I have a 78 el camino what can I do with it?

[smokey108842]

I have a 78 el camino, it has the 3.8 v6. Should I swap the motor for a v8? If so what size? Or can I modify the v6? If I can modify the v6 what can I do to it? Suspension help too!!!! I would like to make it a quick car.

[graymarki]

If your looking for power, don't waste your time on any 70 series Elky engine. This is what you got for 78. The third digit was the horsepower.
[b]1978 200 V6 94 L26 N
As you can see your V6 has 94 horses, hardly enough to push an economy car. When I bought my 79 Elky, it came with a 267 V8, 273 rear end and two barrel carb. It was so slow, I could get out and walk across the street faster. My 267 put out a whopping 125 horses(more like mouses). I wanted more power, but did not want to spend all my money on gas, so i did some research. How could I accomplish power plus economy without installing a computer controlled fuel injected engine for $$$$$. A friend of mine had a 78 corvette L82 sitting in his garage with a spun bearing, he donated it to me and I happily rebuilt it. It came with 220 horses, plus the original owner had the heads ported and polished. I installed a Holley 600cfm carb, Holley Contender Intake, and upgraded the ignition. The Elky came with a 350THC tranny, but the lockup convertor wasn't connected. I connected the lockup and I am getting around 15 to 16 mpg city and 22 hgwy driving normally without my foot in it. Now I have plenty of power and still get decent mileage. The only other mod I could do is replace the 350 tranny with a 200r which would give me lower first gear & 4th gear overdrive, but for towing, you can't beat the 350 tranny.

graymarki

[DetroitMuscle]

You can do alot with it, get a v8 in it and hang on, there is a very plentiful aftermarket for that frame, i just sold my 78, factory 350 4bbl car, and it was going very low 12's on a street tire.

They are very simple cars.


You can get a built motor cheaper then a crate if you look hard enough, if you do get a crate engine stay 330 hp+.

[randy78]

i need the distributor from the v6 for my 84 229 if you do put in a v-8, save the v6 or all the parts off it!

mine runs strong ans is faster than the 305 ones ive ever had in the past so i am leaving it, but am converting it to non CC
i already located and installed a M2ME dual jet carb
but now i need a non CC HEI dsitrib


so please get a hold of me if youre yanking the 6 out

or anyone else who is, or has one of these HEI's laying around

if you need help or info regarding your car or swapping engines then let me know, doing this kind of stuff is nothing new to me,
been doing it so long that im jaded, bored, cars are cars, yawn*


[email protected]

thanks and good luck

Randy

[Spencer99]

Hey,
I would probably go with a edelbrock 350 crate engine. Then throw some flowmasters on it and nice wheels and tires. Suspension is probably ok but you can do alot with that too.
Have fun!