Back in 1983-1986, I was the very proud and sometimes cocky owner of a mint condition 1977 Type LT Camaro. I bought the car when I was 16 and it was already 6 yrs old, but it only had 21,000 miles on it and was still in showroom/factory condition. (The story behind the car was the original owner bought it as a wedding present for his wife. They both had cars issued to them by the company they worked for, so the LT was basically a Sunday driver. When I bought it, it still had the original tires, was up on jacks (proper way to store over long period) and the back seat and jack were still wrapped in factory plastic! ) Anyway, being a 16 yr old gearhead at the time, I immediately with the help of some friends, pulled the factory
305 engine out and had it hot rodded to the max. When it was put back in the car, it sported duel 750cfm Holley 4 bbl double pumpers on a Edelbrock low rise tunnelram intake topped with a huge chrome flap filter, a serious cam and crank and internals, oversized pistons and the whole 9 yards along with a chrome dress up kit and braided wire & hose covers. While the motor was out, the hood was cut and scooped to recieve the carb set up, the firewall and inner fender wells were sandblasted and covered with mirror finish aluminum diamond plating and I had the front suspension parts powdercoated in black. I changed the tires from the factory tires to Goodyear Eagles on the front and a set of Cooper 15 X 10s on the back all on a set of matching Centerline rims. I also had the exaust reworked to a duel with aftermarket converters and Hollywood Deeptone mufflers. The suspensionon the back was tightened and I had a set of custom made traction bars installed and a set of air shocks put on to lift the rear up. The tranny was reworked to a street racer type and the rear end was a Dana 12 bolt posi. Bodywise, except for the hood and a set of smoked headlight covers the only other thing I did was have the word "Eliminator" air brushed on the door rocker panels by a friend who knew how to work an airbrush. Oh, and I also had the car color sanded and a new clear coat reapplied because of some faded spots in the original paint. Inside, I installed a Pioneer sound system with a 600W amp and I replaced the handle on the floor shifter with a Hurst aftermarket model. All in all, I spent $4000 to buy the car and over the course of the next year, thanks to my part time job and a small inheritance my grandfather left me, I did close to $5000 worth of work to the car (most was the engine and transmission work).Sadly, on Feb. 6, 1986, I was involved in a near head on collision that almost ended my life. The car was totalled. The asshole who hit me was DWI and driving on a suspended license and with stolen plates. The car he was in was a huge older Olds Delta 88 and it mad short work of my LT. As I said, it was totalled, but somehow, the engine survived and when I bought the car back from the insurance agency for $100 as scrap, I immediately disassembled the engine and packed each and every part in grease and wrapped them in shop towels. The block was also coated in grease, the cylinders packed with shop rags covered in grease, and I then had it wrapped in a few layers of shrink wrap. I built a crate for the motor, and it has been in that crate all wrapped and greased since September, 1986. I always vowed to myself, someday I would transplant it into another '77.
That someday never came. I met my wife, we got married, had kids and so on. Recently, I was given the opportunity to buy another 1977 Type LT. The price was right, $500. This one has a small 6 in it with over 200,000 miles onit, but the body is perfect. No dents, no rust.
The old motor is still sitting in my parent's basement in the crate. I called them and asked my brother (I have since moved to another state) if one day he could open the crate and let me know how things look. He said they look ok. I am going to go home to pick the motor up and bring it here to rebuild it and install in the new LT. Now, I have been told by a few people who seem to know a little about engines that I should just forget about that motor because it has been sitting for almost 20 years. Even though I properly packed and crated it it is bound to be no good. When I had the motor built, it was dynoed and was putting out 697hp. I want to use it.
Does anyone know if I am wasting my time with this motor? What can be wrong with it except for seals and bearings which I planned on replacing anyway? I have heard that the motor could have developed "weak spots" from sitting there, especially in the cylinder walls, and that the crank and cam may have developed an arc. Like I said, Each part has been individually coated in grease, wrapped in a rag, then sealed in shrink wrap. I even went as far as to disassemble the heads and pack em the same way along with all the brackets bolts, nuts and such.
I am open to advise, opinions or whatever. I haven't really worked on a car since the original LT, and I am a bit rusty on things. So any help will be appriciated. I am going to post some pics of the Eliminator before and after the wreck along with the engine packed and sealed and reassembled and installed as soon as I get a chance and get the motor picked up.