98' Camaro v6 to 5.3L swap

***SMWS6TA*** · 08-03-2015, 08:04 AM

Rear Axles discussions are like who makes the best cam/heads/LT headers....

All are in agreement that the stock 10 bolt is a major POS.

12bolt's seem to be the popular recommendation for Auto's
9" for Manuals

8.8's and Dana 60's are somewhat new and work well for both auto and manual cars. I don't know much about Dana60's sorry.

Some pro's and cons of 8.8" vs 9"

9" are strong as hell. Takes one hell of beating, the 3rd member is what makes them highly sought after for track use. 30 mins you can have a totally different gear set, break a ring gear or pinon, pop in your spare. Huge support for aftermarket parts.

Cons - heavy, requires a specific torque arm, drive shaft, average drive train loss is around 20-23% (What I mean is engine making 500hp at the flywheel, you're making about 385ish hp at the wheels).

8.8's
Pros - lighter then 9", strong as hell but 9" is more so, Average drive train loss is 15-18%. Price cheaper than 9", Huge aftermarket parts support. A WAVETRAC diff is now offer for 31 spline axles. You can use your f body style torque arm and drive shaft (after a new u joint is installed to mate to 8.8 pinon piece.

Con's - sorta new to being availability, Most 8.8's are like mine, custom fab. I only know of one place that is now offering them as a production piece (Hawks3rdGen).

I'll leave the 12bolt and Dana60 guys explain them.

For a car that is going to see a few passes at a track I would not recommend the 9". That would be serious over kill.

**Drewman1298** · 08-16-2015, 04:54 AM

How can I message you directly?

***SMWS6TA*** · 08-16-2015, 05:27 AM

me?

**Drewman1298** · 08-16-2015, 06:25 AM

Yes or Transam if any of you are willing to give me further advice into this engine swap adventure Haha. I decided to say hell with it and just go big and do the 6.0 (: Figured you guys would be good advisors if you're willing. Only other thing that has changed is that I may be doing this in a 3rd gen instead, I'm undecided on which one yet since it'll be hard letting go of this car. So if either of you are interested, it would be amazing if I could talk to you guys about any questions I may have

**98TransAmWs-6** · 08-16-2015, 06:29 AM

Originally Posted by Drewman1298

Yes or Transam if any of you are willing to give me further advice into this engine swap adventure Haha. I decided to say hell with it and just go big and do the 6.0 (: Figured you guys would be good advisors if you're willing. Only other thing that has changed is that I may be doing this in a 3rd gen instead, I'm undecided on which one yet since it'll be hard letting go of this car. So if either of you are interested, it would be amazing if I could talk to you guys about any questions I may have

Pm me and we can talk all you want.