Im new to the v8 conversions.
I would like to attempt to build one.
My budget is 1600. Is it possible?
I know i cant get an ls1 or lt motors for that much
but i was thinking a chevy 350 carbed with a grannys speed shop kit.
My other concern is the tranny. I would like to have a manual, what 5 speed tranny work with the old 350 chevy motors, and would the granny speed shop driveshaft work basically with any tranny that hooks up to the 350? sorry for so manny questions but i searched and got bored out of my brain.

 

just the kit will cost that much, you need to do a lot more research man, to do a swap right I would say save up at least 4k, unless you plan on making your own mounts and drive-shaft and all the other custom fab needed.....

 

i did a 350 swap and a 302 swap for under a grand in 2 diffwerent 240's. if your on a budget fabbing your ownmounts is ur friend.

as for the 350 5 speed... t5 out of a v6 s10 or a third gen if you can find one...s10tranny's are easier. my driveshafts were always made by the local truck shop

my current budget project is a 1000$ 13b ae86, that does not include cost of car. it can be done, a welder and tube bender help.

 

Well http://www.grannysspeedshop.com/ a basic kit is 345 with out a drive shaft and 575 with a drive shaft. But i heard that a driveshaft could be made for about a 100 bucks. T5 tranny sounds good, thats what i will be looking for (thxs torch'd). and an old 350 with every thing on it should be around a 1000. Pleese correct me if im wrong.

 

hmm my driveshaft was 500 by itself but i guess its because it a one piece aluminum one....

 

my driveshaft i gave them the ends and length was 100 to weld up a 1 piece. i had them make 2.

the 350. figure a good rebuilt 2 bolt engine for around 500 on craigslist for a runner. maybe wih heads. f you want there are plenty of like 1300 (edelbrock intake, edelbrock 650, used vortec heads) builds. that willmake decent power enough to at least be fun.

short of that yeah t-5 with a decent clutch.... plan on 2000-3000 for running if you can wire it and fab stuff like mounts.

 

i see so the tranny will most likely be the most expenisve part.
Well for right now at least it seams to be.
100 for drive shaft
500 for 2 bolt engine.
345 Granny speed shop basic kit
and tranny which t-5 sounds awesome and can handle alot of power.
But im on a tight *** budget. For right now i was thinking of getting the cheapes tranny which seems to be the 350 turbo automatic, and hopefully i can swap it back to a manual after i come from basic training.

 

i used a th350 in mine... just put a large stall on it and you can actually dift it quite successfully after the learning curve.

 

ya im in the same craphole,i need to get a good t-5,but im probably gunna run a 700r4 till i get it rebuilt

and under 1600 is easily attainable

 

Awesome , going to junk yard this saturday. Ill post the results

 

Did you call for 5.3 liter pulls from junkyard? In alvin tx there is one place that will give you engine/auto tranny from 97+ chevy 1500 for less than 1000.
When we built our first sbc fc, we used grannys kit, 350/350 pull from junkyard, cut the driveshaft from the chevy, and slid thr rx7 driveshaft inside it and welded it up. We had less than 1K in the whole deal.
But let me remind you, doing it this way is GHETTO. I was building this car in 4 days to get it ready for a Sat track session.
I do not recommend cutting corners on these cars. Get the driveshaft made correctly, and upgrade your brakes. The last thing you want to do is make the car unsafe to save a couple of bucks.
As for the trans, go with the 350 turbo for right now, deal with the 5spd later. You have to convert the clutch setup to work in an fc anyway.


I would do something like this;
Grannys kit 375
350/350 pull from junkyard 250-600 These prices are real, I can give you names of yards if you need them.
Get an aluminum driveshaft from 88+ 1500 longbed $45 (I actually have one if you need it)
Flowtech headers from Autozone. $100
New brake rotors, calipers, pads, Oreilys $150
Floor shiter from camaro/ta $30
Sunpro 3 piece gauge set $25
New radiator. get one for 83 454 $140
Thats $1465 so far......
Whats left to do
Driveshaft...have your local truck shop cut the aluminum driveshaft, and put on the mazda end joint, balance it, mine charges me $65
Exhaust, local shop would probably charge you $250 for dual header back with generic flows
Find the correct speedo gear to use with you gearsset
Get the idea?
Total so far is $1780. I could easily knock off 400+ off that budget with buddy hookups, you probably could too.

 

Ok step one buy granny kit with rubber mounts done 443$ after shipping

 

Glad to see you got started, lmk if you need any parts, or tech info for your swap.

 

GOD I WISH I HAD AN FC... so much easier to swap than my 240sx

 

I know the rx7 is an awesome car, but what are the challenges with swapping a 240sx

 

the way the stearing is laid out you have to do a front sump oil pan etup. makes it difficult if u dont go ls1or something that they make a factory setupo. custom pan and pick up are a pain to make.

plus i really am not all that impressed with thes13 chassis as a whole. even when sr sapped thena stret ported rx7 was more fun to drive. idk maybe its just me. ive got a prety worked 240 (coilovers, kaaz, reinforcements (chassis), header, ported head, n1 exhaust, s15 seats) car is fun but i just enjoy my boys rx7 a lot more.. and the looks have also grown on me. like a lot.

 

Yey i know its been a while but dont hate haha.
I finally got my engine. Its 1990 chevy 350 motor that came out of a saburban , it was originally fuel injected, but was converted to carburator. So it has a light weight aluminum intake a rochester quadrajet carb, and everything except a starter. I still need to get a tranny but ill get that once the motor is in the car and running. Not bad for 300 bucks.