with either the 396 or 350. But they did make a 427 camaro so 396 wasnt the biggest option.
Part of why I liked the destroked 6.0 idea was because it'll make something with roughly 327 CI of displacement, which is another original engine option. Plus the destroked 6.0 would have an awesome rod to stroke ratio making it REALLY responsive to boost.
If I had the money I would buy a blueprint 632, but as thats out of the picture right now I'm stuck with engines I can get at the scrapyard.
Id like to make a few jokes about comparing inches at the drag track, but I think Stuka would ban me.
Anything aluminum. And certainly not a cast iron big block, unless this will be a 1/4 mile car only. If you want to drive it a lot, go for a lighter engine.
Shagoneer wrote:Id like to make a few jokes about comparing inches at the drag track, but I think Stuka would ban me.
The reason I was considering the Iron LQ4 is because ever being a giant iron block it is still lighter than the smaller 350 block that was most common in these cars. Plus from what Ive read the iron block can take more boost and spray before than the aluminum block.
Im really leaning towards the destroker since im reading about people pushing them to 9K rpm with only new rods, rod bolts, and a little head porting. And 9K rpm sounds like a ridiculous amount of fun, especially with forced induction.
I would be willing to bet anybody running those RPM is not doing so with forced induction, they are all NA. And having the engine balanced for those RPM is pretty much required if you want it to live at all. 9k RPM in a push rod engine typically doesn't last long without dumping some money into it, along with solid lifters, which suck for drive-ability.
Also, at 9k RPM most of your belt driven accessories will explode Not an issue for a race car with no accessories, but certainly an issue if you want to drive it on the street. You basically need electric steering, electric water pump, and run just an alternator with a big pulley to keep its speeds down (Which means not much current at lower RPM unfortunately).
So I picked up an LQ4 and after reading your advise and the advise of a couple emchanic friends Im going to leave the stock crank in it (until I have money for a forged crank), however ad the urging of a few friends Im going to get it bored to the bleeding edge of what the block is capable of 4.125, and then have the crank offset ground slightly, to give me a total CID of 396 just for nostalgias sake.
Shagoneer wrote:So I picked up an LQ4 and after reading your advise and the advise of a couple emchanic friends Im going to leave the stock crank in it (until I have money for a forged crank), however ad the urging of a few friends Im going to get it bored to the bleeding edge of what the block is capable of 4.125, and then have the crank offset ground slightly, to give me a total CID of 396 just for nostalgias sake.
Schweeet!
Oh yeah, you got a pic of this car, or is this all just fantasy?
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.