80's caprice swap?

[DragCamaro]

hey, im looking at making myself a driver out of a probably 87ish caprice 4 door, what im wanting to do is swap out the 305 for a 3.8, i have a 98 camaro that were putting an ls1 into, so im going to have a complete setup out of it. im wanting to build up the tranny, mabe a 2500 stall, shift kit, servos, ect. and supercharge the maro motor, nothign big mabe like 6-8 pounds of boost and a small cam, and im wondering:
what will i have to do to the mounts, are they the same?
will the motor take that boost with the compression it has, ive heard of some factory motors with turbos that run high boost
what kind of gas milage will i have with a 3:23 posi
and what will have to be done computer wise, will i use the one from the camaro?
thanks for any help,
Mark

[Epro]

What's wrong with the 305? Not running the greatest?

[DragCamaro]

im just wanting something that gets decent gas milage and and is different, i dont have the car yet, im just planning, i have a 96 trans am that im planning on stroking to 397 and putting a nasty cam in, anyway when im done its not gonna be a good daily driver lol so i want something that wont kill me on gas, cheep on insurance, room for my buddies, and space for a wicked stereo.
i dont really like 305's, nothing wrong with them, just too big to be economical, too small to make easy power. this isnt gonna be a race car, its gonna be a daily driver lol.
u dont think i could pull off 20 mpg could i?

[mofo123]

ls1 swap into the caprice?

[DragCamaro]

that would be good too, but i already have a 3.8 motor transmition and everything, i dont want to spend too much money anyway, ill be doing all of this in my own shop

[...rallyred]

that sounds like a pretty neat swap. the mounts may or may not be the same, when you have the engine out you can check. i would be really surprised if they were in the "right" place.

it will take boost fine.

mileage, who knows. it's a heavy car. your LS1 swap will probably get better mileage.

you can use the camaro's PCM to run the engine and tranny, yes.

[Epro]

im just wanting something that gets decent gas milage and and is different, i dont have the car yet, im just planning, i have a 96 trans am that im planning on stroking to 397 and putting a nasty cam in, anyway when im done its not gonna be a good daily driver lol so i want something that wont kill me on gas, cheep on insurance, room for my buddies, and space for a wicked stereo.
i dont really like 305's, nothing wrong with them, just too big to be economical, too small to make easy power. this isnt gonna be a race car, its gonna be a daily driver lol.
u dont think i could pull off 20 mpg could i?

My dad's 83 Monte Carlo was good on gas, and that was a carb'd 305 (LG4) :shrug:

This is just my thinking, but that 305 makes a good amount of torque, more than the 3800. So it can move that heavy car around a lot easier. Less effort from the engine = better fuel economy.

[DragCamaro]

i didnt plan on leaving the 3.8 stock, but i see ur point, what would it take to get 300-350 out of that motor?

[DragCamaro]

idk i was just trying to be different, too bad i can afford a duramax, that would be a sick swap lol

[Grimm]

i didnt plan on leaving the 3.8 stock, but i see ur point, what would it take to get 300-350 out of that motor?

A turbo kit.

[80ECLT]

Use motor mounts from a G-body cutlass or regal with a 3.8 buick V6. They should work on your Caprice.:cheers:

P.S. A Duramax would be way too heavy for a caprice w/o modifying the hell out of it.

[lo_jack]

Strip the Caprice down and you will be in good shape.

Fbody is about 3300 stock trim.
'88 Caprice shipped at about 3600.

305 rated at 170 horse @ 4400, 250 torque.
231 rated at 200, but not as much torque. If you can fit a blower, I would. It should make a lot of difference in torque. Later generation blown 231s are rated at 280 torque, but its mostly all in the blower. That should push the caprice fine, even with the 300 extra pounds.

[grandsport3.4]

i have done this swap. just puld aa 3.8 out and put a 350 in its place. the mounts are very diff. just have to go to the junkyard to find the right frame mounts for the swap. also the are a pain to get unbolted from the frame.

[Grimm]

I believe he's talking about a series II 3.8 out of a f-body. That's even more different than those mid-80's 3.8s.

[grandsport3.4]

true but ethier or . the frame mounts are a biotch.