2000v6cam

yea its a SLP ZL402 shortblock, and that 11,000 is including everything and im spending more than i should for every little part that i want this will be a LONG project lol i know, i just figure if im going to go through all this work and money then i want it exact, i would rather spend more now and get everything right then try to buy used parts and save money here and there and just make problems for myself later, and i know ur not disrespecting or anything but all the other stuff i just posted and im too tired and lazy to post it all again

FORCE_FED_Z

It isn't possible to do a swap for under 5K including labor. I think you would be hard pressed to do it with the parts alone for under 5K actually.

There is so much involved in it that it makes you wonder why someone would do it. But I know one reason people claim- INSURANCE.

But lets look at some simple math here-I know these aren't exact and everyone is going to argue they pay more or less..but this is just for arguments sake.

Average 18-21 male driving a Z- approx $2200 a year.
" " " " V6- approx $1400 a year.

So there is a savings of $800-$1000 a year in driving a V6 insurance-wise

Cost of 98+ V6 Camaro in decent condition- $6,500
Cost of 98+ Z in decent condition- $9,500

Now factor in the swap- We'll figure 6k to get all the parts and assume that you can do the swap yourself saving another $1,500 in labor.

So now you have an easy $12,000 invested into your V6 camaro that is basically the same performance as the LS1 came bone stock. But, with your V6 VIN you can save about a grand a year on insurance. So within a 3-4 years you might have your money back. But here is where it comes back to get you-

A lot of states are going to sniffer tests and hooking up to your vehicles computer to verify everything is in working order. So you pull in your car that is registered as a V6 according to the DMV. It gets hooked up to the sniffer and your diag port and suddenly you have a VIN number from an LS1 coming thru the system. Looks like you are screwed at that point- there is no getting around that. You can tune a computer a lot, but you can't make a V6 computer run a V8.

The other thing is that an LS1 will retain A LOT more value than a V6 will, even with the swap- its basic car value.

So the ONLY way I would do it is if you can get a smoking deal on a wrecked LS1 that you can get all the parts from and do the swap yourself. You might be able to do it for cheaper than I thought. Also, do a little hunting around your DMV and see if they are thinking about going to sniffer tests in your state. NY does it, 96+ and newer all get hooked up to Albany to verify that everything is working properly. Since its a revenue maker, I'm sure it won't take long for other states to follow suit...

Mike Jones

iTrader: (1)

Also to add to what Joe just said, if you total out your Camaro with a V8 swap the insurance company won't pay you a penny. You will have to tell them you did the swap and at that point you'll have to pay the rate of a Z28 or Trans Am.