396 for my vega maybe

[peterpan]

i bought my 71 rs camaro from a local guy and after i bought it we became realy good friends and lately i have been thinking about selling it i was talking with him about it and he said he wanted it back when i bought it it had a 427 that had a knock i pulled it and built a 396 for it and changed the wheels on the camaro and thats all i have done to it he said i could keep my 396 and wheels they are keystone classics and to give him a price i paid 4,000 for it because the body is clean and it has alot of performance stuff like 4 wheel disc brakes posi and a turbo 400 and alot more but i know he wont give me what i paid him so i don't know if i will sell it it also has the numbers matching engine and trany 350/turbo 350 with it but if i was to sell it minus the motor that 396 would be great in my vega and the money would go a long way on other projects and i have another 73 Z-28 so i would still have my camaro in my collection and i just found a 70 chevelle that has caught my eye a 4 speed car

what would you guys do

[ColinOpseth]

Ditch the RS. Give him back the powertrain in case he wants to keep it matching numbers. Put the 396 in your Vega. Smoke some imports.

[Bacchus]

First, I would send me pictures of that Camaro. I am looking for one like that. If it is pretty decent, I'll give you a fair number for it.

Brian

[DoozCoop]

I love the 396 in my vega, but be forewarned - changing the last 2 plugs on the drivers side takes about 2 hours, the rest take 15 minutes! Not sure what brand headers are in it, but it's a real tight fit. In fact everything's a tight fit in it. I want to put in a new cam,lifters,springs, and retainers....but I have to pull the motor to do it. The front engine mount goes directly under the oil pan and timing cover. Can't jack the engine up - nothing to put the jack under! Can't pull the heads to rework the heads - the headers are in the way...can't remove the headers without pulling the engine....can't drop the oil pan, without removing the headers....can't pull the tranny to install a transbrake without pulling the engine - no room to get at bellhousing bolts...etc!!! Mine has all stock front, stock firewall. It would be a different story if it had a tube frame front, altered firewall and altered tranny tunnel. After this season I plan on pulling it out and refreshing engine and tranny, and a new set of headers, these are getting rusty...unless I drop the whole thing into the 66 Nova.....then I'll put in a SBC in the Vega simply because it's easier to work on if need be. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do with yours!

[ColinOpseth]

DoozCoop,
15 minutes to change 2 plugs? You poor boy. LT1 Camaro owners usually have to remove the passengerside motor mount to change their plugs. It's a "DAY" job to change plugs. LMAO.

I know of guys who have never changed their plugs even with 150k on the stock double platinums because they don't want to deal with the nightmare.

[DoozCoop]

You misunderstood me - it takes 2 hours to change 2, then 15 minutes for the other 6. I realise what a pain it is for the monzas, I was a mechanic in a chevy dealership from 1975-83. Man I used to hate them, and Vegas! I changed a ton of Vega motors because of the blocks and heads! Then they came out with the Citations and Chevettes... I finally realised there must be an easier way to earn a living, so now I do specialty painting and wallpapering.

I know I make it sound really hard, but I grew up working on cars from the 60's - when you could actually see the engine - not like todays cars, where it's buried under all those hoses and wires,etc..

[ColinOpseth]

ya man.. i hear you..

Sorry about the mistype.. I type like 80wpm and sometimes my fingers think slower than my braind

I don't mind working on my IROC too much, but maybe that's because I worked on a FWD car a few times. Screw that. No RWD V8 GM car can be as much of a pain in the ASS as a FWD.

Later,
Colin