Replacing motor

[maxxresist]

Im not a pro mechanic, but ive handled anything thats come my way so far, but this is my first 4th gen Maro ive had to mess with.

The old lady has a 96 Camaro 3.8, it started missing real bad, did the plugs and wires, which didnt help, changed them again thinking I may have bought some bad ones. Still the same thing, I also switched known good coil paks, which didnt help. My scanner (Snap-on MT2500) says P0300 "random misfire" on number 3 and 4, but goes away above 3000 rpms. Ive got a list of all the sensor data from the scanner if that would help diagnose it. Checked the commpression and got 120 at 1,2,5,6. 85 at 3 and 4.

Any ideas? Sounds like a crack to me, maybe worn off cam lobes. This things only got like 35k or so on it, just ran out of extended warrenty and it was such a pain in the a$$ just doing the plugs I figured swapping the motor on this would be killer. Found a motor for about 5 bills, but what is this swap going to be like? Hard as it looks? Im hoping its an easier fix then swapping in a new block, any help is appreciated.

Here is all the data the scanner gave me:

Misfire Data screen
Misfire fails:26
Missfire passes:6
IAC Position:64
MAP: 1.62 +-10
Baro (KPA) 89
coolant: aprox 42c
Intake air: aprox 29c
TPS (v) .45 idle
o2 B1-S1 (mv) 65-800+ very jumpy number
o2 B1-S1 (mv) 90-130 ""
o2 B1-S3 (mv) 800+
o2 B2-S1 (mv) 30-800+ ""
DRS EGR % 0
EGR POS % 0


st trim1 % 1
lt trim1 % 15
st trim2 % 0
lt trim2 % 3
o2 crosscounts1 0
o2 crosscounts2 3-15 (vary)
o2 sensor B1 Rich/lean (varied)
"" B2 ""
o2 b1-s1 ready yes
o2 b1-s2 ""
MAF (gm/sec) 4.2
MAF (H2) 2200-2300
MAP (v) 1.80+-
MAP (kpa) 44
BARO (v) 4.17
BARO (kpa) 89
IAC Position 44
Engine load 2%
KS Noise .80+-
spark advance 20+-
c cp duty 20

[maxxresist]

Got the heads off, definately blown head gaskets from getting way to hot, and looks like some valves were sticking open.

Still looking for some imput though on sticking a new motor in this thing, tips, tricks, advice, critizism anything.

[LTNone]

Check out this post for 3.8 to LT1 swap:

http://www.camarov6.com/cgi-bin/ulti...&f=16&t=000894

I would fix the 3.8 or put another one in. If you want more power, look around on this web site and get some ideas how to add power, or get one that already has an LT1.

I'm sure you already thought of this, but if you put it back together, make sure you know why it overheated in the first place, so it doesn't repeat.

[maxxresist]

Sticking with the 3.8 for sure, this is the old ladys car, she cant drive for sh!t, and the 6 is plenty fast for her. Shes wrecked 5 different vehicles so far, and 1 twice.

Definately gonna stick with the 6.

This car is just a pain in the A$$ to work on, not quite as bad a TT 300GT, but still a pain.