Restoring my old Camaro...

See now there's a man that knows fast chics...lol

Originally Posted by: Bar Chord NickThat's scary! :eek: You don't want a girl that likes that stuff. Fast cars require fast girls. Bread girls aren't fast!

I stand corrected sir! :D

Originally Posted by: hunter60Man that car was in rough shape. LOUD and not on purpose either. :D

Haha, I know how that is. My parents car is a '96 Hyundai Accent (lol) but if you only heard it you would think it was about twenty years older and twenty...times...cooler?

Anyway...I don't know a lot about cars, not as much as I want to anyway, but I think that you have an awesome project on your hands here. Can't wait to see those pics!

Originally Posted by: JFRICK.... I just got the engine this past weekend to put in it, a 454 big block....Wish I could put a supercharger on it, but that'll have to wait.

Meh, you build a rat right, you won't need a supercharger. With a Dana 3.55 rear and a pair of Holley 850 double-pump carbs on a Tarantula manifold, you'll be able to burn the tires down to the rims without even brake-standing!

:eek: Shades of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth!! :D

One of my faves

Errrrrrr, my heart was broken this past weekend. I was looking up the casting numbers on the "454" engine I got and found out that it's really a 1960 348 big block. Yes, you read correctly, a Chevy 348 Big Block....It's called a W motor. One good thing is that they are kind of rare, but parts are expensive for them. I've never heard of W motors.....or of a 348 big block.
It's among the first of the big blocks, the 409 came shortly after the 348, which these led to the 454 in 1970...

So what are you going to do? Continue to build this motor, or sell it and find a 454?

I doubt I'll put this motor in the Camaro...I need to pull the valve covers off so I can get the casting numbers off of the heads to check the horsepower. The horsepower for the 348 ranges from 250-335 horsepower. If it has the heads that produce 335 hp, I'll consider going through with putting it in. If it's a lower hp motor, I'll probably sell it and buy a 454 for it....

From what I've found, I can probably sell this engine for a good bit, but it would have to be to the right person looking for this particular kind of motor. The 348 isn't considered a high performance engine....

Have any of you ever heard of a Big Block 348?

Never heard of it. But I can tell you a few things about stuffing a 454 rat into a Camaro.

You will need to replace front suspension components frequently. A big-block puts way more stress on the shocks, ball jointss, and tie-rod ends than they were meant to handle.

It will be a pig to steer. With the front/rear weight ratio skewed so far forward, understeer will be your constant companion. Unless you power-drift every corner. Which will be very easy to do with so much power and such a relatively light rear end. Which brings me back to "It will be a pig to steer"...

I depends on whether you want to build a straight-line car, or a well balanced package that can run hard and fast on raods that have bends in them. One of the sweetest rides from my youth was a buddy's plain-wrapper 'sleeper' that had a very healthy 302 6-pack in it. Over 300 hp, and 50/50 front/rear weight ratio. Quick, fast, and agile.

Originally Posted by: LordathestringsNever heard of it. But I can tell you a few things about stuffing a 454 rat into a Camaro.

You will need to replace front suspension components frequently. A big-block puts way more stress on the shocks, ball jointss, and tie-rod ends than they were meant to handle.

It will be a pig to steer. With the front/rear weight ratio skewed so far forward, understeer will be your constant companion. Unless you power-drift every corner. Which will be very easy to do with so much power and such a relatively light rear end. Which brings me back to "It will be a pig to steer"...

I depends on whether you want to build a straight-line car, or a well balanced package that can run hard and fast on raods that have bends in them. One of the sweetest rides from my youth was a buddy's plain-wrapper 'sleeper' that had a very healthy 302 6-pack in it. Over 300 hp, and 50/50 front/rear weight ratio. Quick, fast, and agile.

You know, I never considered how the extra weight of the big block would affect the handling. I knew I would have to re-do the front suspension (gonna re-do the rear suspension also). You just gave me a lot to think about......

By the way, I found that the 348 I have is the 250 HP version. I may go back to my original idea and build up a 327 for it. I want to stay clear of a 350 although that's kind of the standard. I want something different in the camaro......

My first car was a 71 pontiac G.T.O, it had a 400 ci engine, but i blew that up, so i put a 455ci out of a 68 gto judge, 500 hp from the factory. I bored the cylinders 30 over with black jack pistons, then had the engine balanced and blue printed. It did low 12 in the 1/4 mile. Id kill to have that car back. I got it in 1986 and sold it for 15,000 in 1992. Im a anto tech by trade so I know your 70 and a half will be awsome, its good to be a gear head.