I have a 1981 Chevy Camaro, which was giving to me by my older brother who is in the Army and doesn't have time to take care of the car anymore. It has a small 267 ( 4.4L ) V8 with almost 150,000 miles on it. The car has been garaged for the last 5 years, and needs work done to it. My brother already told me that it needs a new rear main seal, because the car leaks about 4 quarts of oil a week!!!
I had it towed to a local mechanic to have them look it over, and they confirmed that yes, it does need a new rear main seal it that would cost $550 dollars. It also needs a complete, full tune up which they wanted $250 for, plus they said the carburetor needs to be rebuilt and that would be another $200 to $300 dollars.
Now my question is, I would like to have a bigger engine with more horsepower, so instead of investing money into this old and tired engine, could someone please give me a rough estimate of how much it would be to replace the 267 with a new or rebuilt 350 or 350 4 bolt engine??
Also, can you tell me if the transmission would have to be changed, and what else might have to be converted, such as the single exhaust to a dual exhaust??
I would like to know what you guys think a rough estimate of what a job like this would cost?? I would like to hear from you experts here first instead of just going to a repair shop and having them give me some outrageous price because they see a woman walking in and jack the price up on me. Any info. would greatly be appreciated!! Thank you!!!