What about a 3.6L Chevy V6 Transplant?

[djwarner]

Just over a year ago, my wife was seriously injured when she was rear-ended in her 2012 Camaro Convertible. She was hit by a box truck, lost control and the car drifted of the right side of the road and hit a road sign. Virtually every body panel was damaged, but the engine department was intact.

 

We were reimbursed for the Camaro and it has sat in storage to preserve evidence ever since. It appears our case is heading to court but no new issues regarding the car have come up and the insurance company is asking to release the vehicle for salvage.

 

The point is that the vehicle only had 23K miles on it at the time of the collision and was in perfect running order. The engine is a 3.6L V6 putting out 330HP mated to a 6 speed automatic transmission with rear wheel drive.

 

We may have the option to buy out the insurance company or bid on it at the salvage auction.

 

Would this be a good candidate for a 240Z transplant? Not only is the drivetrain good, it would also include the electronics and wiring harnesses.

 

My 240Z Series I has a sound, rust free body and a freshly overhauled matching numbers engine and new VintageAir AC. Its only draw back is that it is also an automatic.

 

My gut is telling me to keep the Z intact, but there are other later Z bodies around.

 

What do you think?

[SteveJ]

You'd probably need the Chevy transmission or some sort of bell-housing adapter.

The biggest pain is to get the computer and fuel injection running right. There are probably some stand-alone systems that would work.

 

It's a lot of work. What are you up for? Are you good with fabrication?

[Patcon]

First things first. Will it even fit? How wide is the V-6 at it's widest point? How long is it? How far from the rear of the engine to the center of the shifter? Then compare it to the Z engine bay and shifter location. If it won't fit the point is mute... It is a lot of work and the modern EFI can be difficult to separate from the rest of the cars harness. Many of these newer cars have BCU's. These Body Control Units have to be happy or the car may not start or run properly.

[Mark Maras]

Hotrodding has become sooooo much more difficult than it used to be. I remember the days when fit was the only problem. Getting them running was a piece of cake.

[Hodgimus-maximus]

If a ls3 will fit I bet a v6 will fit. I know the guys from roadkill put a v6 from a s10 truck in a 240z

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[Patcon]

The LS motors are a tight fit and require special headers and the steering shaft has to be reworked. Much bigger and it wouldn't fit. The V-6 might be wider than the LS motor or the exhaust or valve covers could be an issue or even motor height depending on the bore and stroke. Lots of variables there. I really think making it fit is easier than making it run.

[Patcon]

Looking for dimension on the LFX v-6 and came up with this off the LS1 forums

 

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1694935-2013-lfx-v6-camaro-standalone-harness-done.html

 

evidently someone has already made a standalone harness for this engine....

 

Edit: there are lots of images of the LS-1 on Google that will give you dimensions. If your v-6 is the same or smaller it should fit. Oil pan could be a problem like Grannyknot had though...

Edited November 6, 2015 by Patcon

[Hodgimus-maximus]

I spoke without doing my research it was 3.4L v6 and transition from a Chevy c10 truck

Here is the Video of it in the care http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WcjC00J8FaM

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[Walter Moore]

It was a 4.3L from an S10, and they trashed the engine, hood, and a perfectly good autocross track. I watched the video once, and concluded that they are fools who are best ignored.

 

Back on topic: The 3.6L Chevy V6 is a DOHC engine, and as such it may well be wider than the OHV V8 LSx motor. I would measure carefully.

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Apr/0413_camaro_engine.html

[Patcon]

^^^Agreed

[Hodgimus-maximus]

Yes they are fools that is why people watch them. Strangely competent and skilled people doing things the right way rarely make for interesting viewing.

I did some research and the 5th generation camaro is about 40" from shock tower to shock tower. So the LFX engine must be less than that. The 240z is about 36" shock tower to shock tower.

The problems I see is is having to move the turbo to clear some thins. Which would require custom headers. Also the steering column would need to be modified to clear the engine. It would be a tight fit. but I don't think it would be worth the money to do.

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[Patcon]

4" is a lot a lot of room to do without. Will be interesting to see what the djwarner comes up with for dimensions off the Camaro