Thread: 71 Camaro engine choice advice

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I'm out of money at the moment and that means I do too much thinking, and our exchanges with 84 monte didn't help either. As I mentioned before, my plan was to put an LS in my Camaro and that is still on the table but here is where my mind is playing tricks on me. It's been mentioned b/f that gen 1 small blocks are disappearing from muscle cars and getting replaced with LS's at a fast rate for the obvious reasons. Well today a 16 yr old kid showed up at work after he got his 6.0 power stroke back from the shop with a 64mm turbo, larger injectors, exhaust and a tune. He was getting around 500 hp to the rear wheels. That's when it hit me, this kid's dad is an idiot, and the days of a jacked up Camaro ruling the road are over, factory cars and simple tunes are putting out numbers we used to dream of. That's when I started thinking, maybe I should leave the 350 in the Camaro. I know it's not the original block but all the early 70's stuff is still under the hood and it could be a good candidate for more of a restored look that a retro mod, which there is no shortage of. I don't think this car will get driven as much as the 53 and if it does, I will be driving it more and I don't mind carbs. I would still put on some good flowing heads, intake and exhaust, and shoot for the 350 hp mark to keep it nice and driveable. I have a 700r4 trans for it already and if I put some 3.73 gears and it would still be a fun car. Just thinking out loud, I know dollar for dollar, the ls is a better motor but that may not be my goal anymore. Not in a hurry yet but I should keep my eyes out for parts I may want. Here's a pic so you can see how its decent survivor. What say you ?