: 67 small block to big block swap
ACES-073 Mar 9th, 04, 02:58 PM Hi Guys,,,, This is a first for me,, Im usually over in the Chevelle site,, but my Son bought a 67 camaro and we want to transplant a big block in it,, it was born a 350 factory 4 speed car,,wat all does this intale besides the normal,, motor mounts,, springs,, radiator,,bell housing stuff,,, any help would be alotta help,,, Thanx In Advance,,, Nick (L89SEDAN) graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Unreal Mar 9th, 04, 04:55 PM A lot!! I did it, and I think it's worth it!!!
Most of it is because the b/b sits to the passenger side about 1" or so to clear the steering gear. It's at an angle, so at the tranny, it's about 3/8" to pass side.
Therefore, all the things you mentioned plus....
crossmember, shifter bracket, shifter linkage (although, I'm told you can bend the s/b linkage to make it work) Z-bar, clutch linkage, bell housing (although you could use the 10-1/2" clutch and current bell housing) fan shroud, engine side heater box (or modify the s/b box)
Probably a few more things I didn't think of.
TJS69 Mar 9th, 04, 05:30 PM Don't forger Frame mounts and motor mounts! How about the radiator,fan sroud, hoses, heater core and engine side heater housing. Is it really worth it?
Hi Nick - welcome abord, this isn't an attempt to change your mind, more just information. The '67 Camaro SS introduced the 350 to the world. It was only available with the SS option that year. Even though there were almost 30,000 L48's made in '67 it's a desirable car and IMO will be one of the next "badged" Camaro to step into the high dollar lime light. The '69 Z/28 is there now and was an afordable toy just 5 years ago. Any 1st gen ragtop as well as the high HP BB coupes are all there. The more the prices of these cars go up out of the reach of the one or 2 car hobbiest they become the targets of collectors.
If you have orig drive train and doc's it should be something for you and your son to think about. I have to say though a BBC between the front tires would make an awesome toy...
Just like the chevelle site the Tag Team will help you guys figure out what you have. I know you'll have a blast no matter which way you go...
HawaiianCamaro Mar 9th, 04, 07:54 PM Aloha Nick, I do have a follow up question on this swap though, With the BBC sitting off to the Passsenger side just a tad compared to a SBC, how does that effect the tranny line up when it comes to the driveshaft? Is the shaft different than those in Small block cars>> Im thinking angle on the U-joints and all. Most likely the answer is no difference but thought I would ask just the same.
ACES-073 Mar 10th, 04, 01:49 AM Thanx guys,, this is not a numbers matching car,, if it was we wouldnt dream of this swap,, but is a correct SS/RS ,,, but with wat yall have given us,, it sounds like building a nasty little mouse motor with an attitude is gunna be the direction to head in,,, Thanx for the input,,,,,
hgerrick Mar 10th, 04, 02:04 AM My car was an original BB. Through the many years I have owned the car I've had SB and BB engines installed, the offset really isn't that much and doesn't effect much of anything in my automatic car. But it does make a differance with clearence at the power steering box.I would bet it is more of an issue on manual cars. I believe some of the Firebirds also had a similar offset. No hard facts here, just my personal observations.
HG.
JOE58 Mar 10th, 04, 04:56 AM As stated there are many parts different between SB and BB 67 Camaro but in the early days of the 427 conversions they just slipped in the 427 and used all the SB parts.
I was looking at a 67 Dana 427 Camaro article from 1967 and you can see the heater hose hits the valve cover and the SB radiator shroud. They could not have used BB parts because there were none at the time for Camaro but probably used some parts like alt brackets and emblems from a BB Impala. They used headers so steering column clearance was not a problem.
I just mention this as a side note and am not saying to just slip in your BB.
Here is another idea. Build it as a hot rod SS350 “day two” car. The SS350 was a great package but got overshadowed by the 67 Z/28 intro, which was an incredibly great package. Then when the SS396 came out the SS350 was again not given it due respect. The SS350 was first use of the great 350 engines so I think Chevy was a little shy on building a hotter 350 then the 295hp one they used. All they had to do was use the Corvette fuelie heads, 11:0 pistons, 350 hp cam, and intake and carb. and the SS350 would have been a real screamer. It looks like Chevy did plan to have a hotter 350 with six pack 3x2 carb set up for the Camaro but canceled it although it is shown in the assembly manual. Back in 67 they did alot of back yard day two mods to the SS350. Some people would build their SS350 with the L79 or the Z/28 top end parts and headers. Even with the stock SS350 block it was a screamer.
Unreal Mar 10th, 04, 08:01 AM Jeff,
The drive shaft is the same for all V8 all trannies, except TH400 which is longer and requires it's own crossmember and drive shaft.
If you look at the angle created by the 1" offset at the front of the engine (3/8" at the tranny) you will see that it is negligible. The change in angle due to hard acceleration is greater, and does not create problems with the U joints. If you tried to use a s/b cross member in a b/b, the motor would have to sit at more of an angle, and I suspect might create u joint problems. I'm sure the General would not have created unique b/b crossmember, shifter bracket, linkage, etc, if it felt the s/b stuff would work.
68RSZEE Mar 11th, 04, 02:53 AM I'm a small block fan for the early Camaros because they handle better, brake easier, and are easier to work on with their smaller size.
I also like winding the heck out of a sbc.
JOE58 Mar 11th, 04, 01:45 PM The BB had to be offset so the dr side ex manifold would clear the steering box. The early 427 Camaro transplant cars ran the SB set up with special made headers. Here is an early Dana 427 Camaro. The engine pic shows the SB parts
http://207.228.240.106/pics/Dan%2017.jpg
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