how about getting an older camaro or something and transfering the monte body onto that frame, like just the shell pretty much, would that be possible?

 

theyve thrown 5th gen montes on a gbody frame before, but it seems like a shame to throw a modern body onto an out of date platform that had nothing going for it other than its size and that it was rwd. the member on here used a vette drivetrain. i dont believe the rear housing required any modification. i think the route he went would be the way to go. that is unless theres a modern platform that would fit the 6th gen montes body perfectly.

 

Yeah...the amount of custom fabrication would be retarded. Custom lenght driveshaft, custom motor mounts/K-member/waddever, custom rear end, custom linkage, custom shifter, etc.

If you're an older dude with lots of money to spend on a project like this, have REALLY good fabrication skills and a fully equipped shop including welding and metal work (or have a shop you trust and will pay), really love Monte Carlos, and have a different daily driver, go for it. Otherwise, no.

There have been less than a handful of Wbodies converted to RWD- most kept the V6, too- all took over a year to complete.

 

The added weight isnt just from the drivetrain. You have to factor in the driveshaft, axel, beefier rear suspension, added steel to backhalf the car, added sheetmetal in the floor and firewall for the tunnels. You may only gain a little weight with the engine but you gain weight with the trans as well. You will need to make the subframe beefier as well which adds weight. All this adds weight and it adds up fast. Thats alot more than 50lbs there. The montes already weigh more than a camaro without all that added weight.

 

Great points. The Wbody chassis is not designed to be powered by the back wheels- one hard launch from the back wheels and it'd probably crumple in half. LOL

 

i believe this to be untrue. the guy had the car on a scale, and the only camaros i think that were lighter than the gbody and up montes are 67-73. in the later years they were pretty heavy. i dont know the actual curb weight of an ls1 camaro, but i honestly think the ls4 monte is lighter. not by a ton but by quite a few pounds. i think the montes were in the 34-3500lb range those camaros optioned out came in at like 3700+ lbs. regardless of the cars weight the whole point is, yes its possible, and no it doesnt cost a billion dollars to do it. granted it costs a fair amount, but not insane. obviously to do this ones self it would require the fabrication skills to do it and another form of transportation while its being worked on. all seriousness if i had the skills to do this the last concern i would have is the car crumbling under a hard launch. its been done on multiple occasions and the cars it was done to were definitely not babied. the whole point of converting one is cause you like the way the car looks but you want to beat the living **** out of it.

 

I have had my monte on the 4 wheel scales while I was at school. I weighed in at almost 3500 lbs. The 5th gens were the lightest of the w-body montes by far. I would venture that the LS4 montes are closer to 3600lbs. Everywhere I look online I find curb weights between 3400-3500lbs for the V8 camaros.

Now if there is someone out there converting FWD cars to RWD without reinforcing the rear somehow then thats their business but thats definately not the correct way to do it. You cant just weld on some mounts and bolt in the rear suspension and go. The rear of FWD cars really dont have much support at all. They arent designed to take the strain of having power put to the rear wheels. If you were to use the existing structure and go on your way, there is no way that it will hold up to strain and keep from twisting out of spec. It definately wouldnt perform like a RWD car would either.

I have only seen one monte converted to RWD and IIRC it wasnt even on the road when I saw it last. I havent heard anything about it since. I dont know what montes you are referring to when you say it has been done on multiple occasions. I would be interested in reading about them. Its always cool to see unique cars like that.

 

wow some great ides for the new guy, i still think he would save a ton of greif and just buy a camaro not to sound like a broken record. then slap a superman crest on it superboy!lol

 

it could be a good modification to do dont get me wrong i looked into it. the rear end of a 94-96 rwd merc couger rear end will bolt up as well as the gas tank. i did a little reserch on doing it plus having some spare parts for the 94 merc i have like gas tank and rear end assembly as well. i will go the route of having the salvage yard cutting off the trans hump off a wrecked mercury and get every thing off the rear of a same year merc and find the power train you want. the independent rear that we have will accept the rear end off of the merc that i have as well the same gas tank. the only thing that you have to worrie about is the trans crossmember and the engine mounts i am still looking in to where those will be. in the 7th gen is a little better than the older gens but i am still looking into it doing home work so i could do a parts list and a moke up write up to get a gen idea on how to do it.

 

oh the 94-96 merc has the independent rear end and can handel up to 300hp till you do mods on it