SBC shopping list?

Okay, so it will be swap time for me soon I believe, as my 22re has begun to burn oil at a fairly alarming rate and after so many miles, its that time. IMO, the best bang for the buck swap seems to be a SBC 350, despite the dreaded crossbreeding, it does the job I want it to do. I think I'm probably going to pick up a complete donor vehicle so I can make it a weekend project (wishful thinking) come tax time. My question is, what all am I going to need to make the swap? Going to try for a TBI LT1 out of a camaro.

^^^^^four assed monkey....


LMFAO, couldn't help myself , so sorry....

So, on to something perhaps helpful...., check out these guys: Advance Adapters

Well I'm assuming you don't have smog in Florida, which makes the swap a lot easier. with mine I have to retain all the engine smog equipment for the motor and all the chassis smog equipment for the truck.
But to the facts.

From everybody I've talked to throughout my swap, its a good idea to do the rear end. A ford 8.8 out of a mustang or (I think) ranger is supposed to hold up. I myself used an 8" Toyota rear end to replace the factory 7.5. 8" rear ends come in v6,turbo, and 1ton trucks I believe. parts are available to beef em up so that's an option.

You're gonna need a smaller radiator than what would come in the donor car, unless the camaro one is more narrow than one from a caprice. And you'll have to run pusher fans instead of pullers. I'm using a summit aluminum radiator and I have yet to buy a fan.

Trans-dapt carries motor mounts, and you'll have to fab a transmission mount. (the top of the trans crossmember is flat on the toy).

I don't know what you'd need as far as suspension but it seems the stock stuff will work. I had the motor sitting in the truck before I pulled it off the frame and the front didn't seem to sag really much more than the 22re. I've converted to coil-overs in all 4 corners though. You could use leafs and torsions and just weld new perches on the axle for the new rear. Also in the front the stock exhaust manifolds interfere with the bolts for the upper control arm. so I don't know how you'd do an alignment with the motor in, unless headers offer more clearance. I had control arms built that adjust with heims rather than the traditional setup

Transmission tunnel clearance. gonna have to bust out a sawsall and lift the tunnel. also on an auto the tranny dipstick hits the firewall. easy fix with a braided dipstick tube.

You should be able to get the two driveshafts welded together, or you can get an adapater to attach the chevy driveshaft to the flange on the rear end, and then have it shortened. Check driveshaftsuperstore.com

if you have other questions let me know and if I've gotten to that point I'll try to answer.

^^^nice post! Do you mind if I add some of this to the Techi? I'm trying to build a big database for us all to use openly for our projects

Did you draw that?

not at all. I wish someone would've had a big database when I started my swap lol. I would have gone about certain things differently.

Very informative post MacDave, I'll more than likely be peppering you with questions as things progress.. hopefully I can at least get started next month! Anyone have experience with the swap 'kit' from Downey Offroad?

i think I forgot to mention fuel pump and lines also, but the lines only have to really be done because I relocated my tank to the rear.

i would buy some weld on motor mounts with urethane bushings. to start. get a camaro lt1 motor'(or even a vette lt1 or lt4 motor which should have aluminum heads and more power) .painless harness. if you want to retain toyota 5 speed you will need a conversion bellhousing and all other parts needed.you could get a 2WD Toyota turbo 5 spd tranny. Either use older 350 manifolds or get headers guarenteed to fit in a yota most s10 v8 headers r shit!!!!! and also run a new feed line from tank use 3/8 and use old feed as ur return. even better when you put a 45psi or more pump in tank braze in a 3/8 feed to match the rest of feed line. that way if you get wide open for a long while you dont run out of fuel..... good luck it will be tight but this swap has been done thousands of times.

for wiring you can go to LT1wiring.com which is where I had mine done. they tune the computer and can set your gear ratio, tire size, transmission etc. They cut out the unnecessary wiring, relays and such, and label all open wires for a standalone harness. I believe on mine there are 10 or so wires that have to be tied in (gauges, starter, main power, fuel pump, fans, etc.). They can remove or retain emissions, pretty much anything you'd need done to the wiring. It cost me a total of 425, 375 for the harness work and 50 for the programming. I believe its only 325 or 350 to do a camaro harness.

Another thing I never thought about is that you may be able to adapt an r series transmission out of a turbo supra and possibly still fit in the transmission tunnel. I can't say I know much about the supra transmission other than I've been told its the same one that's in 5 speed jeeps and dakotas

Also on the heads I believe the iron heads outflow the aluminum heads, but the aluminum heads run a higher compression ratio. Which way you go depends on how you're gonna do the motor though.