[isleofwight]

I have spent the last month or so swapping a 305 out of a 1978 camaro, and replacing it with a 350 out of 1990 gmc cargo van ..four carbs later..headers....cam....dual exhaust....curve kit...intake..etc etc...I finally got it to the point where I can lay a patch from here to christmas....very happy.....however, now that I have started on the interior and exterior I have come to realize that there is a ton of work ahead, and to top it off I also realised that I desperately want t tops. No problem I say to myself...cut the roof off and find a Camaro with lids....cut it's roof off, a weld here a weld there......t tops....now that I have sobered up...Here is my dilemma...I have come across a 1987 Monte Carlo with t bar.....sound body and frame nice guts etc....good price. I guess I am asking several questions at once. what is involved in swapping out the engine in the Monte for the one in the camaro.Will the exhaust that I had custom fit for the camaro fit, or is that now a $400 lawn ornament. any info would be greatly appreciated.....(I do not want to race this thing,just make some noise when i feel like it)....thanks in advance

[DoubleVision]

the engine is pretty much a direct swap. However the exhaust system won`t be, but I don`t see why some fabrication in places won`t make the exhaust system work. Your better off with a solid body car with tops than a unibody like a camaro, one hard launch and the unibody flexes and either the windshield cracks or the t top`s won`t go in, been there done that.

[isleofwight]

can I use my th400 tranny or will I run into the same problems that i ran into with the camaro...ie tranny mounts...crossmember....driveshaft too long etc...the monte has a TH-200-4R 4 speed but i had read that if I wanted to remove all the computer crap that I would have to get some sort of converter lock up kit....plus I feel better using a th400

[dh79]

I agree, it'll be a pretty easy swap but you will probably have to alter the exhaust a bit. The crossmember on G bodies needs to be notched in order to run a dual exhaust. If you want to switch to the th400, you'll probably have to change the crossmember and the driveshaft length (I can't remember how the length of a th400 compares to the 2004r). In my opinion though, I would stick with the 2004r. The car will be faster with it and you'll have the advantage of overdrive cruising. If the 2004r ever blows you could swap for the th400 tranny at that time. The grand nationals all use the 2004r, so it can be made to take a lot of power. Personally, I think the G bodies are nicer than camaros, so I think you could make a pretty nice car with an easy swap.
dh