I have a 89 Camaro RS, that was my first real car. Ive had it for over 10 years, the last 7 or so it hasnt really been driving. The car runs, drives, all that stuff, but its a unfinished project. So it doesnt have a tag or insurance on it. Currently it has a 358" SBC with AFR 195's and a HSR. It also has XFI on it. With everything thats happened to me and the car as a build, its done nothing but cost me money and set me back. Mostly from doing things to it that I thought I wanted, to using people who I thought I should use. Just to give you guys an idea of what Ive been through since its drove.

Bought a ACDelco 350 crate engine, put it in, more torque, no power. Thought TBI was holding me back. Swapped to TPI. Received wrong ECU from a junkyard, burned up the heads. Didnt know at the time it blew the heads. As I would run the car, had no power past 3500, but tons of torque. Finally figured out the ACD's engine had dead valvesprings. By time that was figured out, car was overheating badly.

Blew transmission trying to impress a girl. Didnt get laid, so I lost twice.

Bought transmission parts from pro-built. Gave them to a local builder, he "built" the trans and gave it back. Now trans has weird upshift and downshift problems. Acted like a manual valve body, etc etc etc. Basically said it was the aftermarket parts and wasnt his problem.

Modified car to put massive radiator in car with a Mk8 fan. Still overheated. (Old heads were still on.)

Found heads were cracked. Bought some AFR's off ebay, cam, HSR, and an XFI. Installed it, put cam button in wrong. Still there, thats why its sidelined right now. Car runs strong as hell.

Got car to stop overheating after I ripped all the cooling stuff off and flushed it, removed thermostat. Runs at 185 all day long.

Pulled trans to give it to a friend. He fixed all the issues. Turns out the valve body was drilled wrong, and the bastard didnt put my parts in. Just cheap stock shit and kept my parts. (I inspected the parts before I gave them to him, nothing was there.) The forward drum was broken.

Engine has had a decent oil leak coming from the heads. 2 pairs of headgaskets and it always leaks from the same damn place. From the headgasket on the pass side in the back. China wall was sealed twice over. Same leak.

Had car painted, body work was decent, hood debacle is all over the internet, guy who buffed car put a 2 foot burn in the paint.

So thats where we sit. Im left with this. I havent really worked on it in a year. Ive put several thousand into a car I really cant drive. Where do I go from here? I met a new girl recently who loves the car and wants me to start working on it again. But I donno what to do with it, fix the existing engine? Get rid of the cursed engine and start with a Gen 3/4? I love how fast the car is, but what good is a fast car that you cant drive? I had more enjoyment out of it when it was a stock 305 tbi. Now its just a faster money pit.

 

I had the same situation with my 88 Trans Am. I always wanted to do a LS motor and a T56 but ended up joining the Air Force so I sold it. I have a slammed chevy truck now and I dont think I could ever sell it cause selling my T/A still makes me sick. You could sell alot of your stuff to fund the LS swap. You can get 4.8, and 5.3 for cheap. Once you have the motor swap done its easier to upgrade to a 6.0 or 6.2 late down the road.

 

I almost sold my 91 RS. Don't do it! Keep it and take your time on it. You will be glad that you did.

 

maibe you should try to sell the engine and trans itself and get a donor car/truck with a COMPLETE running and tested LS engine and trans , you prolly would get the same power maibe even more and youre better of for the future when they will fase out the old small block stuff , its stock so its made to last a long time and give better gasmilage to boot

allso from wat i read you might be better off going to school or read up a lot on the subject to do the mecanical stuff youreself as the companies around you arent woth sh!t and as you found out a small misstake on youre end can cost a lot of money

 

Alot of the bad stuff happened 4+ years ago. Im just trying to figure out how to go about fixing all of it.

Transmission related stuff, I personally dont know how to rebuild them, although I know how they work. I want to swap to a T56, something I know how to rebuild.

Paint, since then my brother is opening his own paint and body shop. So hes going to do it for me.

Wrong computer, we couldnt get the car to run right. When I left the shop, the guy working for us cranked up the timing and the car overheated to 270*+ Headers were glowing and everything. I purchased the correct prom from the dealer and suddenly the car ran right. This incident happened....7-8 years ago.

 

The burn should have worn off by now. Quit holding a grudge against the car. Fix the issues with the motor and get it lined out and running to its potential. Then, grudge f it with nitrous. Hang in there i'm sure we have all had a car or 2 like this.

 

No, it burned THROUGH the paint. As in down to the metal.

 

Yes that sucks, but thats fixable too. I meant the burn of a car that constantly burns up your money with no real return. Good luck whatever you decide, cars drive me nuts sometimes we know the feeling.

 

In the car hobby arena you need to learn that working/building your project should be the fun part, having a badass running car is just a bonus. If your wanting something just to drive and have fun maybe you should just sell it and get something already done. This not a cheap hobby as you know, slow down, go out to where you work on the car- turn up some tunes, get your choice of cold beverage and just tackle one problem at a time. Forget about the past, whats done is done, forget about all the money you have spent... its a new day

 

Pour gasoline on that sob and light her up. Don't stand too close dont want you getting sick from the fumes.

 

Long time no see PTM.

Tony, thanks for the advice. Not exactly what I expected, but a new perspective is really what is needed.

 

You had a bad history from using bad parts and bad people....no wonder you are sore over it. Gen 3/4 stuff aint gonna be any better if you dont do the work yourself and have bad people do work for you.

I wouldnt sell it off, and would advise to reevaluate the situation and direction the car is going in, and do things the right way this time.

 

Holy crap JOrr, havent seen talked to you in forever. Im going to send you my cell number so we can text back and forth. I havent been on aim in several years.

Anyways, Ive decided to remove the engine and give it another try. Going to use a smaller cam thats setup for OE roller with stock base circle. Remove the 4/7 swap (I dont want to, but due to camshaft selection, you know.) Also going to put in a smaller, direct fit radiator that gives me alot more room up front.

This time Im going to run the engine on a run-in stand and try to get everything straight before I pop it back into the car. This new girl is really supportive towards me finishing the car. Im not even dating her and she seems like a keeper.

 

yeah I havent been on aim in years myself.

Good luck with the rebuild stuff. Hope this time it works out. Let me know if you need any ideas/help on selection of stuff. If I dont know, I can direct you to someone who does