Interested in putting a V8 in my V6

[ben3350]

Has anyone actually done this with any success?

There are a few reasons I would want to do this over just trading it in and buying an SS.

First off, my car is not worth much for trade-in value. The car has almost 200k miles. Second, after owning an ABM color camaro, I don't want an SS in any other color. I would get next to nothing to trade the car in, and I wouldn't want a different color anyway.

Anyway, my engine is running into problems and needs a replacement now. I could replace it with the same 3.6 engine for around 4 grand.

I was however wondering what the cost is to do a V8 swap with an LS3 or whatever V8 engine would be most compatible with the car. If its even possible, that is. Would it need a new transmission and a bunch of other parts, or just the engine?

Mind you, I have to do an engine replacement anyway. So what would the difference in price be between getting the same 3.6 swapped and maybe a turbo/supercharger vs just putting a V8 in the car. Any help on this would be great.

I l love this car and want to keep it for the long haul. I also can't get much out of it anyway, so it's more valuable to me than in any monetary sense.

[Dark_Horse]

This has been talked about a lot in the past. Your best bet is to definitely just replace the V6 with another V6. To get a running LS3 swap would require a lot, ecm, bcm, abs system, ignition, stereo, and probably guages from the SS. That's just to start. Then you'll need the supporting suspension parts and so on. Unfortunately we're not in the days of old or dealing with older muscle cars. We can't just unbolt and bolt in whatever we want super easily.

[Lil' Nasty]

I understand the sentimental value and the ABM is rare. I would personally do an LFX swap.

[camarogreen]

I'm in the same boat, I have the synergy green Camaro and my engine expired @213k and i'm in the process of saving for a new motor, I thought about swapping the V6 for the V8 but your looking at ~10k (and that's the min) and you will have a time finding someone to actually do it. Instead if you want V8 power out the V6 I would say put a turbo on and for the money it should get you close.

[lawdog]

So I don't want to thread jack here but the two of you mentioned that you have V6 and they both needed engines at 200-216 K. Curious as to the information as to the cause and the quoted costs for the replacement/rebuilt engines you are getting quoted. It might be helpful to some folks here.
I have an V8, so its not for me.
I would have to agree on staying with the V6 rather then trying to do the swap. A lot of extra costs !!.

[Elite Engineering]

There are many causes of premature wear and engine failure in all GDI engines. First, the most common is the pre 2014 cars where there was no low oil level warning light. As most of these consume oil, it is far too common to see the owner never, or rarely check oil on the dip stick, so until the low oil pressure warning displays, they have no idea they have been driving with little oil. This alone results in rod bearing failure most common (and wear throughout). Next, most run the dealer pushed Dexos synthetic blend. Don;t get me wrong, this is a great oil and the Dexos standard is a pretty strict standard, but as these engines are GDI, and not port injection, the amount of wear causing contaminates that enter the crankcase and mix with the oil are many times what the old port injection engine shad to deal with, so a full synthetic is critical (yet you will see many examples of those that have run the blend and are still going strong, this is an overview in general).


Wear to the timing chains and related components is accelerated due to this contamination and dilution of the oil.


Why is this different than a port injection engine?


First, we look at the fueling. Port injection operated at 45-55 PSI and as all engines have some blow-by, raw fuel is one of the compounds entering the crankcase. GDI engines not only operate at 2,000-3,000 PSI when introducing the fuel to overcome the extreme cylinder pressures, but also have much higher compression ratio's than in the past (11.5:1) so far more raw fuel is pushed past the rings and enters the crankcase.


Then we have to look at the combustion by-products. Old port injection engines produce a "soft" carbon that does little damage....and not much of it on the piston tops and in the combustion chambers. But GDI forms large hard baked on crystalline deposits that wen particles shed, are almost as abrasive as sand, so that is causing wear not seen before nearly from the start. The oil filters can only trap down to 15-10 microns on most cases, so most of this abrasive particulate matter is staying in the engine oil, along with the high amounts of fuel diluting the oil, so increased wear is the result.


We only have to look at how GM and others have dropped engine warranties on all GDI engines from 100,000 miles a few years ago down to 60-50, and not 36,000 miles because of the increased wear and shorter lives these engines have.


So, what can the owners do to prevent this? Always drain that factory oil from the engine no longer than 500-1000 miles when new to remove all of the assy debris and wear particles from break-in. ALWAYS run a premium full synthetic. (In our studies, we compare GM 3.6L engines that ran Dexos syn blend vs those that ran full synthetic at say 20-30k miles and the full syn engines have a fraction of the coking deposits on the valves than those that ran full synthetic.


If you do not have a extremely effective catchcan system installed like the E2 or E2-X, then oil MUST be changed every 4-5k miles max. This is the the only way to remove most of these contaminants and wear causing compounds.


Run top tier fuel, and if a V6, run 91-93 octane to reduce knock retard. These are high compression engines! Now the fuel has ZERO effect on valve coking as no fuel touches the valves backsides any longer, but it is more critical now than ever to keep injectors clean. And top tier fuels do this quite well. They do NOTHING to clean the inside of your engine as the adds allude to, but they do keep injectors clean. A dirty injector produces a less atomized spray allowing more unburnt fuel to be forced into the crankcase.


And install a properly matched Elite crankcase evacuation system as soon as possible. The Elite dual outlet/dual valve systems provide constant evacuation and remove most of these contaminates before they have a chance to settle and mix with the engine oil, and no, all cans are NOT created equal.


What does the E2 and E2-X remove from the average crankcase in 2500 miles of driving so it did not have a chance to settle and contaminate the engine oil?


App 70% acidic water (mixture of water and sulfuric acid).


20% plus is raw fuel.


7-10% is dirty oil full of abrasive particulate matter.


Make SURE you install the proper protection for your engine....not just the most affordable. Most "catchcan" brands trap 15-30% max of these wear causing compounds. A can that is fine to help a port injection engine, most likely is not effective enough for a GDI engine. The E2 and E2-X are 90-95% effective allowing very little of these to pass through.


So, these are not the engines we grew up with...this is a new Era, and proper crankcase evacuation and flushing has never been more important. And the oil you use is just as critical.


And, as no all GM gasoline engines are GDI, this relates directly to the LT family of V8's as well.


Questions? Just ask us. Tech@EliteEngineeringUSA.com

[RubyCamaro]

Good explanintion. My 2010 1LT is still running great with my Elite catch can installed early on.

[Camarolover85]

I wouldn't do an LFX if I were you. I'd find an LLT or another GM V6 thats compatible so you can get some headers. It's been 3 years and I'm still livid that I went shopping for headers and learned I couldn't have any.

[rtcat600man]

Find a deal on a NEW LLT or LFX engine. If your are after more HP, then look into a FI, there are a few good options on the market now to get you approx. 400 RWHP. Do some research on this forum in the FI section.

[The camaro show]

what about the 6th gen lgx v6 that would be good 335 hp.

[ben3350]

I ended up replacing my engine with a used 2011 LLT engine. Cost me about $3400 altogether for the engine and installation. Went pretty smoothly afterall and glad to have a younger engine in my car now!

[The camaro show]

How many Miles on it?