I'm new to the forum and thought I would post my plan for my 1978 250cid in my Camaro. I found a 45k mile garage stored non-running '78 base model Camaro in bright red with a 250cid L6 and 3spd. My plan was to just swap out a 350cid and 4spd into it and store the L6 for rebuilding and putting back in someday to keep it original. But I noticed the rubber fuel lines were rotted, negative battery cable was frayed, spark plug wires were on the wrong cylinders and a few other things which got it running again. So after a hard last year and a half financially, I've decided to cut my costs and just keep the L6 in there and make some budget upgrades to make a nice street level daily driver that goes hard from stoplight to stoplight and can cruise at highway speeds. Plus, I hate to take the L6 out and loose the attention that it gets online and around town when people notice something other than a small block in a second gen Camaro.
I've been reading all the chevy L6 websites and got Leo Santucci's book researching what upgrades can be made. I obviously want to keep it as low budget as possible and match the components to each other and the intended use. I can also do the build in stages so I can afford it as I go along. Here's the overall evolving plan for the end product:
Carb: Holly #8006 390cfm with electric choke and vacuum secondaries
Air filter: 9" with 2" filter (until a ducted fresh air intact can be fabricated)
Intake manifold: Offenhauser 5416-LK
Cylinder head: pre-1975 open chamber, screw in studs, hardened exhaust valve seats added, 4 angle + valve job, back cut valves, clean up casting flash, blend throat to .274" less than valve size, polish chamber and exhaust port (may upgrade to 1.84"/1.6" valves, remove head bolt bosses, install intake lumps and port match if funds allow)
Gaskets: Fel-Pro 8006 with 0.40" thick with 3.875" bore and 9786 intake/exhaust seem like the only choice
Camshaft: hydraulic with between .450" and .500" lift, price-wise Comp Cams cam & lifter kit, springs, and keepers/locks seem like the best buy
Pistons: stock for now, the short block is low mileage and in good shape, so I'd rather not rebuild it yet (later on probably 307cid flat tops for proper quench and tailoring the dynamic compression with cam, head chamber and deck height)
exhaust: 292cid heavy tuck exhaust manifold with 2.5" outlet, 2.5" single exhaust and muffler
Ignition: stock HEI with some an Accel Super Coil, replacement cap and rotor, spring kit and 8mm wires
That's parts and work list, but as I said it's evolving with new knowledge. I'm trying to get the most bang for the fewest bucks.
