Lady Needs Your Help-Re: Camaro

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!!!

Reply to
MICHELLE H.
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MICHELLE H. wrote:> Now my question is, I would like to have a bigger engine with more

Unless that engine was stuck in there by someone, you better check to see what engine you have again.

Reply to
FBR

It's very possible that it is a 267ci small block. You could get a

350, 305, 267 (V8's), 231(Buick V6), 229(Chevy V6) for the 81' model.

...Ron

--

68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert
Reply to
RSCamaro

Ignoring where the 267 came from, why not shop around for an 8.0:1 350 2 bolt crate engine. I think they go for less than $1200 these days. Pay the $400 or so for the R&R to get everything hooked up and running. Charles can probably point out what will need to be changed to drive the accessories. I'd say you could do it easy for under 2K (with some ebay work for a carb and a cheap set of headers or manifolds) and probably run dual exhaust as long as you have a shop that isn't ripping you off (if there's no tranny issues) and they know what they are doing.

Dave

Reply to
poncho462

I checked it again tonight, and the engine is a 4.4L 267 V8. It was the small gas-saver 8 cylinder that they came out with in 1981.

I also checked the Vin numbers, and it is the original factory engine. I would like to keep the original engine in the car because I hear that its worth more that way, but is it possible to get more horsepower out of this engine?? Can you get 300 to 400 horsepower from a 267?? Also, is it possible to convert the single exhaust to a dual exhaust??

Thanks everyone for ALL of your great info. and answers, I really do appreciate it!!!

Reply to
MICHELLE H.

Here's my prices. Used Jasper 0.030 over bored 350 short block: $350 Used 76 CC heads (Not 882 castings), machined: $300 Elderbrock Perfromer or Victor intake, Used: $100 Custom tuned Holley 4BBL carb $450 Custom built 50 state legal true dual exhaust: $600 Rebuild TH400 Heavy Duty transmission: $500 Used 10 bolt 3.73, 3.42, or 4.11 rear end with Posi Unit: $350. Dyno tuning: $105 an hour

Im outside of Dayton Ohio. I would need the car for 3 months with my current work load. For enough money Ill put you in the 10's in the quarter mile. Charles

Reply to
Charles Bendig

Don't forget...any engine changes made that replace the original one will decrease value over time...if you do replace the engine, KEEP THE OLD ONE, in case you plan to sell it in the future. It's useless to you now, perhaps, but it WILL prove it's value if you sell it at some point down the road.

Reply to
ElectroPig

First off, I would like to thank everyone for all their great advice, I really do appreciate it. After doing a search on the web, I came across the engine specs. for the 1981 Camaro. The 267 engine was listed as having 115 hp, while the 350 was listed at having 175 hp. This is something I would probably be happy with. I don't know what I was thinking when I said I wanted 300-400 horsepower out of this 267.

I would be willing to keep the original 267 numbers matching engine in the car if I could get the power of a factory 350. Anywhere close to at least 200 hp would be nice so that I don't have to be worried about being passed by my friend in her 1989 4 cylinder Chevy Cavalier!!!!! Which was a true story!!! When I drove the car a few years ago, I took it to work with me, and on the way home I was racing my friend home, because we both were going the sane way, and she past me in her 4 cylinder, 4 door Cavalier!!! The 267 is weak and has no power at all, so I woud love for it to have the power of the 350 engine.

Here is a link to the 1981 Camaros engine specs:

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Reply to
MICHELLE H.

Any small block V8 is a direct swap in for that, as it's all small block Chevy. The currrent 267 is just a 350 and 305's smaller brother.

As for a new motor, it depends on what type of motor, what you want done, etc. The real question is how big your budget is?

You can go to any GM dealer and buy a crate motor for that thing for about $2,000 ready to go, depending on how wild you want it.

The transmission is a Turbo 350 in all likelihood and with some good beefing up, it and the rear end should hold up fine.

As for the price for the work being quoted, it seems a little on the high side, I'd get a few more quotes before you just dump into it.

Go with a man to the repair shop. A neighbor, brother, husband, boyfriend, friend, whoever. They are less likely to screw you with a man there. Sad, but true.

Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....

Reply to
Bigjfig

???

FBR:

The 267 V8 4.4L 2 barrel was used in just about every Chevrolet from 1979 to

1982 :)

Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....

Reply to
Bigjfig

That is a sad but truly common occurance.

J
Reply to
Jason Sobol

Small, smogged up engine, and not much to do to get power out of it.

The 4.4 vin J 267 was used in various GM products from 1979 to 1982.

No real "value" in that car except it's a nice , old, original car.

I would keep the 267 and keep it as is. Nice, complete, original, old car! :) Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....

Reply to
Bigjfig

The '81 350 is hardly a powerhouse and most stout (or halfway stout) 4 cylinder cars today will dust it in a heartbeat.

How fast you want this car depends literally on how big your wallet is. And the money runs out fast. :).

My opinion? If it's in good shape, leave it alone.

I own the same Cavalier your friend does, it's my commuter car, my grandparents bought it new. It's hardly a powerhouse :).

It is a good little car, and best of all, it was free and runs great (and it's easy to fix and parts are cheap and extremely prevelant for it).

Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....

Reply to
Bigjfig

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