I have this crazy idea and am getting pretty serious about it and would like some input from other people on what you think of my idea (please if you are just going to be a Negative Nancy keep those comments to yourself) and ideas or suggestions on how to go about completing this plan.

Plan - Take a turbo 6.5 or 6.2 and put it into an 80 Camaro

Reason - The current small block 350 sucks. horrible mileage and no performance. I prefer diesel over gas any day of the week. The current engine rolled off the floor with around 190hp 280tq at the crank. Rebuilding the gas engine would cost a lot to convert to fuel injection and wouldn't improve mileage very much. A good 6.5 should be able to get over 200hp and 350tq, while getting respectable mileage. Straight piped turbo whistle

Final goal - Have a camaro that is different then any other camaro around. Be able to cruise around town and on the highway comfortably. Hopefully be a little sportier then the current setup. Freak people out when I grab the green nozzle at the pump.

So far I have bought an '86 Suburban, 95 6.5T, and a military block 6.5 with a banks turbo setup. The '86 got turned into a parts runner, the 95 turbo setup won't fit since the camaro has A/C. The banks setup appears that it will fit. The engine was rebuilt years ago but driven for a short time before breaking the flex plate. 5000 miles according to the owner.


I'm currently trying to get the banks engine back into working order. Hopefully will get it working and will test fit/install this summer. If all goes well, rebuild/dress up the engine this winter.

The camaro has a sbc and th350 with 3.42 gears. I plan to swap in a 3.73 posi rear end withing a month.

If the engine setup works I will buy some big block coil springs to help carry the weight of the heavier engine.

What transmission would be a good match for my plans? I have a 4spd saginaw I was going to swap in if I kept the gas engine, but I have no idea if it would work behind a diesel. What about a th400 or maybe a 700r4? Those are both trans that will easily fit into the camaro and are used behind 6.5s. The suburban has 4.10 gears and a th400 on the highway she screams at 65 so maybe a 700r4 would be better?

Ideas or suggestions? I'll try and keep anyone who is interested up to date on my slow progress.

 

I would use the TH350 for now since it is already in the car. Leave it until you have the engine in place and working. Then put a 700R4 in. Or a stronger overdrive like a 4L80E. Unless you already have one to bolt on the engine, the TH350 will get you through the testing phase and out on the road. Whatever you use in the end, make sure it has overdrive for fuel mileage.

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Will my th350 even work with the diesel? I believe the gas and diesel 400s have different shift points or something in them. But I don't know about the 350s.

Putting in a 4l80E would seem like a challenge since it is electronically controlled.

 

well yeah they did have different shiftpoints.GM diesels redline at 3500 rpms and gas is somewhere around 6K rpms. 4L80E takes a tcm from a 93 or standalone controller to run.

 

Does anyone know if there are aftermarket oil pans for the 6.5/6.2s? The main sump in my 6.5 oil pan is much larger than that of a SBC and I am concerned that it will hit the cross member. Do I have any other options for oil pans?

 

not that i know of. your probably going to have to cut it and reweld it to make it fit.

 

I bought a 78 Z/28 that is missing eng/trans to use as a test bed for this swap. I put a 6.5 block with pan, heads, driverside exhaust into the car and the oil pan clears without issue! Next I'll lift the engine up and put on the turbo side manifold. The engine is out of a 95 burb so it has the side/middle mount turbo. When I get a chance to put the car in the shop, I am going to put the 6.5 with the banks turbo setup into it. That is the engine I hope to put into my driving camaro. It has the side/forward mount turbo that shouldn't interfer with the A/C like the 95 turbo setup does. Hopefully the turbo on the banks will clear the upper control arm of the car.

Engine block fits and Oil Pan clears!

Will the turbo setup clear? Just got to get some other projects cleared out of the shop so I can findout!

 

This sounds like a cool swap and should get good mpg.

 

Well the turbo setup off the 95 suburban didn't fit The manifold contacted the upper control arm a bit and the turbo would have been in the wheel well a little bit. Hopefully the banks turbo setup I have on the other engine fits!

 

I lowered the banks turbo engine into the camaro tonight and initial looks seem like it wont fit. I'll have to look at it tomorrow in the daylight, but it looks the manifold would clear just fine, but the turbo will be in the upper control arm. I was really hoping that it would be an easy fit.