72 camaro engine swap

[murvilboy]

I have a 406 motor in my 72 and i believe its just a bit too much for the street. Im considering some engine swaps and am wondering which ones worked best for other members on here. What all would I need in order to swap a LSx motor or truck motor in this car? I want to keep the driveability on the car. Would I need a custom length driveshaft? rearend? Im wanting to run the T56 6 spd tranny. How much am I looking at spending? Could this be done in a garage or would I have to take it to a shop? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Jgpclone]

ls swap more or less would cost 7k but all depends were u get ur stuff at. try ur local junk yards and ebay for deals and the other factor is what ur goals horse power drag or protouring ect... gl man and it can be done in ur garage with the right tools and beer lol if u drink

[murvilboy]

haha well which motor is better for selection? they have so many different variations of them i dont want to spend money and time and someone be like oh you got the worst one or something like that. im trying to get it built right the first time and dont have to face this again.

Would it be better to grab a 5.3L Truck, Impala motor? 6.0L Truck motor? 6.2L Truck motor? LS1, LS2, LS3? idk which one would be better.

[murvilboy]

What are the advantages of the LQ4 motor?

[Ron in SoCal]

Originally Posted by murvilboy

haha well which motor is better for selection? they have so many different variations of them i dont want to spend money and time and someone be like oh you got the worst one or something like that. im trying to get it built right the first time and dont have to face this again.

Would it be better to grab a 5.3L Truck, Impala motor? 6.0L Truck motor? 6.2L Truck motor? LS1, LS2, LS3? idk which one would be better.

That depends on your budget, HP goals, skills, and intended use. A really nice, budget friendly combo for daily driving and occasional track use is the 5.3 alum truck motor. Recent mag articles have gotten close to 500 hp out of them and they used to be readily available for around 1500. I think the secret's out now.

One other gem for you - read a bunch here, over at PT and LS1tech. You learn about what guys are doing and what it takes to do an LS conversion. It's better to be armed w info and make a good decision than jump in and have to change direction mid stream. Good luck!

[murvilboy]

thanks for the advice!

[Jgpclone]

lq4 or lq9 are great u can make a 408 stroker motor out of it just make a budget hp goal u wont go wrong with a truck motor better for boost imo
im running a forged 370 lq9 sc as my daly driver and loving it gl
fyi theres a 376 lsx new for 5k on ls1tech

[Z06vette]

I am somewhat close by to you. Let me know what you decide. I have a good contact at local salvage yard. I can help you with the LS conversion if you decide to do it. I'll be putting an LS in my firebird this fall/winter. Just finshed my 69 camaro build.