(MICHELLE H.) wrote in
:

> I have a 1981 Chevy Camaro, which was giving to me by my older
> brother
> who is in the Army and doesn't have time to take care of the car
> anymore. It has a small 267 ( 4.4L ) V8 with almost 150,000 miles on
> it. The car has been garaged for the last 5 years, and needs work done
> to it. My brother already told me that it needs a new rear main seal,
> because the car leaks about 4 quarts of oil a week!!!
>
> I had it towed to a local mechanic to have them look it over, and they
> confirmed that yes, it does need a new rear main seal it that would
> cost $550 dollars. It also needs a complete, full tune up which they
> wanted $250 for, plus they said the carburetor needs to be rebuilt and
> that would be another $200 to $300 dollars.

The $550 is not TOOO bad for the rear seal. The full tune-up for $250
seems a bit high, and the $2-300 for the carb rebuild seems WAY out of
line, you could probably buy a NEW carb for that or a touch more.


>
> As I stated above, the engine is a 4.4L 267 V8. It was the small
> gas-saver 8 cylinder that they came out with in 1981. I also checked
> the Vin numbers, and it is the original factory engine.
>
> Now my question is, I would like to keep the original engine in the
> car because I hear that its worth more that way, but is it possible to
> get more horsepower out of this engine?? I have driven the car, but
> its so damn slow!! It has no power at all. It seems like it takes
> forever going uphill!! So my question is, can you get 300 to 400
> horsepower from a 267?? If not, what do you experts think would be the
> MAX horsepower you could get from a 267 engine using the best quality
> parts??
>

300-400 hp or a lot more (probably up to the neighborhood of 600) is
possible, depending on how you go about it and how driveable you want
it. You will have to upgrade the pistons to handle the extra power,
along with possibly the crankshaft and connecting rods (not sure what
Chevy used in those motors). Some port/valve work would most likely be
needed on the heads. You will need to upgrade the fuel system. A
supercharger would be a definate help in this quest. A new performance
cam, lifters and valve springs would be required for sure, and roller
rocker arms and a roller cam design will free up quite a bit of
horsepower.



> Also, is it possible to convert the single exhaust to a dual exhaust??
> I would like the original, numbers matching, factory engine to remain
> in the car, but I want it to have the horsepower of a strong 350. Is
> this at all possible, and if so how??
>
> Also, can you tell me if the transmission would have to be changed if
> you were able to increase the horsepower n the car??

I bet definately yes on this one. May not have to be 'changed' but I
would be high-performance internals would be needed (Automatic).

>
> I would like to know if you guys think any of this is possible, and
> how much a rough estimate of a job like this would cost?? I would like
> to hear from you experts here first instead of just going to a repair
> shop and having them give me some outrageous price because they see a
> woman walking in and jack the price up on me.
>

If you do it, about $6-7k with the supercharger added in (~$3500)
If you have someone do it all, probably $1-2k more.
Could be a lot cheaper, depending on what you put in the motor.
Performance isn't cheap.
How fast you go, depends on how much you want to spend.


> Any info. would greatly be appreciated!!
> Thank you!!!
>
>





--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email