i recently talked to my dad (because hes the one with the 6 to give) and a mechanic...my dad is the proud owner of a 1993 z28 camaro with almost 200,000 miles on it...so im thinking, after he blows the effing motor in that beast that i could use that awesome 6 speed he has and put it in my monte...mines a 2004 btw. the mechanic said a lot about this including..i think id have to change my car from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive which would be difficult...also i would have to change the layout of the engine to being a "normal" engine instead of being sideways. all in all he gave me a quote before we realized i could use my dads old 6 speed...of 4,000 for the whole job with labor and everything...ouch...but, it would be the rarest of the rare monte carlos out there with a 6 speed and rear wheel drive...id definitely have to get used to it...

and then i brought up the question to the mechanic...what if we took that old motor...refurbished it...took it out of that there camaro...put it in my monte...with the tranny...the look on his face of pure "where would you even come up with that you idiot 16 year old" was hilarious in itself...what he said was even funnier, cant say that though lol... i am just thinking the whole time im writing this...does the front axle have components that can take the toll of the motor on it more than the back axle does? well yes, youd have to reroute the drivetrain...but idk...maybe someday when im like 95 years old on my death bed with millions...i might just try this out...if not sooner lol hopefully

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv11PVoiL_c

itll probably run you more than 4 grand for everything, theres tons of cuttins and modifying to be done.

 

4 grand for the tranny and the rwd...but with that tranny and it being rwd my 3800 series II V6 still couldnt handle the 6 speed...so id have to get atleast 350hp or more to handle it...thats where my dads corvette engine outta his camaro comes in hahaa

 

If you want a 6 speed, there are much simpler ways to do it than hacking the heck out of the car. GM now offers 6 speed automatics (6T40, 6T70, 6T75) and a 6 speed manual (F40). If you just want a manual in general- the older Getrag 282 and 284 (both 5 speeds) are probably much cheaper. All of these transmissions are for FWD vehicles, so you don't have to change hardly anything about the car itself. The automatics would obviously need a custom controller, and the manuals would need a clutch system installed- but at least the bulk of the car could stay the same.

Honestly, its far more than just the axle- but the short answer is yes. One day, jack your car up and look under the front end- look at the big aluminum subframe, and how substantial the front end parts are. Then roll down to the back of the car, and look at the tiny stamped steel lateral and trailing arms- how the "sub frame" in the back is just a tiny piece in the middle. These cars were designed with the fact that the front end is going to do the bulk of the work- putting down upwards of 300 horsepower (in LS4 powered models), doing the bulk of the braking duties, and doing all of the steering work. All the rear end has to do is roll along, provide some lateral traction, and do a small percentage of brake work. Therefore, the rear end of the car was never designed to handle the major loads that the front end was.

I hate to say it, but the price is too low here. Think of the man hours and fabrication that would go into a RWD conversion. Say he gets the tranny for $500- that leaves $3500 for parts and labor (still need a rear end, drive shaft, axles, rear suspension, clutch system, new engine mounts, pcm programming, new PS/AC/trans/coolant lines made, custom engine harness, etc) and that's not even talking about the labor involved with the actual rewelding the chassis (either using a donor chassis to weld on or building a tube chassis). That amount of money isn't even close to what it should cost- the mechanic would be losing his butt on the deal after buying all the parts and all the labor hours.

My second concern here is for safety. Does your mechanic have any sort of engineering background, chassis fabrication tech school, welding certification, etc? I'm not trying to downtalk your mechanic here- but hacking up a car and rewelding it back together isn't something that should be done by any regular mechanic with a welder. Its one thing building a car like that for show purposes- but its entirely different when you actually plan to drive this thing on the road. What happens when you get in a severe accident- what happens if it rolls over- what happens if one of the rear suspension weld seams breaks at 100+ mph? When GM designed the car, they drew on the knowledge of hundreds of engineers (both ones working on the project, and cumulative knowledge of past engineers)- many of whom specialized in chassis engineering and development. I'd imagine they put hundreds, if not thousands of hours as a team into developing these platforms. Does it make sense that a single mechanic could produce something of equal quality and safety in a couple weeks with a welder?

IMO, rather than trying to modify the existing chassis and pray it works- the easiest way to do it (from an engineering standpoint) would be to buy a pre-engineered tube chassis setup that he could just weld together and mount the body to. That would take away any fear about the quality of work and engineering, and any fears about safety (assuming he is a good welder)- but that would also totally blow the budget- I don't think you could even buy a full tube chassis setup including suspension and everything else needed to make a rolling chassis for $4k.

I'm not trying to say its impossible to convert the car, just that the price tag is way too low for what it should cost, and that you had better thoroughly investigate his credentials if you ever decide to go through with the job.

I'm confused why it couldn't handle a 6 speed, and why it would need 350 hp to "handle it"? 3800 camaros could come with a 5 speed manual if you mean that they can't work with a manual. If you think the power is too low- the 93 camaro V8 only had 275hp with a 6 speed (less than the 350hp figure you listed). If you're worried 6th gear is too far of an overdrive, and that the 3800 won't be making enough power to use it on the highway without bogging- then select a steeper rear end ratio so you can use it (and benefit from quicker acceleration as well). Also, with a turbo, the 3800 could easily be set up to make 350+ hp. There are plenty of 3800's that have hit 450+ whp (~560 crank hp).

 

lol idk where to start you gave me so much information...most of which i already knew though...as for the mechanic, ik what you mean...and now that you say it like that (i already kinda knew the safety issues in the back of my head) i most likely will not go through with this until i am 50 years old and richer than bill gates lol...but anyways

and a 3800 series II with a 6 speed tranny will absolutely not work lol...and your hp on the 93 z28 camaro is totally wrong...ours may have gotten some hp from the magnaflow exhaust and possibly from a new air intake system i am not for sure...but this is a corvette engine we are talking about here...i would say minimum hp that it has is 375, if you dont believe me, come to my house, we will get it out, and i will put the sucker all the way to the floor in 1st gear and then you will see that this car isnt the normal 93 camaro.

as for the 560hp you are talking about on a fwd monte carlo...absolutely impossible in every way, you contradicted yourself with that...560 hp will put out tremendous amounts of torque on the front axle...with about 5,000 miles on the front axle and it being beat up by that 560hp it would most likely snap...

once again to the mechanic...he is a good welder he has done a lot of jobs for my dad with that old camaro, suspension wise...so i trust him with that, im just probably never going to do this

 

There are w-bodies pushing a hell of a lot more than 560bhp, just fyi.

Or, you could just read the GM spec's for the LT1 engine and realize that bumpin is correct. Also, the camaro and the corvette pretty commonly shared engines, so the engine having been available in a corvette doesn't make it special.

"The 93–95 F-bodies were rated at 275 horsepower (205 kW) and 325 lb·ft (441 N·m), while the 96–97 cars were rated at 285 horsepower (213 kW) and 335 lb·ft (454 N·m)."
More info here.

 

if you dont believe me, come to my house, we will get it out, and i will put the sucker all the way to the floor in 1st gear and then you will see that this car isnt the normal 93 camaro.

i said it once, ill say it again

 

The sky is orange. I said it once, I'll say it again. The sky is orange.

Doesn't make it true.

Butt dynos don't prove anything.

 

quit trolling on my topic...and actually...the sky can be orange numb nuts haha

 

darkbb, what bumpin said about 93 Z28's is true, they do make 275hp stock. LT1's were Corvette engine's too, but let's face it, they're old engines based on late 80's technology that made a max of 330 crank hp from the factory. Your dad's Camaro's hp might be 375 however, but it's doubtfull with only exhaust and intake. If there's more done to it though, then it's very possible because those v8's can be built no problem.

Also, there have indeed been a number of people who have built 3800's with well over 560hp. This Monte in particular made almost 600whp: http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_p...ies1.php?id=87 That's about 750 crank hp. So these cars can do it.

As far as converting your Monte to RWD, I don't want to feel like it's impossible. If you're going to do it, I want you to. I would suggest that you forget about the 93 Z28's engine though and go for an LS engine. They have a HUGE aftermarket and you can get those engines pretty cheap nowadays.